November 1986
Features
He was a master of tall tales and a genius at self-promotion. But was he anything more?
The departure of MCC’s chief signals a new beginning for the company—and an end to Austin’s high-tech boom.
Fred Thomas was young, poor, and black. Not only was he afflicted with the terror of schizophrenia, he was also faced with the chaos of the Texas mental health system.
A splash of lace, a sultry drape—what could be more romantic than a long black dress?
A rhapsody of the perfection of corn chips, chili, cheese, and onions, mixed in a bag.
Columns
Melissa Miller’s lions and tiger confront demons, dance under the moon, and reflect the ambiguity of the modern world.
In the novel Paradise, Donald Barthelme offers a cereal box of current events and social observations; Laura Furman challenges the dogged ideal of family in Tuxedo Park; Karleen Koen’s Through a Glass is a crash-bang publishing event.
Technologically, Captain EO is a marvel, but the plot is banal to the point of retrograde; Touch and Go has drive and laughs; True Stories has no stories; The Men’s Club is a stag party with pretensions; Shanghai Surprise is a passable waste of time.
On LPs spurred by the MTV limelight, Timbuk3 blends street beast with witty wordplay, the True Believers combine six-string moxie with striving vocals, and the Tail Gators pack a sonic wallop.
You can buy almost anything on shopper’s TV, if you have the patience to sit and watch it.
Reporter
Will the beaches of Boca Chica become sand traps? Will hard-core punkers perform on Dallas’ favorite kiddie show. Peppermint Place? Will Texas Republicans shell out for their Great Hispanic Hope.
Miscellany
Appreciation of the desert; recognition of a leader among women; development of Grand Prairie.
Who’ll follow Fred Akers at UT? Environmentalists and sportsmen team up to black a dam; two congressional races are political barometers.
Sizing up Phyllis Diller; foiling Esquire’s great expectations; hopping continents with honeymooners Lloyd and Joanne Davis.