May 2005

Table of Contents

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Features

Since She’s Been Gone

The L.A. life of a girl from Burleson (or, You can take Kelly Clarkson out of Texas . . .).

In America

This winter I traveled to a handful of South Texas colonias to hear the stories of the people there. While I encountered many families living in deplorable conditions, I also witnessed countless acts of near-miraculous transformation.

Pug

He asked me if I was going to be white my whole life. I was, of course. But because of our friendship, I’m no longer the clueless upper-middle-class kid I once was.

Where We Rank

How Texas compares with the other 49 states in everything from the percentage of low-income children with health insurance (we’re dead last) to the number of executions (we’re first!).

“We Are Going to Die In Here”

What the seventy-plus illegal immigrants smuggled into Texas in the container of an eighteen-wheeler saw, felt, and, in the luckiest cases, survived.

Old-timers’ Day

Duking it out, after more than fifty years of friendship, over Ann Coulter, Terri Schiavo, the appeal of golf, and, inevitably, the decline of the Cowboys.

Columns

Sarah Bird

Passion Victim

My short, unhappy life as a romance novelist.

Behind the Lines

Kay Sera, Sera

The future is hers to see.

Gary Cartwright

Me and Him

Once upon a time I thought it was cool to question God’s existence. Not anymore.

Don Graham

Mary, Quite Contrary

The awful truth about The Liars’ Club.

Patricia Kilday Hart

Down But Not Out

No one thinks the Democrats have a chance of winning the 2006 governor’s race. Which is exactly why you shouldn’t write them off.

Reporter

Reporter

Strangers on a Train

There was something irresistibly romantic about the gutter punk’s description of stowing away in freight cars. No wonder I wanted to try it—even if, at 38, I probably should have thought to myself, “You’re too old for this.”

Minister of Health

Nothing to Sneeze At

Sneeze play.

The Horse’s Mouth

Performing for Kids

Here’s singing for you, kid.

FAQ

Face Lifting

Your not-so-secret identity.

Previews+Reviews

Books

The best new books from Texas.

Previews+Reviews

Music

The best new music from Texas.

The Filter

Pat's Pick

Hibiscus

Pat's Pick

Liquid Assets

Miscellaneous

Texas Monthly Talks

Liz Smith

“Nobody doing what I’m doing is important anymore. Not in the way Winchell, Kilgallen, Hedda, and Louella were important.”

Web Extra

Under the Cover

Jeff Lipsky, who photographed Kelly Clarkson for this month’s cover, talks about working with celebrities and what it means to be “a natural.”

Roar of the Crowd

Second Opinions

“Kinky, your absence is going to be more devastating than Dan Rather’s leaving the ‘sunken anchor’ biz. Please rethink your aspirations!”

Web Extra

Picture This

Fredrik Brodén, who took the photograph for Gary Cartwright and Dan Jenkins’s e-mail exchange, on inspiration and visualizing a concept.

Web Extra

The Storyteller

Illustrator Steve Brodner on the colonias of South Texas and communicating with pictures.

Web Extra

The Confessional

Writer-at-large Don Graham on Mary Karr’s recently reissued book The Liars’ Club and confessional memoirs.

Web Extra

Fifteen Minutes and Counting

Executive editor Skip Hollandsworth, who wrote this month’s cover story, talks about pop sensation Kelly Clarkson and her fondness for bowling.

Web Extra

Sources for “Where We Rank”

The following references were taken from the second edition of Eliot Shapleigh’s “Texas on the Brink.”

Web Extra

Darkness Visible

Marshall Arisman, who illustrated our excerpt from Dying to Cross, on depicting violence and working with color.

Web Extra

Coming to America

Television journalist Jorge Ramos, the author of the book Dying to Cross, on immigration reform and being called the “voice of the voiceless.”

Texas Tidbits

These fresh female faces know how to send a hit to the top of the charts.

Recipe

Crab Dip

Happy Trails

Art, History, and Cooking 101—when it comes to a lesson in Hispanic culture, San Antonio gets an A+.

Texas History 101

The Texas Legislature’s pages and messengers have had a hand in running the state for decades.