The Texas Twenty

They worked hard, overcame obstacles, bucked conventional wisdom, and touched our lives. Meet the most impressive, intriguing, and influential Texans of 1996.

Television • Chuck Norris

Lone Ranger.

by Gary Cartwright

Music • Kirk Franklin

The voice of God.

by John Morthland

Literature • Mary Karr

Form follows dysfunction.

by Robert Draper

Education • Charles Miller

Head of the class.

by Gregory Curtis

Film • Al Reinert and William Broyles, Jr.

Scripting success.

by Gregory Curtis

Media Circus • Michael Irvin

Drugstore Cowboy.

by Skip Hollandsworth

Religion • Kirbyjon Caldwell

Practicing what he preaches.

by Mimi Swartz

Law • Cheryl Hopwood

Sins of admission.

by Paul Burka

Environment • Tony Amos

Gulf pro.

by Patricia Sharpe

State Politics • Dan Morales

Courting controversy.

by Robert Draper

Art • Harriet and Harmon Kelley

Collecting their culture.

by Jan Jarboe Russell

Food • John Mackey

Ace in the Whole.

by Joe Nick Patoski

Cyberspace • Mike Godwin

Freedom fighter.

by Josh Daniel

Health • Gloria Feldt

Family planner.

by Helen Thorpe

Business • Richard Rainwater

The last tycoon.

by Skip Hollandsworth

Sports • Michael Johnson

The running man.

Advertising • Lionel Sosa

Breadth of a salesman.

by Joe Nick Patoski

Design • Anthony Mark Hankins

Fashionably affordable.

by Ellise Pierce

National Politics •T om DeLay

Cracking the whip.

by Paul Burka

Theater • Lou Diamond Phillips

It’s good to be King.

by Skip Hollandsworth

Travel

Mesilla Real Soon

The time is ripe, and so are the chiles: This tiny, homey town in New Mexico is the ideal spot for a fall weekend getaway.

by Anne Dingus

Religion

In God We Bust

Since the late eighties, dozens of big churches in Texas have put rapid growth ahead of financial health. Austin’s Great Hills Baptist is only the latest to pay the price.

Carol Flake

Food

Mesilla Real Soon

The time is ripe, and so are the chiles: This tiny, homey town in New Mexico is the ideal spot for a fall weekend getaway.

by Anne Dingus

Lifestyle

Needlemania

In an era of AIDS and family values, who’s crazy enough to have a tattoo? Some twenty million Americans, including sports stars, Academy award winners, the CEO of Nike, a Republican Secretary of State—and me.

by Spike Gillespie

Face

Ryan Shams

by Ellise Pierce

Reporter

A Whitman Sampler

Thirty years later, the legacy of Charles Whitman’s shooting spree at the University of Texas still towers above us.

by Joe Holley

Reporter

Unfriendly Skies

An airline deal sets off an American revolution.

by Ellise Pierce

Reporter

Nerd Herd

The drought drives cattle ranchers online.

by Kathryn Jones

Reporter

Dig This

An archeological dig in Matagorda Bay unearths a bureaucratic feud.

by Brad Tyer

Homemade

The Music Man

by Anne Dingus

Roar of the Crowd

Take Cover

Poisonous words for the girl who poisoned her daddy. Plus: Dredging up controversy over the Intracoastal Canal.

The Inside Story

Gilt Trip

Anne Dingus

Last Page

Darrell Royal

What is Darrell Royal’s code name, and what does his middle initial stand for?

by Anne Dingus

Honey Sesame Pork Tenderloin

Rosemary Mashed Potatoes

State Fare

by Patricia Sharpe