September 1996 Issue

On the Cover

The Texas Twenty

They worked hard, overcame obstacles, bucked conventional wisdom, and touched our lives. Meet the most impressive, intriguing, and influential Texans of 1996.

Features


Columns


Needlemania

In an era of AIDS and family values, who’s crazy enough to have a tattoo? Some twenty million Americans, including sports stars, Academy award winners, the CEO of Nike, a Republican Secretary of State—and me.

In God We Bust

Since the late eighties, dozens of big churches in Texas have put rapid growth ahead of financial health. Austin’s Great Hills Baptist is only the latest to pay the price.

Reporter


Ryan Shams

When he took up fencing as a seventh-grader at St. Mark’s School of Texas in Dallas to satisfy his physical education requirement, Ryan Shams informed his mother that he intended to master the sport—and he would not be foiled. At sixteen, after dueling for several hours a day at Dallas’

The Music Man

Most businesses in the West Texas town of Alpine cater to locals, but one attracts Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Junior Brown, and other musical greats. It’s the modest building where Michael Stevens, luthier to the stars, produces electric guitars—fewer than two dozen a year, at $2,700 to $10,000 plus. “We

Web


Honey Sesame Pork Tenderloin

1/2 cup soy sauce 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger 1 tablespoon sesame oil 1 to 11/2 pounds pork tenderloin 1/4 cup honey 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, firmly packed 1/4 cup sesame seeds/p>Combine soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and sesame oil in a large plastic bag. Add

Rosemary Mashed Potatoes

4 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary 13/4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup warm milk 2 ounces Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (yields 1/2 cup) salt to taste freshly ground pepper to tasteMelt butter in a small saucepan. Add rosemary

Miscellany


State Fare

There are two ways to use Stop and Smell the Rosemary: Recipes and Traditions to Remember, the spectacular new offering from the Junior League of Houston. First, you can use the cookbook part to prepare any of the five hundred excellent recipes. Second, you can concentrate on the menu and

Around the State

East meets Southwest in an unprecedented festival of Japanese culture in Dallas. Plus: Texas rock and rollers shake their Hootie; Lubbock gets down for a four-day celebration of cowboys and cool tunes; the University of Texas Longhorns host the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame—and give one of their own the

Gilt Trip

Andrew Eccles has photographed plenty of 24-karat celebrities for Texas Monthly, but his session with Lou Diamond Phillips was a truly golden experience. “In an industry that’s marked by jaded people,” Eccles says, “Lou was a breath of fresh air. He’s down to earth, talkative, enthusiastic—an incredibly sweet guy.”In his

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