Bettering The Best IN “the best of the texas century” [December 1999], if anybody deserves the title Entertainer of the Century, it’s George Jones. The Ol’ Possum himself produced a number one record in four consecutive decades.buddy moore
Kountze
SORRY, willie. bob wills is still the king. david duncan
Austin
YOU REALLY MISSED THE MARK in “Song of the Century.” In place of “San Antonio Rose,” the song, of course, is “Crazy,” written by Willie Nelson and recorded by Patsy Cline. You did get it right with the runner-up: “Streets of Laredo.” tom higgins
El Paso
FOR years now i have watched with amusement as you get Texas politics half right half the time. I didn’t object when you put my old man in the Old Coots Hall of Fame — he earned that — but when you call Jerry Sadler a scoundrel [runner-up, “Scoundrel of the Century”], I have to say that either you are careless with the English language, you didn’t do your research, or you are a bald-faced liar. My father was a segregationist, but only as a by-product of being for states’ rights. The day they integrated the rural school in our tiny East Texas community, the local KKK wannabes passed the word that if any black kids showed up, they would be hurt. My dad passed the word that no such thing would happen. The sheriff’s deputies left at eight-thirty, when everyone had entered the school building, and then my father, the Land Commissioner of Texas, sat in front of the school all day in his pickup with a 12-gauge shotgun while the local toughs circled the school grounds in their trucks. At three, he followed the schoolbus as it delivered the kids back to their homes. There was no trouble; the issue was settled from then on. You missed that story.bill sadler
Houston
IN THE SPORTS CATEGORY YOU left off one of Texas’ best high school football players of all time: Kenneth Hall of Sugar Land. Some of his records have been beaten, but after 46 years, most are still standing. jerry cooper
Sugar Land
YOU CHOSE TWO GREAT QUARterbacks of the century, but some of us on the eastern outskirts of Texas are disappointed that you didn’t mention the greatest passer who ever played the game: Yelberton Abraham Tittle from Marshall. To quote a local authority: “It’s a known fact that Y.A. could throw a live hornets’ nest through a swinging horse collar a hundred yards away on a windy day.” theresa crawford
Marshall
I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU LEFT OUT Gene Autry. doris tims
El Paso
YOU DISREGARDED THE BEST OF all Texans. Audie Murphy of Farmersville was the most decorated soldier of World War II. Included among his many awards for selfless bravery and courage was the Congressional Medal of Honor. clyde kirk
Houston
“FILIBUSTER OF THE CENTURY” was interesting; however, two years before the 22-hour talk by Representative Henry B. Gonzalez, my father, state senator Kilmer B. Corbin of Lubbock, spoke on the Senate floor for 28 hours.blaine corbin
Odessa
NOT TO LESSEN OVETA CULP Hobby’s accomplishments in the Eisenhower administration, but Frances Perkins was the first woman to head a Cabinet post — Secretary of Labor, during FDR’s administration. jose vazquez
Silver Spring, Maryland
Hit Parade THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE ARTIcle on Cindy Walker [Music: “Songwriter,” December 1999]. Van Morrison’s version of “You Don’t Know Me” is a classic. It’s refreshing to have Mexia recognized as the home of a woman who has legendary hits to her credit, rather than simply as the birthplace of another woman who has legendary . . . well, you know. barbara miles
Jewett
From the Underground IN HIS REFLECTIONS ON THE AStrodome [Behind the Lines, “Doomed Dome,” December 1999], Gregory Curtis refers to the underground Space City! (of which I was a founding publisher-editor) as preaching “sex, drugs, and rebellion.” Hey, what about rock ‘n’ roll? Fact is, of the alternative rags — undeniably a rowdy lot — Space City! (punctuation included) was considered among the more reflective, even indulging in the likes of investigative reporting, thoughtful commentary, and criticism bordering on the literate. thorne dreyer
Houston