Mimi Swartz
Mimi Swartz, author, with Sherron Watkins, of Power Failure, The Inside Story of the Collapse of Enron, is an executive editor of Texas Monthly. Previously, she was a staff writer at Talk, from April 1999 to April 2001, and a staff writer at The New Yorker from 1997 until she joined Talk. Prior to joining The New Yorker, she worked at Texas Monthly for thirteen years. In 1996, Swartz was a finalist for two National Magazine Awards and won in the public interest category for her story on managed care. She was also a National Magazine Award finalist for her November 2005 issue story on tort reform, entitled “Hurt? Injured? Need a Lawyer? Too Bad!” and won the 2006 John Bartlow Martin Award for Public Interest, Magazine Journalism for the same story.
Over the years, Swartz’ work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Esquire, Slate, National Geographic and the New York Times’ Op Ed page and Sunday magazine. It has also been collected in Best American Political Writing, 2006, and Best American Sportswriting, 2007. She has been a member of the Texas Institute of Letters since 1994.
Swartz grew up in San Antonio, Texas, and graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. She now lives in Houston with her husband John Wilburn, and son, Sam.
Features
People We’ll Miss—2009
A fond look back at 22 Texans who died in 2009, from Farrah Fawcett and Walter Cronkite to Brandon Lara and Joe Bowman. (December 2009)
Below the Surface
In 1996 a powerful South Texas ranching clan accused ExxonMobil of sabotaging wells on the family’s property. Thirteen years, millions of dollars in legal fees, and one state Supreme Court opinion later, the biggest oil field feud of its time is still raging. (November 2009)
The 50 Greatest Hamburgers In Texas
On our first-ever quest for the state’s best burgers, we covered more than 12,000 miles, ate at more than 250 restaurants, and gained, collectively, more than 40 pounds. Our dauntless determination (and fearless fat intake) was rewarded with a list of 50 transcendent burgers—and you’ll never guess which one ended up on top. Check out our Best Burger section. (August 2009)
Culture Vulture
(June 2009)
The Dark Knight
Inside the fantastic rise and catastrophic fall of Sir Allen Stanford—that high-flying egomaniac with the offshore bank, gold helicopter, Caribbean island, and knack for disposing of other people’s money. (May 2009)
Styles and Styles of Texas
The thirty Texans with the most iconic, unforgettable, eye-popping looks, from Davy Crockett to Beyoncé. (March 2009)
My Life
Trade secrets and true tales from Lynn Wyatt, she of the famously fabulous parties, glamorous couture gowns, rich and entertaining pals (e.g., Liza Minnelli, Andy Warhol), and legendary whiskey laugh. (March 2009)
Children of the Storm
After Hurricane Katrina, Rhonda Tavey selflessly opened her Houston home to a New Orleans evacuee and five of her children. She fed the kids, bathed them, and grew to love them so much that when their mother tried to take them back to Louisiana, she wouldn’t let them go. (January 2009)
The Risk Premium
Most American consumers understand that the invasion of Iraq has contributed to the skyrocketing price of oil. But there’s another reason why we’re paying so much per barrel and gallon: The countries where crude is available in abundance are increasingly dangerous places to operate. Russell Spell, of Conroe, can tell you firsthand. (June 2008)
Child’s Play
Summer vacation is right around the corner, but that doesn’t mean you should panic. We’ve rounded up 68 of our favorite things to do with your toddlers, teens, and every kid in between. Dance the hokey pokey. Rope a horse. Eat way too many hot dogs. Zip down a waterslide. And yes, feed the animals. (April 2008)
The Gospel According to Matthew
Why does a rich Houston investment banker spend his days traveling the globe, preaching to the uninformed and indifferent that the world’s supply of crude oil is in steep decline and the end of life as we know it is very, very near? Maybe because it is. (February 2008)
The Day Oscar Wyatt Caved
In the right light, the ornery octogenarian oilman’s guilty plea can be seen as a victory: After all, he won’t spend the rest of his natural life in jail. But the fact is, he couldn’t beat the rap—and he knew it. (November 2007)
Eva Almighty
There are prettier women in Hollywood. There are more-talented actresses on TV and in the movies. So how to explain the charmed, celebrated existence that is la vida Longoria? (September 2007)
Splitsville!
True-life tales from the files of one of Houston’s top divorce lawyers. (August 2007)
Eva vs. Goliath
After James and Linda Rowe were killed in a grisly refinery explosion in Texas City in 2005, their wild-child daughter could have taken a modest settlement and started to rebuild her life in a small Louisiana border town. Instead, she chose to fight—and brought a multibillion-dollar oil company to its knees. (July 2007)
The Punch Line
Anna Nicole Smith died as she lived: as a bit of tabloid ephemera, sandwiched between a love-crazed astronaut and Britney Spears’s new do. And that’s exactly where she belonged. (April 2007)
Here Comes Trouble
Dan Patrick is causing nervous breakdowns of various size and duration—and he’s not even in the Texas Senate yet. (January 2007)
Girl Walks Into an Outlet Mall
But not just any. The Prime and Tanger outlets, in San Marcos, with Neiman’s Last Call and Saks Off Fifth and Polo Ralph Lauren and Zegna among their more than 225 stores, are the fourth most popular tourist attraction in Texas. Maximizing a trip to such a massive shopping mecca requires a carefully thought-out strategy. Fortunately, I have one. (September 2006)
Guilty Pleasure
Kenny, we hardly knew ye. Okay, maybe we knew you too well. The jury, at least, seems to have pegged you just right. You too, Skilling. (July 2006)
The Gangstas of Godwin Park
Whatever else you can say about it, the life and death of Bellaire High School junior Jonathan Finkelman is a tragic tale of drugs, money, race, and MySpace. (June 2006)
Heartbreak High
If the war is an unpleasant abstraction in the rest of the country, it’s omnipresent at Killeen Shoemaker, where many of the children of the enlisted men and women of Fort Hood are enrolled—and pray for peace every single day. (March 2006)
Midnight in the Garden of Memory
My San Antonio was an overgrown small town, socially stratified and inbred, controlled by a handful of old, wealthy families. (December 2005)
Hurt? Injured? Need a Lawyer? Too Bad!
What tort reform has done to Texans in need would be grounds for a lawsuit—if there still were any lawsuits. (November 2005)
The Mildcatters
The lessons of the eighties boom have been internalized by today’s energy entrepreneurs, who seem nothing like their risk-loving forebears. They’re happy playing it safe, which is why their preferred commodity is gas, not oil. (July 2005)
Till Death Do Us Part
The marriage of Baylor College of Medicine and Methodist Hospital should have been made in heaven—and until recently, it was. Their nasty breakup is a bell tolling for American medicine. (March 2005)
Happily Enron After!
The fairy tale is long over, but reality hasn’t necessarily set in. (February 2005)
The Good Wife
Is she a “saccharine phony”? A closet liberal? A foot soldier—or a rebel—in the culture wars? The truth about Laura Bush is that her ambiguity makes her a model first lady: a blank screen upon which the public can project its own ideas about womanhood. (November 2004)
Them's Fightin' Words!
All over the world, and all over this country, the Texas stereotype is mocked and maligned (so what else is new?). Does it matter, really, if everyone thinks we're fat, violent, prudish yahoos? (July 2004)
Cast Away
For Sharon Bush, membership in the world's most powerful family had its privileges. But as she discovered after her husband of 23 years—the brother of one president and the son of another—ended their marriage via e-mail, it can be revoked without warning. (May 2004)
"I Had a Great Future Behind Me"
So says my friend Jost Lunstroth, one of thousands of formerly successful Texans for whom unemployment is more than a statistic. (February 2004)
The Witness
For forty years Nellie Connally has been talking about that day, when she was in that car and saw that tragedy unfold. She's still talking—and now she's writing too. (November 2003)
The Traitor Next Door
His name was Wadih el-Hage. He had an American wife and American kids, a home in Arlington, a job at a tire store in Fort Worth, and a secret past that led straight to Osama bin Laden. (April 2002)
How Enron Blew It
The Houston-based energy giant put the pursuit of profits ahead of all other corporate goals, which fostered a climate of workaholism and paranoia. And that was only part of the problem. (November 2001)
Nice Guys Finish Second
Is Survivor’s Colby Donaldson for real? Over lunch, the last old-fashioned Texas man talks about why he threw the game and what he’ll do next. (August 2001)
Good-bye to All That
Austinites thought the high-tech boom wouldn't change them, but it turned their city into something that more closely resembled Houston or Dallas in the golden eighties. Now they're paying the price. (June 2001)
Architecture • Ted Flato and David Lake
Master builders. (September 1997)
Gossip • Liz Smith
She’s got a secret. (September 1997)
Sloane, Alone
Dallas’ Sloane Simpson was a society queen who enchanted New York, seduced Mexico City, and turned Acapulco into a jet-set getaway. But when she died last year at age eighty, she was almost completely forgotten. (June 1997)
Brenham’s Paradise Lost
An idyllic small town confronts a controversial rape case involving four high school boys and a thirteen-year-old girl and discovers that nothing is certain—except that its children can’t escape the big-city culture of teenage sex. (February 1997)
It Came From Outer Space
The inside story of how industrious NASA scientists discovered signs of life in a Martian rock and boosted the fortunes of the tabloids, Hollywood producers, and even the president. (November 1996)
Religion • Kirbyjon Caldwell
Practicing what he preaches. (September 1996)
Truckin’
On the road with Victor Morales, the schoolteacher turned U.S. Senate candidate who is out to prove he’s not running on empty. (June 1996)
The High Times of Gerry Goldstein
Texas’ top drug lawyer helps dope dealers and cocaine kingpins beat their raps—and he’s proud of it. (April 1996)
Congressman Clueless
Steve Stockman was supposed to have been a lethal weapon in the Republicans’ fight to unmake the Great Society. Instead the freshman legislator has been a loose cannon—an outsider in his own party. (February 1996)
The Public Hell of Bob Carreiro
A daughter’s gruesome murder became a grieving father’s dark crusade to find her killer and thrust him into an ever-widening spotlight as an advocate for victims of violent crime. (January 1996)
Silicone City
From invention to litigation, the breast implant has done more for Houston’s economy—and its psyche—than anything since oil. (August 1995)
Not What The Doctor Ordered
How an old-fashioned Texas physician fought the takeover of modern medicine by heartless insurance companies—and lost. (March 1995)
How to Marry A Millionaire
Anna Nicole Smith got her man: the full story on the big gal’s marriage to octogenarian oilman J. Howard Marshall. (October 1994)
The Fugitive
Stardom has caught up with Tommy Lee Jones—finally. But don’t expect him to act like he’s enjoying it. (October 1993)
Shooting Stars
With wit and grit, Amarillo-born photographer Mark Seliger persuades reluctant celebrities to show their true selves. (January 1993)
The Price of Being Molly
Being the nation’s most famous interpreter of Texas politics sounds like fun. But for Molly Ivins, success has been no laughing matter. (November 1992)
River Oaks 77019
Two prominent families, one soapy feud. What could be better for a summer miniseries? (July 1992)
Judge Roy Scream vs. The Texas Cyclone
How to beat the heat, find the food, and master the coasters at Texas’ four big theme parks. (June 1992)
The Man Who Knows Everything
Clyde Wilson is more than a private investigator. He’s the historian of Houston’s dark side—and that makes him the most dangerous man in town. (June 1992)
Love and Hate at Texas A&M
A report from the front lines in the battle of the sexes—inside the Aggie corps. (February 1992)
Murder in the Melting Pot
Some Vietnamese immigrants live the American dream. But for the family of Vu Dinh Chung, the dream turned into a fatal nightmare. (December 1991)
Blood in the Streets
Blood in the Streets. Houstonians and homicide detectives struggle to cope with a deadly crime wave. (November 1991)
The Cheerleader Murder Plot
To understand Wanda Holloway’s dark and desperate story, you have to start with where she came from. (May 1991)
The Fab Flacks
The nouvelle stars of Houston society are none other than Becca Cason and Holly Moore, the founders of the hippest, most with-it PR machine in the city. (June 1990)
The Mythic Rise of Billy Don Moyers
A small-town boy’s journey from Texas to the cosmos. (November 1989)
Abortion Street
Sixteen years after Roe v. Wade, all the bitterness and horror of the abortion fight can be found at a single site in Dallas. (April 1989)
A Legacy of Evil
In the town George Parr once dominated, a nineteen-year-old mother was gang-raped by her neighbors. In the aftermath of the crime, the old horrors of San Diego have surfaced anew. (September 1988)
Texas Primer: The Rose Window
The secrets of love seen through a glass, clearly. (February 1987)
No Promises
I arrived in Houston at the height of the boom, and left just as the bust began. Along the way I learned what it means to grow up. (January 1987)
Texas Primer: The Sticker Bur
After encountering this small brown barb, the wise Texas child learns to pick and choose his fights with the landscape. (January 1985)
Texas Primer: The Collins Purse
In the sixties a small company in Medina produced a wooden box decorated with rhinestones. It became a Texas tradition. (January 1984)
Requiem for a Margarita
Tequila, tequila, everywhere, and not a drop in your margarita. (February 1979)
Columns | Miscellany
Home Front Lines
For too many veterans, the emotional scars of war go untreated. An innovative group of Harris County politicians, judges, attorneys, and health care workers—most of whom are veterans themselves—is aiming to fix that. (January 2010)
What She Wore
On the day my mother died, I found myself in the place that, more than any other, had defined our relationship: her closet. (January 2010)
White Elephant
The most formidable candidate in the race for Houston’s next mayor may be the outgoing chief himself. (August 2009)
Failing Darla
It’s time for Texas to start taking better care of people like Darla Deese, a developmentally disabled woman who has spent most of her life in our harrowing state schools. (July 2009)
The Grand Gesture
Why Texans stand out in crowds. (March 2009)
Emergency!
Why are the UT regents letting Galveston’s only hospital die? (January 2009)
I Don’t Like Ike
Here comes the story of the hurricane. (November 2008)
How Green Is My Bayou?
Increasingly so. Surprise, surprise. (September 2008)
Tour de Farce
Only yesterday, it seems, my mother was taking me to visit colleges. A second later, here I am, enduring this rite of passage from the other side. (July 2008)
Reversal of Fortune
How Houston’s rich got to be the same as you and me—that is, boring. (December 2007)
The Year of Living Dangerously
Houston’s Katrina hangover. (October 2006)
Lynn Wyatt
I had no clue about the amount of magic Texas held. Texas had a persona all its own, and I was proud to be a little smidgen part of it. (December 2005)
Kirbyjon Caldwell
One evening Ike and Tina came over for dinner to my mom and dad’s house. Tina kissed me on the forehead before I went to bed. (December 2005)
Going Public
An exit interview with Hockaday’s headmistress. (February 2005)
World Crass
Will Houston's next mayor be White? (October 2003)
The Perfect Storm
Enron, rest in pieces. (January 2002)
Oscar Wyatt
The oil boom is long over, but he and other wildcatters are still thriving. (September 2001)
The Last Resort
Acapulco used to be a favorite destination of beautiful people from Texas and elsewhere. It still should be. (November 1997)
Westheimer, Ho!
Accessories for sexual adventurers, columns for your Craftsman bungalow, tasteful tables made from old manhole covers: You can find it all on this reborn Houston strip. (July 1997)
Green Eggs and Kao
I thought I’d teach my young son’s Laotian friend about all the essentials of American culture, including Dr. Seuss. I just never imagined how much he’d teach me. (March 1997)
Crew’s Control
Bare and spare, J. Crew’s newest retail outlet pays homage to refined minimalism. (September 1992)
San Antonio Shopping Guide
Where to find the best food, crafts, and arts in the Alamo City. (June 1973)
Reporter
Teaching Yoga
(September 2009)
Coiffing Socialites
Cerón on styling socialites’ hair. (June 2009)
Washington Avenue, Houston
The once forgotten corridor emerges as an eclectic enclave. (January 2009)
New Chinatown, Houston
(February 2008)
Westheimer Road, Houston
Westheimer Road, Houston (August 2007)
Throwing a Party
Party tricks from Jackson Hicks. (February 2007)
West Nineteenth, Houston
West Nineteenth, Houston. (December 2006)
It Is the Heat
Hot enough for you? (September 2006)
The Enron Show
Scenes from the Enron reality show. (June 2006)
Six Ways To Sunday
The New England Patriots weren't the only winners at the Super Bowl. Houston won too, sort of. (March 2004)
Stanley Marcus
Mimi Swartz sizes up the legacy of Stanley Marcus. (March 2002)
Fear Itself
Mimi Swartz finds fear at home. (December 2001)
Water World
Mimi Schwartz considers the wake of Tropical Storm Allison. (August 2001)
Mercy!
The latest star pupil of the so-called Houston school. (December 1996)
Web Exclusives
High Society
The Houston Chronicle’s loss is CultureMap’s gain—Shelby Hodge. (October 2009)
Mayor League
The Houston mayor’s race gets interesting (finally). (August 2009)
Sticky in Houston
What to do in humid Houston during the summer? If you’re Lynn Wyatt, you don’t sweat it and ask a couple dozen of your closest acquaintances to a book signing party for your dear, dear friend Candy Spelling, mother of Tori and author of Stories From Candyland. (June 2009)
Circle of Influenza
If you need an example of how the world can change in an instant, here is a small blow by blow. (May 2009)
Our Very Own Bernie Madoff
Maybe the collapse of the Stanford Group isn’t Enron, but Houston wasn’t about to be left out of the financial scandals. (March 2009)
Downsizing Houston
If the crash that followed the boom hasn’t exactly been our fault, the result has been that same sad sense that maybe we’ll never have fun again. (February 2009)
Man Hunt
Executive editor Mimi Swartz talks about Wadih el-Hage and this month's cover story, "The Traitor Next Door." (April 2002)
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