The Black Striker Gets Hit

The life—promising beginning, overripe middle, bloody end—of Lee Chagra, the biggest drug lawyer in El Paso.

by Gary Cartwright

Let’s Get Serious About Toys

They used to be virtuous and wooden and they were good. Now they’re commercial and plastic and they’re great.

by Stephen Harrigan

Child’s Play

A brief but opinionated guide to the world’s best toys, from the Alpha Porbe to the telephone.

by Stephen Harrigan

Texas, 1945 Or The Sad Cowboy

In a faraway archive we found the best photographs of Texas ever taken, never befor published in a large group. Together, they show every part of the state as it entered the modern age. And each one has a story behind it.

by Nicholas Lemann

The Ground’s the Limit

How a band of thrill-seekers called BASE made jumping off Texas’ tallest building the ultimate urban adventure.

by Harry Hurt III

Behind the Lines

The big boom.

by Gregory Curtis

Lifestyle

Kids and Money

Children today understand brand names like Izod and concepts like “rip-off,” but they don’t understand that some things—the best things—can’t be bought.

by Prudence Mackintosh

Business

Oscar’s Follie

Coastal Corporation’s mastermind, Oscar Wyatt, keeps everyone guessing these days—from the IRS to society columnists to stock analysts.

by Harry Hurt III

Movies

Rage of Cajuns

Southern Comfort bathes the bayou in blood; Chariots of Fire sets no track records; Quartet is a marvel of misdirection; True Confessions’ trespasses are forgivable; Time Bandits steals the show.

by James Wolcott

Church

Time of Repentance, Season of Joy

On Yom Kippur, Jews in Dallas mark the Day of Atonement; on Christmas Eve, Episcopalians in Houston gather for a night of adoration.

by William Martin

Theater

Our Son, The Murderer

Dallas’ Stage #1 proves it’s worthy of its name with a gut-wrenching production about a family torn apart.

by W. L. Taitte

Popular Music

Rockers, Kickers, and Hepcats

Texas music is wide open these days. You can stand by old standbys like Willie or take a chance on nuclear polka and Caribbean funk.

by Pepi Plowman

Reporter

Texas Monthly Reporter

Robots take over Dallas; sports talk shows take Houston by storm; border bridges take forever to get built; John Tower takes the lead in the defense debate; a Corsicana bakery takes the fruitcake.

by Peter Applebome

Roar of the Crowd

The high and the flighty.

Touts

Have yourself a merry Texas Christmas.

Patricia Sharpe

Puzzle

The bottle-cap gambit.

State Secrets

Dreaming Democrats; juicy news about the News; shake-ups brewing in UT; whey Reagan can’t decontrol gas.

Edited by Paul Burka