The Big Con

From his early days in Big Spring, Eugene Anderson wasn’t what he seemed; neither was the mysterious element he later claimed turned water into fuel.

by Byron Harris

Pros at Cons

Everything is bigger in Texas, including the scams.

by John Schwartz

Texas Primer: Caprock

Across the Panhandle stretches a thin red line that divides doughty plains dwellers from Texas’ lesser changed.

by Dick J. Reavis

Panorama Camera

With their 350-degree camera, photographers recorded Houston in the early 1900’s. Half a century later two young photographers found the camera the same but Houston vastly changed.

Texas, A Long, Long, Long, Long, Time Ago

When armadillos weighed three tons and the long horns were on dinosaurs.

by Lawrence Wright

Johnson & Johnson

In a glass-and-steel world of Houston skyscrapers, there was nothing like an art deco obelisk or a pink Gothic cathedral until architect Philip Johnson.

by Lisa Germany

Passing the Bucks

Football recruiting makes the NCAA see red, but SMU sees orange.

by Jan Reid

Crime

Love in the Slammer

Sometimes women fall in love with men behind bars, but once the bars disappear, the love itself may become the prison.

by Jim Atkinson

Behind the Lines

The burning cactus.

by Gregory Curtis

Politics

Squeaky Wheels

Independent oilmen are still for free enterprise, but these days they also expect a little favoritism from Uncle Sam.

by Stephen Chapman

Movies

History’s Nebbish

The tale of schlemiels schlemiel, Zelig is as funny, endearing, and slight as Woody Allen himself. Staying Alive is suicidal. The quick Grey Fox jumps nimbly the pitfalls of making a western.

by James Wolcott

Classical Music

A Chamber of Music

Jim Cartwright has a classic case of obsession-he owns thousands of records. Under Sung Kwak the Austin Symphony has gone from mediocre to memorable.

by W. L. Taitte

Books

Catcher of the Awry

Frederick Barthelme’s Moon Deluxe is a collection of cockeyed tales about stucco camels, supermarket sec and other modern curiosities. In Short Circuit Michael Mewshaw finds fault with the nasty world of professional tennis. The urban vignettes of Laura Furman’s Watch Time Fly range from skillful to so-so.

by Peter Applebome

Popular Music

Blues at His Fingertips

Bluesman Stevie Ray Vaughan showcases his powerhouse guitar on a nationally released record. Also on new LPs are fellow Texans, from country king George Jones to Austin cutups the Big Boys.

by Pepi Plowman

Reporter

Texas Monthly Reporter

Texas highways show their age; Houston punks show their colors; foster parents show they care; A&M shows its macaws; cattle ranchers show their breeding.

by Suzanne Winckler

Roar of the Crowd

Touts

This one’s a real sleeper.

by Patricia Sharpe

Puzzle

State Secrets

It’s Post time in the race to take over Houston’s morning newspaper, and here are the odds; Doctor Death takes a holiday in Dallas; a bank merger causes frowns at Fulbright & Jaworski; does Jim Mattox have a future?

Edited by Paul Burka