Can a savvy Hollywood dealmaker also be as down-home and unassuming as an old shoe? He can if he's Austin's Bill Wittliff, an award-winning screenwriter, an accomplished photographer, a collector with a passion for the past—in short, the nicest Renaissance man you'll ever meet.

How Bill Ratliff became lieutenant governor—and what it means for Texas.

The most famous bank-robbing lovers of all time weren't nearly as glamorous as Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. Although the fragile, pretty Bonnie Parker had her good points, Clyde Barrow was a scrawny, two-timing psychopath. They were straight out of a country and western ballad. And when they died in a hail of bullets 66 years ago, their legend was born.

Brandon and Denise were not like other people. They were smarter, more introverted. They adored computers, playing games online at three in the morning with people in Finland. When they and other hard-core techies moved to Walden, a Houston apartment complex with the fastest residential Internet connection in the world, it seemed like a wired paradise. For a while, it was.

In Lubbock they call her the "Spanish Yoko Ono," and María Elena Holly, Buddy Holly’s widow, has always had a troubled relationship with his conservative hometown. Some folks rave on that it’s her greed that has killed the city’s Buddy Holly Music Festival. But it’s more complicated than that.

Noah's Land—an exotic-animal park and petting zoo near Bastrop—is underfinanced, and its staff is overwhelmed. As if that weren't enough, it's also under investigation for possible animal neglect.

Is A-Rod good for baseball?

Critics praise him. Woody Allen loves him. And no one does a better Truman Capote. Meet Midland's Douglas McGrath, a writer-director who's ready to take center stage with his role in a new movie.

Sixteen years after a car crash ended his football career, former Cowboys star Drew Pearson is a team player again—in the XFL.

Get hooked on the sea bass at Dallas' Bistral.

From ballet to boot-scootin', Houston offers up a great weekend. Plus: Austin and Dallas put artists on display; Galveston gets fat; San Antonio hits an operatic high note; and the San Antonio CineFestival focuses in on the films of Efrain Gutierrez.

Nicholas Gonzalez lands a knockout role.

What Galveston native filmed the black and white scenes in The Wizard of Oz?

Thomas Haden Church goes natural.

Who's the rising star of Midland politics? Oh, brother!

The Perfect Sonya.

Teachers without insurance.