The Texas Food Manifesto

Fie on the cilantro fad, greaseless barbecue, and indiscriminate mesquite-grilling. Let’s hear it for Frito pie, catfish plates, and other gems of Texas’ true cuisine

by Alison Cook

Cosmic Plowboy

Agriculture commissioner Jim Hightower discovered that he could help the little guy by becoming one of the big boys.

by Peter Elkind

Western Art: Cactus Jack

by Tom Curry

Pearl Harbor Christmas

December 1941 in Clarksville was a time to celebrate peace on earth amid the rumblings of war.

by Ann M. Sparks

Grande Dame of the Gulf

She may be past her prime, but Galveston still clings to her aristocratic heritage and her precarious place on the sand.

by Paul Burka

Texas Primer: Christmas on the Range

Yes, Virginia Sue, Texas really does have its own holiday traditions.

by Anne Dingus

Pancho Villa’s Last Gasp

In death as in life, the Mexican revolutionary is still causing trouble. This time the border skirmish is over his death mask.

by Warren Skaaren

Behind the Lines

Dropping the aristocratic burden.

by Gregory Curtis

Sports

Secrets of a Deep, Dark Game

Listen up, you Monday morning quarterbacks. How much do you really know about the classic triple option?

by Neal Morgan

Books

Another Pilgrim’s Progress

The last book by native Texan William Goyen, Arcadio is a weird and wonderful fable about a search for self-acceptance and peace.

by John Davidson

Classical Music

The Courage of Their Compositions

These days the Houston Symphony Orchestra isn’t playing the same old thing. Conductor Sergiu Comissiona battles boredom by playing brand-new works and little-heard older ones.

by W. L. Taitte

Church

Good Christian Pageant Fans, Rejoice

Houston’s First Baptist Church wants to be number one in Texas, and an eye-popping Christmas spectacle is one way it beckons the faithful.

by William Martin

Jazz

The Proof Is in the Piano

Fabled Texas pianist Peck Kelley appears, at last, on a gold mine of an album. There’s lodes more with Red Garland, Pete Petersen, and other jazz whizzes.

by Doug Ramsey

Movies

Terminal Endearment

Terms of Endearment features a Houston setting but also drab cinematography and cramped direction. The sickening Star 80 goes too far; the impressionistic Rumble Fish reaches too high.

by James Wolcott

Reporter

Texas Monthly Reporter

Masons in trouble; Wally in wonderland; vice in Amarillo; vitamins in Mount Pleasant; Czechs in print.

by Dick J. Reavis

Roar of the Crowd

Banks play domino, Presidio plays it cool, Beaumont plays to win.

State Secrets

More trouble ahead for Jim Mattox; oil pipeline for sale—cheap; the EPA gets dumped over toxic dumping; raindrops on GTE’s head at Braniff Place.

Edited by Paul Burka

Touts

The halls are alive with the sound of music.

by Patricia Sharpe

Puzzle

Perforations.