Contributors
John Spong
During the past two years, senior editor John Spong has written a number of acclaimed profiles, ranging from the all-but-forgotten boxer Elmo Henderson to the larger-than-life writer Larry L. King. For this issue, Spong interviewed a friend-of-a-friend he had met two years ago in Austin—for obvious reasons, the man didn’t want to be identified for the story—who was in the construction business. “He spoke perfectly good English and clearly worked a whole lot harder than I did,” says Spong. “I had no idea he was illegal.” The resulting first-person account (“My Life as an Illegal,”) offers an honest look at what it means to be an undocumented worker in Texas, free from the political stereotypes that often overwhelm the immigration debate.
Jordan Breal
Ask Jordan Breal what’s happening in, say, November in, say, El Paso, and the assistant editor can fill you in on every exhibit, play, concert, and party you should know about without missing a beat. Breal, who scours the state for the most important goings-on, helped conceive and now writes events for the magazine’s new Filter. “It’s not so much a travel guide as a selective cultural guide,” she says about the section. “It’s commentary on the things you should absolutely know about, whether you can attend or not.” (Never fear, if you miss the old Around the State and still want a complete calendar of events, Breal takes care of that at texasmonthly.com.) For her top pick for July, see page 163.
Darren Braun
Darren Braun graduated from Texas A&M-Commerce only three years ago, but it’s no small surprise how quickly his career has taken off. “I signed up for a photography class in the ninth grade when I was in high school in Grapevine,” he says, “and I never stepped out of the dark room.” He has already shot for magazines such as Premiere, Wired, and Popular Science, and for “School of Pop”, he turned his camera on young, aspiring singers who flock to a program in Addison designed to help them become stars. “They were so young, but they were used to the attention,” Braun says. “They didn’t need any direction from me. They just took to the stage and performed.”
My Library
