THANK YOU FOR BRINGING TEXAS home to this expatriate in “75 Things We Love About Texas.” From a child in Dallas wondering what kind of nut case wrote the state song, I have grown into an adult who hungers for those 75 things and so much more. After five years stationed in Italy with the U.S. Navy, each rare trip home is a frenzied road trip trying to pack in as many of these wonderful Texas experiences as possible.
CDR STEVE HARDMAN
Naples, Italy

MY NAME IS MARISELA. My aunt picked up your April issue and was pleasantly surprised to read about the acknowledgement of the pan dulce from Mi Tierra, in San Antonio. I had to run out and buy a copy myself because the small article was about the pastries that were made by my grandfather, Ricardo Montalvo Sr. Unfortunately, he is no longer working at Mi Tierra, after being there, I recently found out, a total of fifty years. The majority of his pan dulces were all his own creations and recipes. This article meant a lot, mainly because I know my “welito” is known for the pastry he made. A couple of weeks ago he became very ill. We found out he has cancer. It was a shock to the whole family. My welito didn’t believe in doctors, so they didn’t catch the cancer in time. He is hanging on, taking one day at a time, as we all are. My grandfather is truly a legend in the pan dulce business. My reason for this e-mail is to give you a personal thank you. It was a pleasant surprise hearing how “The Ricardo” has touched so many.
MARISELA SILVA
San Antonio

AS A PERMA-BROKE GRADUATE STUDENT, I was undecided whether to renew my subscription, but when Lubbock made the “75 Things We Love” list (even though Jan Reid called it “homely”), the decision pretty much made itself. Well played, Texas Monthly, well played indeed.
JILL HOES
Lubbock

RE: PRONOUNCIN’
don’t forget houston=“You-ston” and San Antonio=“San-tone-yah” (never “San Antone”).
DEAN DUNCAN
San Antonio

KUDOS TO NUMBER 21: Lubbock—the first item on your list of 75 things to love about Texas to acknowledge there is a part of Texas west of Interstate 35. This part of the state is also a good antidote to humidity; how that made the list I’m not sure.
JIM JACKSON
Odessa

MY RAZORBACK NEPHEW in Little Rock told me he liked everything about Texas except for two things: their offense and their defense.
BILL HANSON
San Antonio

“75 THINGS WE LOVE ABOUT TEXAS” was good, but sadly lacking in fresh fruit. Where were the Pecos cantaloupes and the Black Diamond watermelons?
D. BUTLER
El Paso

JAN JARBOE RUSSELL . . .
The three bells at Mission Espada—indeed, we love them! However, to say that “three centuries ago Texas was a small, rebellious Mexican province” is a stretch. There was no “Mexico” three centuries ago. The three bells tolled loyally for “New Spain.” Rebellious Texans in the early 1700’s? Threatening Comanche and Apache, to be sure. Texan rebellion against Mexico had to wait for Mexican independence, 1810–1821.
BILL SIMONS
San Antonio

SHAME ON YOU, Texas Monthly! Since 2000 I have been a rider or participant of the BP MS 150, a Houston to Austin bike tour that supports the Lone Star Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The tour has been conspicuously absent from your pages for years, but most egregiously in April 2006’s “75 Things We Love About Texas.” The BP MS 150 is the biggest ride in the United States and it’s Texans helping Texans. If that’s not worthy of Texas Monthly, I don’t know what is. ELIZABETH BOUDREAUX Houston

THE LIST OF 75 THINGS we love about Texas was pretty accurate. It could have used a Shiner Bock and a little bit of Robert Earl Keen, though. KAREN BERRY Longview

I AM A ’62 GARLAND High School and ’65 Texas Western College [now called the University of Texas at El Paso] graduate, but left Texas in 1971 for Charleston, South Carolina; Reno, Nevada; Virginia Beach, Virginia; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Greensboro, North Carolina; and now Johnson City, Tennessee. Texas Monthly has followed me and been a constant companion. The April issue about the 75 things we love about Texas brought back so many memories, especially with Keller’s Drive-in on the list. Thanks for all you do to keep us Texans connected.
ANDY BURKE
Johnson City, Tennessee

SEVENTY-FIVE THINGS WE LOVE about Texas and not one was from the Panhandle (Lubbock is not really in the Panhandle). What about the musical Texas? Or Palo Duro Canyon itself? Or the museum at WTAMU? Or the Big Texan restaurant in Amarillo with its 72-ounce steak (it’s free if eaten within one hour). Does the famous Cadillac Ranch not count?
ANDY ANDREWS
Cameron

IT WAS WITH TREPIDATION I read your story “75 Things We Love About Texas,” but I was greatly relieved to find that you did not mention a thing or place in East Texas. For those of us who live here and know where the very best essence of Texas remains, we would rather keep it to ourselves and enjoy our bit of East Eden without the crowds.
KAY LYNN BLACK
Nacogdoches