October 2001

October 2001

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Features

Hit Man

Psst! Looking to have somebody murdered? You might want to call Gary Johnson, the number one hired killer in Houston. Then again you might not. You see he works for the cops.

by Skip Hollandsworth

The Devil and Mr. Jones

How about those Cowboys? Ever since the team's egotistical owner, Jerry Jones, fired coach Jimmy Johnson in a fit of pique, the 'Boys have never been on a slippery slope to perdition. But it's die-hard fans like me who are in hell.

by Gary Cartwright

Angel in the Backfield

For running back Emmitt Smith, this season could be halo and farewell.

by Gary Cartwright

A Tale of Two Cities

To residents of Presidio and Ojinaga, the international border that separates them had always seemed irrelevant. They crossed it easily, spoke the same language, and considered themselves part of the same community. When Mexican authorities wrongly imprisoned a Texas grocer in April, that relationship changed dramatically—and it hasn't been the same since.

by Cecilia Ballí

Screen Gems

Mexican movies were muy caliente in the middle of the past century, and Harlingen's Rogelio Agrasanchez, Jr. has the posters to prove it.

by Katy Vine

Tex Education, Part 3

What tall Texan dated top actress during Hollywood's heyday? Find out the answer-and other Lone Star lore-by taking the penultimate installment of my literacy test.

by Anne Dingus

Dr. No

Republican congressman Ron Paul, of Surfside, believes that much of our federal government should be abolished. He has voted against honoring the likes of Rosa Parks and repeatedly goes against his constituents' interests. He is a contrarian, an outsider, and an ineffectual lawmaker. And he just may be unbeatable.

by S. C. Gwynne

Columns

Behind the Lines

9/11/01

The need for leadership.

by Paul Burka

Texana

Local Hero

Bob Phillips' passion for small-town oddities makes Texas Country Reporter as irresistible as a bookshop that doubles as a beauty parlor.

by Anne Dingus

Politics

Minority Report

As Democrats and Republicans prepare for the hand-to-hand combat of 2002, African American and Hispanic candidates are finally on the front lines.

by Patricia Kilday Hart

Media

True Story

When one of his reporters turned up missing in Mexico, the editor of the San Antonio Express-News took on one of the most important assignments of his life.

by Joe Nick Patoski

Travel

Boo!

If you want to get into the Halloween spirit, head to South Texas and try to scare up San Patricio's famous ghost.

by Suzy Banks

Music

All Grown Up

Twenty years ago the Butthole Surfers—those unspeakably named punk rockers—first turned up their amps in San Antonio. What keeps them going? Chalk it up to, er, clean living.

by Jeff McCord