September 2004 Issue

On the Cover

Alive and Kicking

Although some might consider the Kilgore Rangerettes an anachronism, every summer dozens of fresh-faced teens from around the state flock to East Texas to perfect a seemingly effortless hat-brim-touching high kick—and preserve one of the state’s great traditions.

Features


Feature

Reversal of Fortune

Eight years ago, 42 people in the West Texas town of Roby—7 percent of the population—pooled their money, bought lottery tickets, and won $46 million. And that's when their luck ran out.

Feature

Wrecked

The car crash that killed four teenage girls in Tatum last September is an East Texas version of a Greek tragedy, one that has forced the tiny town's residents to address some of life's most agonizing questions: When the worst things happen—when the most heartbreaking events come into your life

“The Buzz About Marfa Is Just Crazy”

A century after the cowboys and ranchers moved in on the local Apaches, Comanches, and Tejanos, the West Texas town is adjusting to a new breed of excitable invaders: Hollywood fashion arbiters, New York art- world youngsters, Houston superlawyers, and the like. Cappuccino, anyone?

Columns


O, Canadian!

The Panhandle town may be the first in Texas to decide to base its economy on nature tourism. Judging by the results, it won't be the last.

Kinky Friedman

Man About Town

Why do I live where I live? To get away from the Peruvian marching powder—and because my door was ajar.

Reporter


Art

Watercolor landscapes, pre-Columbian objects— and a painting by Modigliani.

Web


Web Exclusive

Life Is Good

For the Bethel Dozen, a group of friends who won the Texas Lotto, it doesn't get much better.

Texas History 101

Texas History 101

On September 12, 1940, the Kilgore Rangerettes stepped out onto the football field for their first performance—and changed the future of halftime shows at football games across the state.

Web Exclusive

Travelin’ Man

In his new book Texas Road Trip, Bryan Woolley tells some great stories. Here he talks about working at the Dallas Morning News, driving around the state, and preserving a little bit of Texas.

Web Exclusive

Country Boy

Associate art director T. J. Tucker, who grew up on a ranch near Baird, in Callahan County, talks about hauling hay and hitting the back roads.

Web Exclusive

All-American Girls

Associate editor Katy Vine, who wrote this month's cover story, "Alive and Kicking," talks about getting inside Rangerette culture.

Recipe

Summer Garden Slaw and Buttermilk Dressing

From Chef Mark Schmidt, Café 909, Marble FallsButtermilk Dressing 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon mayonnaise 1/4 cup buttermilk 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon roasted garlic purée 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1 tablespoon chopped mixed herbs (basil, parsley, oregano, and thyme) salt and pepper to tasteCombine

Books That Cook

Books That Cook

Community and continuity are key ingredients in the success of the Amarillo Junior League Cookbook, so too are hard work and cultivation as symbolized by the asparagus on the cover (it takes several years until the plant is ready to harvest). The cookbook, which was published in the league’s fiftieth

Chip, Chip, Hooray!

In 1943 Ignacio Anaya was working as the maître d’ at the Victory Club, in Piedras Negras—across the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass—when a gaggle of officers’ wives from nearby Fort Duncan strolled into the place. With no chef in sight, the 49-year-old Anaya dashed to the kitchen, ingeniously piling

Café 909

I am ashamed to admit that I have sometimes been a little snarky about the quality of restaurants in small towns, but you won’t find me knocking ten-month-old Café 909, in Marble Falls. This Central Texas newcomer is a dandy. The eclectic artwork—such as a convocation of yellow-headed blackbirds—amuses

Miscellany


Atsbox

09.17.04

Hundreds of thousands of music worshipers who have made the pilgrimage to Zilker Park the past two years to see their idols perform at the Austin City Limits Music Festival will no doubt make the journey again this year. The lineup, which includes Cat Power, the Pixies, Ben Harper and

Larry McMurtry

“I like to go out at night. I like to sit in a nice room and look at beautiful women. I don't want to just sit on my back porch drinking scotch, and there isn’t much more to do in Archer City.”

Atsbox

ON THE ROAD

LubbockAt the National Cowboy Symposium and Celebration September 9­12, some 25,000 people will converge in Lubbock to pay tribute to cowboy culture and Western history. Festivities include a horse parade, a Native American mini powwow, a chuck wagon cookoff, a nondenominational devotional service led by a cowboy minister, and a

Atsbox

HEY, YOU!

Look who’s coming to Texas. P.J. O’RourkeThe political satirist will be speaking at the University of Texas at Austin on September 16.Do you consider yourself a conservative humorist or simply a humorist? I consider myself a humorist who happens to be a conservative. I think that things are just funny

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