Feature
Church Burners
Why did Jason Bourque and Daniel McAllister, two Baptist boys from East Texas, set fire to ten churches across three counties last year?
May 2011 Issue
Features
Feature
The Birdman of Texas
Victor Emanuel can find you a hooded warbler, a horned guan, or maybe even an Eskimo curlew. But his real genius is that he can get you to really look at a grackle.
The Peculiar Monument
In this exclusive excerpt from Remember Ben Clayton, a new novel by Stephen Harrigan, a sculptor meets a lonely rancher who has lost his son and needs something to remember him by.
Night of the Living Ed
With public education facing an estimated $7 billion in cuts, the question on everyone’s mind is, Are Texas schools doomed? So we assembled a group of dinner guests (a superintendent, advocates on both sides, an education union rep, and the commissioner of the Texas Education Agency) to find out. Check,
Columns
Less Than Hero
The worst deficit facing Texas right now is not the one in our budget: it’s the leadership deficit.
The Texanist: Can You Pick a Bluebonnet?
Picking bluebonnets, pastry terminology, angling laws, and the best way to respond to a speeding ticket.
No Peña, No Gain
Was Aaron Peña’s defection to the Republican party a quixotic move that will cost him his political career or the start of a bad trend for Democrats?
Mimi Swartz
Oil Night Long
Amid all the drink tickets, bikini-clad hostesses, and outrageous displays of wealth at the world’s largest expo for independent oilmen, I was determined to get some answers about the future of the business.
Reporter
Hollywood, TX
To Have and to Hold
Can the T. D. Jakes brand go mainstream—and live to tell the tale?
Tyler
Flower lovers drawn to the Rose Capital of the Nation will find snazzy frocks and spicy guisado de puerco amid the petals and thorns.
Karen Hughes’s Kitchen Island
The onetime presidential adviser gives us a glimpse of her home life.
How to Make Venison Sausage
Watching lawmakers bicker over the state budget in Austin reminds us of the old adage about what politics and sausage have in common. Fortunately for sausage, its approval ratings are through the roof. “It’s become easier to stuff sausage at home, since more places are selling small grinders and stuffers,”
Chris Treviño, Tattoo Artist
Treviño, who has been tattooing for more than twenty years, is the owner of Perfection Tattoo in Austin. He is known for his traditional Japanese designs, which have earned him an extensive client base in the U.S. as well as in Japan, where he travels four times a year. He grew up in
Web
Royal Chef
Dallas chef Darren McGrady on cooking for Princess Diana and her family, selecting the royal wedding menu, and making Prince William's favorite thing to eat.
Web Exclusive
A Q&A With Pamela Colloff
The executive editor, who wrote this month's story about the East Texas church fires, on getting subjects to talk, interviewing people behind bars, and defining turning points.
A Q&A With Bryan Curtis
On watching ballgames at the old Arlington Stadium; writing about the Texas Rangers, America’s new favorite team; and comparing notes on morality with C. J. Wilson.
Web Exclusive
A Q&A With Katy Vine
The senior editor on embracing enthusiasm, going birding with Victor Emanuel, and wading through tall grass.
The Drop Everything List
The Texas Beer Fest, Lucinda Williams and Erika Wennerstrom, the Battle of Port Jefferson, and Railfest . . .
Psychedelic Summit
Fifty-eight bands from around the world play Austin Psych Fest 4 April 29–May 1. Michael Hall sits down with the Black Angels, founders of the festival (and the “Reverberation Appreciation Society”) and rejuvenated psychedelic godfather Roky Erickson.
The Drop Everything List
Arcade Fire, the Texas State Surfing Championships, the Wings Over the Hills Nature Festival, and the Wiener Dog Races . . .
He Lost a Good Thing
Huey P. Meaux, one of the most successful and significant record producers in Texas history, died last weekend at age 82. He leaves a legacy marked by brilliant songs and some very bad decisions.
Web Exclusive
Watergate Still Unfolding at UT’s Ransom Center
Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, and Robert Redford dished on All the President’s Men,contemporary journalism, and Watergate’s enduring legacy at the LBJ Library Thursday.
Night of the Living Ed: The Complete Transcript
The complete transcript of a roundtable discussion on public education hosted by TEXAS MONTHLY and published, in edited form, in the May 2011 issue.
The Drop Everything List
The Big Bend Open Road Race, Larry Joe Taylor’s Texas Music Festival & Chili Cook-off, Itzhak Perlman, and the Buc Days Carnival . . .
Alma
PICTURE YOURSELF ON A Mexican-tiled patio as sunlight filters through a rustic roof made of slender wooden latillas. A margarita stands at the ready, droplets of moisture condensing enticingly on the chilled glass. Within arm’s reach on your left is a cast-iron dish piled with chunky guacamole. On your right
Web Exclusive
These Are a Few of My Favorite Things
Victor Emanuel describes what he likes about these beautiful birds that can be found in Texas.
A Conversation With Billy Joe Shaver
The outlaw-country legend on his recent acquittal, his songs, and his friendship with Willie Nelson.
The Drop Everything List
The Golden Arm Trio, Texas Bound, the Tejano Conjunto Festival, and the 24-Hour Video Race . . .
New + Noteworthy
Francesca's at Sunset, San Antonio, and Saldivia South American Grill, Houston.
Miscellany
Roar of the Crowd
Roar of the Crowd
Site SeeingWhile reading my March copy, with the “175 Years of Texas” headline and the beautiful, enticing scratch-and-sniff, it was only appropriate that I swell with pride, as I so often do with our family copy of the journal. Hell, the word “terquasquicentennial” at the top of the cover alone
Editor's Letter
Talkin’ About an Education
The U.S. Constitution says nothing about public education, but all the state constitutions have clauses addressing it, and reading through them is a mildly inspiring way to spend half an hour. Arkansas: “Intelligence and virtue being the safeguards of liberty and the bulwark of a free and good government, the
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