March 2004
Table of Contents
Features
Conversations With a GrasshopperTo experience the majesty and peril of the desert on my own terms, I spent a week alone in the Solitario, the most remote area of Big Bend Ranch State Park. I confronted my darkest fears—and made small talk with an insect. This Land is Your LandWith more than 600,000 acres of state parks, historic sites, and natural areas, Texas can be a perfect playground for every type of outdoor adventurer—if you know where to go. We do. The Pedophile Next DoorHow do you know when a child molester is cured? Are you willing to take his word for it? David Wayne Jones hopes so. Thirteen years ago he was convicted of preying on little boys at the East Dallas YMCA, but he could soon be out of jail and back on the street. Your street. |
Good-bye to a HorseShe named him Mark. I didn't know why, any more than I knew why my daughter was drawn to riding in the first place. But I did know that she loved him—and that letting him go was the hardest thing she'd ever done. The World According to Bob InmanThe former national security chief and deputy CIA director on why we're losing the peace in Iraq and where the terrorists could strike next. |
Columns
PoliticsHood RiddanceHow is school finance like a Russian novel? And other questions about the most pressing issue in Texas—and Rick Perry's plan for dealing with it. |
BooksNation StateDoes anyone outside of Texas care about Texas history? H. W. Brands hopes so, and he's not the only one. TexanaSiege MentalityWith March 6 fast approaching, let's doff our coonskin caps to the Serious Alamo Guys, a band of mostly Anglo, mostly bearded, mostly fifty-plus historians who are Bowie-knife sharp on the subject of the mythic battle. |
Reporter
ReporterSix Ways To SundayThe New England Patriots weren't the only winners at the Super Bowl. Houston won too, sort of. |
The Filter
Pat’s PickBank Jean-Georges |
Pat’s PickBookshelfPat’s PickHappening |
Miscellany
Web Exclusives
Call of the WildSeven images and captions—from the campsite to the view from the rim—show how executive editor S. C. "Sam" Gwynne spent seven days alone on the Solitario. Dancin' DaysThe Houston Ballet's new artistic director, Stanton Welch, talks about growing up in Australia; creating the evening-length work, Tales of Texas; and replacing Ben Stevenson. Happy CampersSuzy Banks, Stacy Hollister, and Charlie Llewellin discuss this month's cover story, "This Land Is Your Land." On the FlyWho needs Colorado when the Guadalupe River is so close—and so full of rainbow trout. |
Spirit of the AlamoIf you're an Alamo fan—and even if you aren't—you'll find these fifteen titles worth your while. Texas TidbitsWhere can you find a coastal live oak that is estimated to be more than one thousand years old, or the nation's second-largest exposed batholith? At a state park near you. Happy TrailsSometimes we like to brave the cold weather and camp at Kerrville-Schreiner Park during the winter. We're not crazy, honest. Texas History 101If you've ever admired the Indian Lodge at Davis Mountain State Park or the spring-fed swimming pool at Balmorhea, then you're looking at the handiwork of young men in the Civilian Conservation Corps. |
