Some TEXAS MONTHLY Stories on Society
Girl Gone Mild »
After spending her adolescence largely out of view (except for a few scrapes with restaurant and bar employees), presidential spawn Jenna Bush is emerging as a public person in her own right. But her return to private life can’t come soon enough.
by Skip Hollandsworth [November 2007]
Human Mate Selection Is a Many-Splendored Thing »
David Buss understands how Stone Age hookups made us who we are—but can that help me get a date?
by Karen Olsson [June 2007]
The Gang’s All Here »
When the rough-and-tumble bikers known as the Bandidos gathered in San Antonio for the funeral of one of their beloved members, they swore a lot, drank a lot, defended themselves against the police and the public’s misperceptions, and—amazingly— let a reporter observe the whole fascinating scene.
by Skip Hollandsworth [April 2007]
Eating A Dead Horse »
Even if you’ve never dined on the delicious remains of a noble steed, you probably have an opinion on whether the state’s two slaughterhouses should remain open. Boone Pickens does. And Charlie Stenholm. And Bo Derek. Not to mention the many traders and “killer buyers” for whom business is business.
by Karen Olsson [December 2006]
Weed All About It »
The case for legalizing marijuana (and no, I haven’t been smoking something).
by Gary Cartwright [July 2005]
Happiness Is a Warm Gun »
In the state with the nation’s most celebrated concealed carry law, is it any wonder that the annual convention of pistol packers, peddlers, and promoters was number one with a bullet?
by Michael Hall [June 2005]
Sects With Strangers »
Have you heard the one about the Mormon polygamists who descended on a tiny West Texas town? It would be funny if it wasn't so serious. (Okay, it's pretty funny too.)
by Skip Hollandsworth [November 2004]
Attack Here »
The Houston Ship Channel is considered one of the top strategic targets in the U.S.—an enormous bomb waiting to be detonated by terrorists. But what happens if the bomb actually goes off? Brace yourself for a worst-case scenario of the sort the Homeland Security folks are modeling and simulating and staying up late worrying about.
by S. C. Gwynne [November 2004]
They Came. They Sawed. »
And they most definitely conquered. The inside story of how a ragtag bunch of hippies made the wildest Texas movie ever (and spilled no more fake blood than was absolutely necessary).
by John Bloom [November 2004]
Yikes! »
Executive editor S.C. Gwynne on security at the Houston Ship Channel.
Interview by Kimberly Jeffries [November 2004]
True Stories »
Senior editor Pamela Colloff on Roby, the lottery, and
bad luck.
Interview by Rebecca Markovits [September 2004]
Life and Meth »
Around the Piney Woods, most people will tell you that they know someone who’s addicted to homemade speed. Drug recovery centers are overwhelmed; court dockets are backed up; jails are filled. There’s no end in sight.
by Pamela Colloff [June 2004]
An F for Effort »
Or maybe the grade should be “incomplete.” The special legislative session on school finance proved that Rick Perry and Republican lawmakers care a lot more about reducing property taxes than about improving public schools. Anybody
surprised?
by Paul Burka [June 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.
by Mimi Swartz [May 2004]
Point of View »
Senior editor Pamela Colloff on Jasper, race relations, and the media.
by [December 2003]
Tough Call »
Senior editor Pamela Colloff discusses abortion, access, and what it's like to work on an emotionally charged story.
Interview by Patricia Busa McConnico [July 2003]
The Skinny on Slim »
Thomas Austin Preston, Jr.—a.k.a. Amarillo Slim—has cut cards with LBJ and hustled all manner of sharpies at pool and Ping-Pong. But at 74, his greatest success continues to be at the poker table, as my $100 and I found out.
by Michael Hall [May 2003]
The Whistle-Blower »
What has Sherron Watkins' life been like since she exposed the financial shenanigans of her colleagues at Enron? Well, she may be one of Time's "Persons of the Year," but she's not necessarily one of Houston's.
by Pamela Colloff [April 2003]
A Q&A With Gloria Feldt »
Gloria Feldt, president of Planned Parenthood® Federation of America, has traveled far from her birth place in Temple, Texas.
Interview by Irene Kosela [February 2003]
Hi, Society! »
How did a girl from Harlingen become Houston's hostess with the mostest? Sweetie, Becca Cason Thrash has always been the life of the party.
by Skip Hollandsworth [September 2002]
Scenes From A Mall »
And not just any mall. The Marq*E Entertainment Center is a marvel of marketing: a teen-friendly hangout where kids from all over the city flock to shop, flirt, skateboard, and otherwise act their age.
by Katy Vine [September 2002]
Queen of the Rodeo »
For teenage girls in the Hill Country town of Llano, life can be short on glamour and excitement—except at the annual rodeo, when one of them gets a rhinestone tiara and a rare, thrilling moment of glory.
by Pamela Colloff [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.
by Mimi Swartz [June 2001]
Happy Trails »
Where to eat, what to do, where to shop: a great weekend in Houston.
by Ginny Henricks [April 2001]
History in the Making »
Austin's new Bob Bullock museum sports six bas-reliefs that tell the story of Texas. Here's how a sculptor and a team of artisans made them, like the museum's namesake, larger than life.
by John Spong [April 2001]
The Reformer »
The El Paso mayor's race.
by Joe Nick Patoski [April 2001]
Talking Ed »
Fort Worth's horse play.
by Joe Nick Patoski [April 2001]
Riding High »
McAllen's terminal condition.
by Joe Nick Patoski [April 2001]
Book Drive »
Colleyville's library plot.
by Joe Nick Patoski [April 2001]
Curing the Colonias »
The prescription to treat the sickest areas in Texas isn't what you think.
by Jim Atkinson [April 2001]
The Battle for the Border »
In Maverick County illegal immigrants are crossing in record numbers, creating a war zone. Mexicans have been shot and killed, houses robbed, cattle stolen. Some ranchers are fleeing. But others, like Dob Cunningham, have decided to stay and fight.
by Pamela Colloff [April 2001]
The Education of Laura Bush »
A first read on the Midland librarian in the White House: what she has learned so far and how her life has changed.
by Paul Burka [April 2001]
The Hate Debate »
The question about the James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Act isn't whether it will pass. The question is, Is it good law?
by John Spong [April 2001]
The Beat Goes On »
How are Texas' top two symphonies staying financially viable and relevant to young audiences? One concert at a time.
by Chester Rosson [March 2001]
I Had a Ball »
A passel of Texans invaded the nation’s capital in January, and the town may never be the same. A report from the inaugral front.
by Skip Hollandsworth [March 2001]
Valarie Rae Miller »
Valarie Rae Miller finds her better angels.
by Patricia Busa McConnico [March 2001]
Power Politics »
What Texas should learn from the California energy mess.
by Patricia Kilday Hart [March 2001]
Love and War in Cyberspace »
Brandon and Denise were not like other people. They were smarter, more introverted. They adored computers, playing games online at three in the morning with people in Finland. When they and other hard-core techies moved to Walden, a Houston apartment complex with the fastest residential Internet connection in the world, it seemed like a wired paradise. For a while, it was.
by Katy Vine [February 2001]
The 2001 Bum Steer Awards »
A year of alarming art, befuddled bus drivers, crustacean confiscators, demanding donors, entomological eats, feckless felons, garbled George W., hideous headgear, inspirational ice cream, juiced journalists, KKK kiss-offs, Lubbock lampooners, mucho manure, nada nudity, oafish officials, P.O.'d policemen, quirky queens, raunchy Republicans, shapely sideburns, thanatological toys, used uniforms, vampire vanquishers, witless waiters, x-pert x-terminators, yeoman Yankees, and zany zealots.
[January 2001]
Return to Padre »
For years my relatives have claimed that they were robbed of oil and gas royalties on Padre Island. Last May a Brownsville jury agreed, vindicating—for now—the family's proud heritage and proving that, sometimes, the little guy does win.
by Cecilia Ballí [January 2001]
Can Vicente Fox Save Mexico? »
His election was historic for many reasons, not least because he embodies the stifled hopes of generations of his countrymen. Still, the obstacles he faces when he assumes the presidency on December 1 are considerable. Will he be able to deliver?
by Dick J. Reavis [December 2000]
Child of a Lesser God »
It was a modern-day horror story: a little girl hidden away in rat-infested squalor for most of her life. When the authorities took her away from her family, the nine-year-old had never been to school or played outside and could only make squeaking noises. Now dedicated social workers, academics, and foster parents are trying to undo years of unimaginable neglect.
by Skip Hollandsworth [December 2000]
Can't Buy Me Love »
Take one of the nation's wealthiest men, the enigmatic, Egyptian-born Fayez Sarofim. Add his socialite first wife and her brassy successor. Stir in River Oaks mansions and greedy lawyers, boatloads of money and oceans of booze. Mix it all together and what do you get? A hell of a mess that's the talk of Houston.
by Skip Hollandsworth [October 2000]
The Best of the Texas Century—Lifestyle »
Skip Hollandsworth on big hair, Gary Cartwright on the Balinese Room, Patricia Sharpe on Fritos, and Pamela Colloff on the bandits of the century.
[December 1999]
Teenage Wasteland »
With its optimistically broad streets and oversized cantilevered homes, Plano is the suburban ideal taken to its extreme, and its exaggerated scale often gives rise to exaggerated problems. Heroin addiction is only the latest.
by Pamela Colloff [January 1999]
Deep Dish »
Which Hollywood legend is “the bitch of all time”? Which comedienne’s daughter was a dope addict by age fourteen and came to Houston to get unhooked? Texas’ top gossips tell all.
by Evan Smith [January 1999]
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.
by Mimi Swartz [June 1997]
Absolutely Farbulous »
Carolyn Farb wrote the book on charity fundraising, so when she calls, the
stars come out to play, and Houston’s high society has a ball.
by Skip Hollandsworth [October 1996]
Cutthroat Island »
Once upon a time, Galveston was an isolated island with few big-city problems. Recent flaps over civic corruption, press bias, and race suggest those days are over.
by Paul Burka [February 1996]
The Rise and Fall (and Rise and Fall) of Marcy Rogers »
When her charitable foundation collapsed amid allegations of mismanagement, the Dallas socialite did the unthinkable: She started a new one.
by Dana Rubin [January 1992]
45 Years (Sat Nov 22 at 5:28 PM)
Can You Spare Some Change I Can Believe In? (Sat Nov 22 at 4:10 PM)
Even Worse, They're Cutting Back on Monocles (Fri Nov 21 at 8:39 AM)
