1987 – Page 4 of 5

My Sister Is Missing

Had she joined some cause? Was it suicide? Or had she wanted to disappear? After months of searching, I found the answer.

Hey, Mom, Have I Got an Assignment for You

Once kids did their own homework. Now ambitious parents do it for them.

Top Gun

Texas Air chief Frank Lorenzo took an airline with no profits and limited prospects and built it into the country’s largest. How? By betting like the sky’s the limit.

Touts

Staying in Line

A group of dancers from Garland, aged 57 to 90, would rather rock on than rock in a chair.

State Secrets

A busing controversy at the prison system; the high cost of free rent; the GOP goes to town; a well-known private eye loses his license; rotten eggs at Bentsen’s breakfasts.

Roar of the Crowd

Bum Raps.

Texas Monthly Reporter

Sneak a glance at our inaugural notebook to find out why Clements’ speech didn’t fly, which city had the most imperial ball, and who triumphed in the guv’s snub. Plus: Mad Maxian Car #3, space tombs in the sky, and ZZ Top’s song scuffle.

The Quidnunc

Waiting for Perot; sizing up Texas’ legal egos; switching undies with Bobby and Laura Sakowitz.

Puzzle

Blots

C. W. Post

At first he couldn’t stand the strain of trying to get rich. Then he couldn’t stand the strain of being rich.

The Bullock Alumni

Caught between the budget crisis and the power of Bob Bullock, politicos are hiring the comptroller’s savvy ex-employees in self-defense.

The National Tour of Texas

The Rio Grande Valley never had a valley—except in the minds of developers who invented its name.

Epic Embroidery

The action in Platoon is brilliantly sustained, but The Mission falls with a stately thud; The Bedroom Window aspires to be as spellbound as an Alfred Hitchcock, but The Defense of the Realm is the engrossing thriller.

Home Ain’t Where My Heart Is

When I was growing up, Arlington didn’t have air conditioning or Six Flags. But it did have Albert’s Pool Hall and twenty-cent Jax beer, and that made all the difference.

Pardon Me, Boy, Is That Tex Beneke?

At 73, this Fort Worth jazzman still sings “Chattanooga Choo-Choo,” but he wants new songs, more gigs, and younger audiences.

A Human Focus

Newly discovered photographs taken by Russell Lee bear compassionate witness to the lives of Spanish-speaking Texans in the forties.

It’s a Dirty Job, But?

Does the delivery business really deliver? Our author spends three grueling days watching rented videos and ordering pizzas to find out the truth.

Petticoat Junction

All aboard for this spring’s flounciest fashions.

Behind the Lines

Slim Pickens

Boone, T. Boone Pickens’ autobiography, is most interesting when it names names and tells tales, but such moments surface only occasionally and sink quickly.

Momus to Remember

The god of merrymaking spends Mardi Gras in Galveston.

Undertakers of the Oil Patch

The death of an oil well keeps an oil-field service company alive.

ONE Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Will deprivation, humiliation, and confrontation lead the way to a better, more confident you? A new self-help craze sweeping Texas wants you to think so.

The Prophets

The border’s self-appointed problem solvers promise new industry, more jobs, and better schools. So why won’t anyone listen to them?

Madonna of the Maquiladora

While U.S. businessmen and Mexican bureaucrats see her as the answer to their economic prayers, factory worker Graciela Fernández just tries to get by—on about 66 cents an hour.

The Last of the Border Lords

In his dream to create a dynastic empire along the Rio Grande, Chito Longoria went against the wishes of his family and the values of his native land.

The Empress of Fort Worth

Anne Bass married one of the richest men in America. With his money and her ambition she became an important cultural force in Fort Worth and New York. Life was perfect. Then her husband left her.

Touts

Grading on the curve.

State Secrets

A winning ticket for the lottery; the oil bust is a boon for parks; doom and gloom at the Legislature; an early test for Jim Wright.

Roar of the Crowd

Dress for success.

Texas Monthly Reporter

The City That Works isn’t working like it used to. Plus Amazing Cars of Texas #2, revolutionary folk art, and Topic A—what everybody can’t stop talking about.

The Quidnunc

Hunting down ZZ Top imposters; staying dry with party-giver Frances Billups; test-driving fine art in Beaumont.

Puzzle

The Hole Truth

Texas Primer: The Rose Window

The secrets of love seen through a glass, clearly.

You Can’t Get There From Here

From Houston’s Miss Molly to San Antonio’s Claude Morgan, Texas is full of local music heroes. Does their road to success have to pass through Austin?

The National Tour of Texas

The view from the Great Freeway: I-35 is two things, the speediest drive from Dallas to the Valley and the clearest division of Texas into West and East.

Burger Joint Venture

Want to eat fast and cheap? Fast-food kiosks are the answer. Here’s how these diminutive drive-throughs stake up.

Behind the Lines

The Real Estate Stomach

The Apple Version

Walt Disney, Howard Johnson, and Margery Post Merriweather have one thing in common: they’re all trapped inside Max Apple’s new novel.

The National Tour of Texas

I’ve long dreamed of driving every highway in Texas. This year I’m doing it—all 32,000 miles worth.

Total Hit

Nobody could stop San Antonio’s killer cop—except another cop.

Between a Hard Rock and a Place

The world’s hottest restaurant chain turns into Texas’ hottest restaurant feud.

Touts

Ranking the files.

State Secrets

A gloomy prediction for Texas banks; the oil crisis becomes a steel crisis; how Lloyd Bentsen’s new chairmanship can help Texas.

You May Not Need It, But You Gotta Have It

Arresta is a toy store for grown-ups, where every item is selected to seduce the slavishly stylish.

Roar of the Crowd

Battle of the Alamo, Part Two

Texas Monthly Reporter

The citizens of Muleshoe lose their only hospital, thanks to a California chain; the citizens of Houston learn the value of caution, thanks to a local developer; the citizens of the world get a chance to improve their potency, thanks to the Aggies.

What’s the Sound of One Texan Meditating?

John Toler switched from advertising to Zen, Emerson to Buddha, and Lubbock to the Land of the Lotus.

The Quidnunc

Celebrating the Day of the Dead with David Byrne; digging for Texas dirt with snoop queen Kitty Kelley; playing nuclear war games in San Antonio.