The Legacy of Lee Harvey Oswald

Twenty years ago he thrust himself into our lives; he is there yet.

Why Do They Hate Us So Much?

A great man was dead and an outraged world desperately wanted someplace to lay blame. It chose Dallas and changed the city forever.

by Lawrence Wright

Still on the Case

Assassination buffs come in all shapes and convictions—archivists, technologists, mob-hit theorists, and more—but they are all obsessed with Lee Harvey Oswald, and his crime is the focus of their lives.

by Ron Rosenbaum

The Wild Ones

Quick! Get out your furs before it gets hot again.

by Helen Thompson

Fantasy Island

It’s a high-rise developer’s dream. Houston’s old guard wants to turn 34 acres of downtown warehouses into an island of classy shops and pricey condos. They thought they had it wired, until Kathy Whitmire was elected mayor.

by Joseph Nocera

Western Art: Rawhide

by José Cruz

Twofers

Texas: land of contrast. That’s why we have double-barreled businesses like a feedstore cum twirling school or a combo junkyard-wildlife preserve.

by Peter Applebome

Texas Primer: The Drill Team

Good, clean sex, brought to you by high-kicking, rosy-cheeked Texas gals.

by Terry Toler

Art

The Roadside Eye

Robert Frank took casual but expressive snapshots that captured dramas of American life and altered the course of modern photography.

by Michael Ennis

Behind the Lines

Dueling cornucopias.

by Gregory Curtis

Movies

Cool Minds in a Hot War

Nick Nolte is a journalist dodging bullets and political involvement in Under Fire. The Right Stuff is about Americans, space, and manifest destiny. The Big Chill is a warm look at the cooling of sixties idealism.

by James Wolcott

Books

A Surfeit of Bimbos

In The Desert Rose Larry McMurtry’s heroines never blossom into believable women. The Franchise is a tough tale about graft and the gridiron.

by Rod Davis

Politics

Duel for the Sun

Crosbytown and Texas Tech wanted to harvest a major local resource: the sun. But then the feds stepped in, and the issue switched from energy to power.

by Fryar Calhoun

Classical Music

A Soprano Is Born

Houston likes to think it discovered Erie Mills, but it’s willing to share the winning young star with the rest of the opera world.

by W. L. Taitte

Texana

Local Menu Makes Good

Here’s to the unsung heroes of Eastland: my grandfather and his V.C. menu.

by Lisa Germany

Theater

The Palace of Pros

With The Palace of Amateurs, the Plaza Theatre brought a sparkling Mariel Hemingway to Dallas and a lofty new theatrical standard to Texas.

by W. L. Taitte

Reporter

Texas Monthly Reporter

A new era for Texas prisons; a new view of Wichita Falls; a new look, alas, for a Dallas street; a new metropolis in East Texas; a new generation of frat rats.

by Jim Atkinson

Roar of the Crowd

Touts

by Patricia Sharpe

Puzzle

State Secrets

The Supreme Court scores one for Texas against the Yankees; blame the recession on InterFirst; why Phil Gramm makes a great Republican; an oil squabble matches the greedy little independents against poor, starving Big Oil.

Edited by Paul Burka