Desperately Seeking Cormac
Cormac McCarthy’s birth date and birthplace are just two of the facts about him that have eluded his rabid fans—until now. A dossier on the most fiercely private writer in Texas.
July 1998 Issue
Features
The Rise and Fall and Rise and Fall of Ricky Ross
The East Texas native was the most prolific drug dealer of his generation. Now he’s in jail for life, but he says he’s freer than ever.
How to Have Great Sex Forever
Since I started taking Viagra, I have had the time of my life. You can too—but there’s more to romance than a little blue pill.
The Handmades’ Tale
These twelve Texas artisans herald the victory of man over machine, carefully crafting wood, metal, or stone into items for your home and hearth that are tomorrow’s heirlooms today.
Columns
Sci-fi Fo Fum
Texas is filled with giants in the science-fiction field these days, but none loom larger than Bruce Sterling and Michael Moorcock.
A Letter to the Mayor
The Honorable Lee P. Brown Mayor of HoustonHouston, TexasDear Mayor Brown,THANKS AGAIN FOR SEEING ME the other day. I’m always happy to have a reason to go to Houston City Hall. It’s not much to look at from the outside, but inside it’s one of my favorite
Marathon Man
Houston’s J.P. Bryan is remaking a West Texas town into what could be the next Taos—and for some locals, that’s a mixed blessing.
Soul Survivor
His mentor, Sam Cooke, is long dead, but Dallas’ Johnnie Taylor is alive and well and still living at the top of the charts.
A Summer Place
Don’t think of the Hill Country Hyatt as just another chain hotel. Think of it as your salvation—especially if you have kids.
Reporter
Brad Maule
When I was five, my family got a television, and it was like a meteorite had landed on the farm. That’s when I knew I wanted to be in show business, but I had to keep it a secret because you couldn’t tell people that. My school had this talent
Destiny’s Child
They could be Texas’ own Spice Girls—if that’s what they wanted. Destiny’s Child, the vocal quartet from Houston, clearly has what it takes to make hit records: This spring, their song “No, No, No” reached number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 Singles chart. But unlike the “Prefab Five,” as wags
CD and Book Reviews
Hot CDsInevitable baggage accompanies an album whose sessions splintered a great band, ousted three producers, and outlasted a record company. But if ex-Austinite Lucinda Williams is a paragon of self-doubt, she’s also a gifted writer who gets to the core of a character in the course of a three-minute tune.
Ernest Goes to Texas
Borgnine: The word itself is barrel-chested, glaring, grotesque. And has a name ever been so suggestive of a face? Known for cinematic classics like From Here to Eternity and Marty (for which he won an Academy award in 1955), Ernest Borgnine last worked in Texas in the mid-fifties, when he
Hut, Hut, Yikes!
If the Dallas Cowboys thought last season was unpleasant, wait until they open training camp in Wichita Falls.
Web
Recipe
Crispy Salmon and Spinach Spring Rolls
Spring Rolls8 to 12 spring roll wrappers (available in frozen foods section of grocery stores and at Asian markets) 1 bunch fresh spinach, rinsed 24 ounces of fresh salmon, cut into 8 to 12 finger-length pieces, depending on how fat you want the rolls to be salt and pepper to
Miscellany
The Inside Story
Oh, Danny Boy
In ten years as a professional photographer for publications like the New York Times, Vanity Fair, and Texas Monthly, Danny Turner has shot his share of heavyweight politicians, from Al Gore to Ann Richards, and they have often been tough to shoot. “Sometimes you can only take as good a
Around the State
Around the State
Houston goes to the dogs—and we mean that in a good way. Plus: Jerry Seinfeld (perhaps you’ve heard of him) in San Antonio; pride of a country legend in Fort Worth; nature on display in Dallas; crossed swords in Austin.THE MAIN EVENTBow Wow The dog days are coming to Houston—and
Rogers Hornsby
BASEBALL’S ROGERS HORNSBY was a success right off the bat. In 1916, at age twenty, he became the leading hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals. His 1924 batting average of .424 is still the best of the modern era (and his lifetime .358 is second only to Ty Cobb’s .367).
Situation Wanted
Headline: Situation Wanted by Evan SmithThe revolving door between politics and the media is swinging furiously in New York and Washington, D.C., so why should it be any different in Austin? In this year’s race for attorney general, for instance, the major party candidates have hired journalists as their spokespersons:
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