Business
December 1, 1981
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.
1981
Touts
December 1, 1981
Touts
Have yourself a merry Texas Christmas.
Theater
December 1, 1981
Our Son, The Murderer
Dallas’ Stage #1 proves it’s worthy of its name with a gut-wrenching production about a family torn apart.
State Secrets
December 1, 1981
State Secrets
Dreaming Democrats; juicy news about the News; shake-ups brewing in UT; whey Reagan can’t decontrol gas.
Roar of the Crowd
December 1, 1981
Roar of the Crowd
The high and the flighty.
Reporter
December 1, 1981
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.
Puzzle
December 1, 1981
Puzzle
The bottle-cap gambit.
Music
December 1, 1981
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.
Movies
December 1, 1981
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.
Lifestyle
December 1, 1981
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.
True Crime
December 1, 1981
The Black Striker Gets Hit
The life—promising beginning, overripe middle, bloody end—of Lee Chagra, the biggest drug lawyer in El Paso.
Church
December 1, 1981
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.
Business
December 1, 1981
Oscar’s Follie
Coastal Corporation’s mastermind, Oscar Wyatt, keeps everyone guessing these days—from the IRS to society columnists to stock analysts.
Politics & Policy
December 1, 1981
Behind the Lines
The big boom.
Style & Design
November 1, 1981
Power Plays
Wait! Don’t buy that gas-slurping motorboat and energy-squandering food processor for Christmas. We modestly propose some thrifty alternatives.
Critters
November 1, 1981
The Hog Chronicles
The city boy moved to the country and life was good. And then he bought four pigs.
Being Texan
November 1, 1981
The Fundamentalist
He’s the man with the Word, and the Word is for you.
Music
November 1, 1981
The Attack of the Electronic Beast and Other Pleasures
Four performers in Dallas are making a new kind of music that combines precision, grace, and crazy humor.
News & Politics
November 1, 1981
Heavy Breathing
Houston’s air may be a slow killer, but the state and the feds spend more time battling each other than fighting pollution.
Business
November 1, 1981
The Truth About Carnivals
A carny’s life is an endless ramble from one small town to the next—and that’s why he likes it.
Touts
November 1, 1981
Touts
Hog calls and bouncing balls.
Sports
November 1, 1981
Running Dogs
Four hundred Texans breed and train an uncommon kind of livestock—greyhounds.
Roar of the Crowd
November 1, 1981
Roar of the Crowd
The jobless and the topless.
Reporter
November 1, 1981
Texas Monthly Reporter
Mercedes crisis looms; farm computer biz booms; Mavericks’ potential zooms. Plus, regional brokerages take stock; black colleges get a shock.
Puzzle
November 1, 1981
Puzzle
Split personalities.
Movies
November 1, 1981
“Tina, Bring Me the Ax!”
Mommie Dearest is rabid. Raggedy Man is frayed. Rich and Famous is poor and undistinguished.
Jazz
November 1, 1981
Jazz Rally
Recordings from the old pros prove the virtue of virtuosity.
Health
November 1, 1981
So You Don’t Like The Way You Look?
To a plastic surgeon, your face is just the beginning.
Environment
November 1, 1981
Chucking the Piney Woods
Some people look at the Piney Woods and see paper plates and two-by-fours; others see the last great stands of forest in Texas.
Dining Out
November 1, 1981
Bread and Circuses
At San Antonio’s Mi Tierra, you’ll see the rabble, the rich, and everyone in between, all feasting on Tex-Mex and homemade pan dulce.
Crime
November 1, 1981
The Cons Next Door
To unjam its prisons, Texas is moving convicted felons out of the big house and into a house on your block.
Politics & Policy
November 1, 1981
Behind the Lines
The water problem; or, Texas is not all wet.
Critters
October 1, 1981
Bats!
They’re ugly little things, but you’ve got to respect them.
Texas History
October 1, 1981
The Failures That Made Texas
When it comes to flops and fiascos, Texans can outdo anyone.
Business
October 1, 1981
Losing Big
Everybody knows the story about the young Texan who goes into business, works hard, and makes millions. But what happens when his luck runs out?
Sports
October 1, 1981
Throw It to Me!
Drew Pearson, Tony Hill, and Butch Johnson are wide receivers for the Dallas Cowboys—in other words, they’re artists, egomaniacs, fierce competitors, and the heart of the team.
Touts
September 30, 1981
Touts
All about the bird and the beasts.
State Secrets
September 30, 1981
State Secrets
Muse’s shaky takeoff; Mark White on the sport; Bob Bullock’s special grace; aging Texas money.
Roar of the Crowd
September 30, 1981
Roar of the Crowd
The plights of rivers, writers, and children.
Reporter
September 30, 1981
Texas Monthly Reporter
Raising cain over Sam Houston’s house; searching for the face that will sell a million blue jeans; going bust in the refinery business.
Puzzle
September 30, 1981
Puzzle
Airs above the ground.
Film
September 30, 1981
Smitten Kittens
The lovers in The French Lieutenant’s Woman are just this side of maudlin, but the movie itself is harder to take than they are.
Education
September 30, 1981
The Minds of Babes
With the Doman method of learning, your child may know as much as you do before he starts first grade.
Dance
September 30, 1981
A Fan in Exile
One man’s long-distance love affair with the New York City Ballet.
Business
September 30, 1981
A Little Bit of Heaven
Once the Hill Country meant small towns and Spartan values; now it’s ranchettes and easy living.
Politics & Policy
September 30, 1981
Behind the Lines
In defense of failure—and success.
Books
September 30, 1981
Waste Makes Money
In With No Fear of Failure you’ll learn how you, too, can turn rags into riches. Daddy’s Girl knows Southern discomfort. Petroleum Politics and the Texas Railroad Commission is the history of our own little OPEC.
Politics & Policy
September 1, 1981
One Woman’s Tiny Problem Confronts Dallas City Hall
Vesta Cawley turned to the city bureaucracy for help with a problem that didn’t matter to any of the other 900,000 residents of Dallas. But it should have mattered more to city hall.
Sports
September 1, 1981
Carl Lewis and the Exquisite Science of Jumping
All this twenty-year-old University of Houston student wants to do is jump farther and run faster than anyone else ever has.
Being Texan
September 1, 1981
Gone to Texas
Thousands of people from the North, broke and out of work, are streaming into the state. This is the true story of two of them who abandoned Detroit for Houston, learned about cockroaches, tacos, and freeways, and finally discovered happiness in broken air conditioners.