1979

My Life and Hard Times in the Junior League

“In the League, you’ll run into a little tradition, some noblesse oblige, and a lot of talk about diets, dyslexia, designer dresses, and divorce.”

Smokers Are People Too

You can always spot a smoker. He fiddles with matches, his shirt pocket bulges in a tiny rectangle, and fumes emerge from his mouth and nose. But what should we do about him?

Picking Up the Pieces

You load sixteen tons, and what do you get? Ask your garbageman.

The Best Little Hotels in Mexico

We’ve found them: nine of Mexico’s best colonial inns and lodges. All you have to do is make reservations.

Tiny Texas

If you want big, we’ve got big. If you want small, we’ve got that, too.

Touts

Heart warmers, house warmers, and nose warmers.

Why the Alley?

For the sake of the audience, it’s a question that needs to be asked. College productions of A Doll’s House show why actors go to school. Fort Worth has good actors and good producers—but not, alas, in the same theater.

The Long Nights of Preston Jones

A remembrance of the late Texas playwright who spent his days and nights pondering imponderables.

Zandra and the Laughing Elk

Al Neiman’s Fortnight the attractions varied between eccentric Americans and somnambulant British.

State Secrets

Will the feds hijack out power? Will Akers slip off to LSU?

Roar of the Crowd

Texas Monthly Reporter

Whose blonde, curly scalp are the farmers after how do the rich and powerful run? Why, pray tell, does Houston need parks?

Tune into the Eighties

New stars in sight are big and bright—deep in the heart of Texas.

The Inside Story

Wee people.

The Vampire Killer

Werner Herzog reverently remade the classic 1921 version of Nosferatu. He should have left scary enough alone.

Looking on the Bright side

The Ultimate Croissant

With open arms—that is, mouths—Texas welcome a new breed of bakery.

The Big Loser

A young Russian defector blows his chance to win the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and goes on to find fame and fortune.

Go-Getters and Holders-On

The difference between jogging with the Lord and just walking along behind.

Behind the Lines

If the eighties are here, where did the seventies go.

Memoir of the Soil

A.C. Greene’s singular, exquisite vision of West Texas; a thriller that’s better than it should be; and a historical novel with too much history.

The Thin Man

Albert Giacometti’s sculptured figures, now at the Dallas Museum of Fine Art, are tall, emaciated, uncomprehending—and breathtaking.

Grand Indulgences

Whether you have $2 to spend or $25,000, our Christmas gift selections show how to have a wonderfully indulgent holiday.

The New Apartment Slums

Behind the gleaming facades of many new apartment villages are the crumbling walls of next year’s urban blight.

Trial by Water

Marathon canoe racing is the toughest sport in Texas. It’s tougher than bull riding, more grueling than pro football. The canoeists say that’s why it’s fun.

Funky Hotels

Why subject yourself to the dreariness of impersonal, prefab hotels when these country hostelries are just down the road?

Touts

The beat of a different strummer.

Three’s Company

Some Texas funny people get serious about their jokes.

East Meets Wet

The Dalai Lama encounters Houston. He finds it good.

State Secrets

Texas Democrats run scared over Teddy; Arkansas bigwigs cry foul over gas lease; Mexican diplomats make waves over salt water.

Roar of the Crowd

Texas Monthly Reporter

A down-home journalist; the privileged pew; gas for a price.

Big D, Big Red, and the Big Apple

The Recovery Room band is at home in Dallas and New York, too.

The Inside Story

Copy cats.

Breaking the Sound Barrier

Silence may be golden, but not to a stutterer.

Over There

Filmmakers flub: Schlesinger’s Yanks, Fellini’s Orchestra Rehearsal, and Jewison’s—And Justice for All.

The Truth About John Connally

There are two questions about John Connally: Is he good enough to be president? Is he too bad to be president?

Kindred Spirits

Don’t both with séances or clairvoyants. There is a much better way to contact the shades of the past.

Semiconductors

The leaders of Houston and Dallas symphony orchestras start off the season with two perplexing concert series.

Onward Christian Soldiers

Joining God’s army at Berachah Church in Houston; joining the fine families of Beaumont’s Trinity United Methodist.

Behind the Lines

A modest proposal for the eighties.

The Little Red Warehouse

Institutional green walls and stuffy classrooms are not a part of Houston architect Eugene Aubry’s Awty School design.

Talking Money/The Heavy Hitters

What’s what and who’s who in Texas real estate.

The Man Who Built River Oaks

Architect John Staub, the forgotten genius of River Oaks, transformed a few nondescript Houston streets into Millionaires’ Row.

A Delicate Balance

Who turned off the melting pot? Vietnamese and Texans fight on the coast.

Mission Possible

Touts

High-flyin’ and highfalutin.

The Spoils of War

ëTis the season for plays about the Viet Nam War. Louisiana’s Huey P. Long is captured (almost) by Texans.

Titles Texans

Beneath certain Stetsons lies a crown.