Big River

A photographic tour of the timeless Rio Grande, from its origins in the mountains of Colorado to the Padre Island dunes at the tip of Texas.

by John Graves

Texas Primer: The Horny Toad

It’s everybody’s favorite reptile, and it’s disappearing from Texas.

by Anne Dingus

Growing Up Fast

Every parent with a teenage kid knows the fears: drinking, drugs, and rebellion. For the Cartwrights, those fears all came true.

by Gary Cartwright

His Name Was Forrest Bess

He was wildly eccentric, he lived in a shanty on the Gulf, he subsisted as a bait fisherman, he had bizarre notions of eternal life. He may have been the best artist Texas has ever produced.

by Michael Ennis

A Singin’ Fool

George Jones really lives the way he says he lives in the songs he sings.

by Pepi Plowman

Foat Wuth, The Eternal City

Cowtown is forever.

by Jan Morris

Behind the Lines

Three birds or a fountain?

by Gregory Curtis

Politics

The Bishop Drops A Bomb

When an Amarillo bishop decried the nearby H-bomb plant, he wooed the press, alienated the city, and picked on his parishioners.

by Joseph Nocera

Movies

Cool Blue And Dangerous

Diva is about opera, punks, and philosophy. Oh, and young love. And bootlegging, too. Then there’s the chase scene.... The British film The Long Good Friday is a bloody good deception of the underworld. Cat people is a dog.

by James Wolcott

Crime

The Proving Ground

Probation gives criminals a chance to show society that they can stay straight. Probation officers like Jan Purdom believe the system works.

by Jim Atkinson

Theater

Hands Across The Ocean

British playwright Alan Ayckbourn dropped in on his American cousins at Houston’s Alley Theatre and directed the U.S. premiere of his latest and most innovative work.

by W. L. Taitte

Church

Mustard Seeds

Ninety-four per cent of Americans believe in God. That and other gleanings from recent polls reveal that the nation’s faith is stronger than ever.

by William Martin

Popular Music

Twelve-Pack To Go

A dozen new releases by everyone from the late, legendary Janis Joplin to rising star Rodney Crowell to perennial favorite Waylon Jennings.

by Pepi Plowman

Reporter

Texas Monthly Reporter

The secret of making money; the cutest vandals you ever saw; the lowdown on high tech; the little trains that couldn’t; the champ with shear magic.

by Peter Applebome

Roar of the Crowd

All’s Farrah; judges’ jury.

State Secrets

Detroit attacks Houston; UT defends agains the NCAA; Texas loses 59 parks to Reaganomics; voter apathy—who cares?

Edited by Paul Burka