Bum Steers: Video 
Contributors
Christopher and Kathleen Sleboda, D. J. Stout, and Paul Burka.
Christopher and Kathleen Sleboda
Christopher and Kathleen Sleboda
The design team of Christopher and Kathleen Sleboda, known in the business as Gluekit, weren’t even in kindergarten when J.R. got shot. But over the years, the Connecticut-based couple have become fans of other television Texans. “Friday Night Lights is one of our favorite shows,” says Christopher. “We’re also big fans of King of the Hill.” That made it easy for the duo to create the illustration for this month’s cover story (“Big State, Small Screen”). “If one word summed up our style, it would be ‘pop!’ ” he says.
D. J. Stout
D. J. Stout
“My love of journalism and editorial design may have been passed down to me from my father,” writes D. J. Stout (“King of Diamonds”) in the foreword to The Amazing Tale of Mr. Herbert and His Fabulous Alpine Cowboys. “But I certainly didn’t inherit his baseball ability.” The stories that the Alpine native (who was art director of texas monthly from 1987 to 1999) grew up hearing about his father’s time as a ballplayer at Kokernot Field were the inspiration for his new book. “It’s a great Texas story,” he says. “As epic, in my mind, as Giant.”
Paul Burka
Paul Burka
photograph by Jasmin Chang
“The Eighteen Billion Dollar Man” wasn’t the first assignment that senior executive editor Paul Burka accepted reluctantly (blogging comes to mind). But the unprecedented budget deficit proved to be too important to ignore. “We’re in this situation thanks to the bad economy and bad decisions of the leadership,” he says. To explain the depth of the crisis, Burka suggested ways—however painful— to balance the books. “I’m not expecting any Christmas cards from state agencies,” he says.
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