Music Monday: Cotton Mather Harnesses Ancient Chinese Wisdom In “The Book of Too Late Changes”
Cotton Mather translates the wisdom of 'I Ching' to Texas power pop.
Michael Hall graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1979 with a degree in government. He wrote for various publications, including Trouser Press, Third Coast Magazine, the Austin American-Statesman, and the Austin Chronicle. In 1997 he joined Texas Monthly, where he has won two Texas Gavel Awards from
the State Bar of Texas and three Stephen Philbin Awards from the Dallas Bar Association. He was named the CRMA’s Writer of the Year in 2015. Hall’s stories have appeared in The Best American Magazine Writing, The Best American Sports Writing, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, Da Capo Best Music Writing, the
New York Times, and Men’s
Journal. Hall is also a musician and has played in Austin bands such as
Wild Seeds, the Setters, the Lollygaggers, and the Savage Trip.
Articles by Michael Hall
The Mineola Child Sex Case Gets the Movie Treatment
”Booger Red,” a film by Berndt Mader and based on a Texas Monthly story, premieres at the Austin Film Festival.
Criminal Justice
The Outcast
A dark incident almost twenty years ago put Greg Torti on the sex offender registry for life. But the real story, he insists, is much more complicated.
Criminal Justice
Another Texas Exoneration Calls Bite Mark Evidence Into Question
Critics denounce this arm of forensic science as bogus and subjective.
Four Decades, Three Trials, Two Death Sentences, One Exoneree. Almost.
Thirty-eight years after Kerry Max Cook was convicted of murder, he continues to seek exoneration. And now he might finally have a chance to convince the courts of his innocence.
Danny Barnes Proves That Playing the Banjo Can Pay
The banjo player from Belton recently won the Steve Martin Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass award, a recognition of his “barnyard electronic aesthetic.”
Chat
True Grits
Innocence Project of Texas executive director Scott Henson says his organization is about more than DNA evidence.
On the Porch With Robert and Lyle
Old friends Robert Earl Keen and Lyle Lovett talk about songwriting Texas music history, and the early days back in College Station.
The Playlist
Oh, the endless arguments about Texas music. But don’t feel the need to master it—no one really can. Instead, here are ten songs to help you hold your own at almost any party.
The Prettiest Li’l Drive You’ll Ever See
Head west on FM 170 through an astounding wilderness of shallow canyons, ancient riverbeds, and craggy limestone hills.
Plains Sound
Twenty-year-old Hayden Pedigo is making the most innovative, audacious music in the country. So why is he still in Amarillo?
The Reformer
Texas’s criminal justice system has seen some staggering changes in the past decade. Thank Cathy Cochran.
RIP, Ian McLagan and Bobby Keys
A day after a legendary Texas saxophonist died, a legendary Texas keyboard player has also breathed his last.
Why Did the Conservative Fifth Circuit Stay Panetti’s Execution?
Maybe it had something to do with the dissent written last week by Judge Tom Price, of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Will Rick Perry Grant Clemency to Max Soffar?
More than 115,000 people think he should.
Man on Fire
The Reverend Charles Moore ardently dedicated his life to the service of God and his fellow man. But when he couldn’t shake the thought that he hadn’t done enough, he drove to a desolate parking lot in his hometown of Grand Saline for one final act of faith.
Governor Perry, Have Mercy on This Man
Max Soffar is dying on death row, where he sits for a crime I'm certain he didn't commit. Maybe this letter will convince you to let him spend his last days at home with his family.
“I Believe It’s a Heroic Calling”
A conversation with the criminal defense lawyers of the year.
Richard LaFuente Is Finally Free!
For 28 years, parole officials tried to get him to confess to a crime he didn’t commit. He refused—and never wavered. This is why he is the bravest man I know.
The Strings of the Father
How Johnny Gimble became one of the greatest fiddlers of all time—and showed me and my son a thing or two about playing music.
Master Nelson Receives His Black Belt
Willie, who turns 81 today, proves that age is just a number.
A Summer Weekend in Houston
A tour of the city’s rich musical legacy (and some two-stepping).
The Greatest Music Producer You’ve Never Heard of Is . . .
Tom Wilson, a Harvard-educated Republican from Waco who helped launch the careers of Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, Lou Reed, and a few other musicians you might have heard of.
Criminal Justice
Wrongfully Convicted Grandma Freed
After Fran Keller spent 21 years in prison based on allegations by children who said they were sexually abused in a satanic ritual at her and her husband's day care, she was finally released.
The San Antonio 4 Are Finally Free
Four women spent more than thirteen years in prison because of bad science and scurrilous tales told by children who had been coached by an adult. They’re free now, but who else is sitting behind bars based on these types of false accusations?
Mineola Case
Foster Mother Whose Children Testified in the “Mineola Swingers Club” Case Now Accused of Abuse
Eight years ago Margie Cantrell pushed law enforcement to investigate allegations of abuse by a group of adults in Mineola. Seven people were convicted of child sexual abuse, and the scandal rocked East Texas. Now, two of those same children are alleging Cantrell physically abused them.
Criminal Justice
Pardon Me, Mr. President
Dear Mr. President: Richard LaFuente just filed a petition for executive clemency. I urge you to read it—and to commute his life sentence.
The Man Who Fell to Earth
After decades as one of the most admired athletes on the planet and one of the toughest competitors ever to ride a bike, Lance Armstrong is facing a new challenge: how to come back from a very public disgrace.
How badly do we mess up when doing something as fundamentally human as using our eyes, words, and memories? In the case of some eyewitness IDs, very badly.
Kerry Max Cook walked off death row in 1997, but he was never officially exonerated. At least not yet. He just filed a DNA motion he hopes will clear his name.
James Waller, who was exonerated 24 years after he was convicted of a crime he didn't commit, started a non-profit to help support and counsel Texas' exonerees.
State supreme court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson appoints Texas legend Judge Louis E. Sturns to oversee the court of inquiry into Williamson County DA Ken Anderson.
What will state supreme court chief justice Wallace Jefferson do about Ken Anderson, the DA who sent an innocent man to prison? Based on these clues, Anderson is in for the fight of his life.
The Red Hooded Stranger
Is Willie Nelson Santa Claus? We asked him that, and a few other things—like what it's like to get busted and get along with Pat Robertson and Snoop Dogg.
Trigger: The Life of Willie Nelson’s Guitar
Most guitars don’t have names. This one has a voice and a personality, and bears a striking resemblance to his owner.
Eight Great Trigger Performances
From "I'm a Memory" to "Here We Go Again," listen to eight performances that highlight the capabilities of Willie Nelson's treasured guitar.
Fed Up!
Sure, Texas’s criminal justice system is tough. But as Fort Worth inmate Richard LaFuente could tell you, the federal criminal system is even tougher.
Web Exclusive
Another Tale of Wrongful Conviction?
Richard LaFuente, who was convicted of murder in 1986, has steadfastly proclaimed his innocence for more than twenty years. Now he has some unlikely support in one person—the victim's own sister.
Feature
Free Richard Lafuente!
They say he ran over Eddie Peltier with his El Camino on a North Dakota Indian reservation in 1983. He says he didn’t do it, and the evidence is overwhelmingly on his side—yet the Plainview native has languished in federal prison for twenty years. It’s long past time for justice to be done.
How Billy Gibbons Got His Groove Back
After two decades of sluggish albums, ZZ Top has returned to raunchy, bluesy form. And the little ol' band from Texas owes it all to a hip-hop anthem from the streets of Houston.
The Backwoods Drive
ROUTE: Uncertain to JasperDISTANCE: 140 milesNUMBER OF COUNTIES: 6WHAT TO LISTEN TO: Jim Reeves’s “Welcome to My World” If you want to see, smell, and taste the Deep South, look no further than East Texas. Start your drive in Uncertain, but before you even get behind the…
Trials and Errors
Over the past two decades Texas has exonerated more than eighty wrongfully convicted prisoners. How does this happen? Can anything be done to stop it? We assembled a group of experts (a police chief, a state senator, a judge, a prosecutor, a district attorney, and an exoneree) to find out.
The Paper Chase
Houston attorney Bill Kroger and state Supreme Court chief justice Wallace Jefferson are on a mission to rescue thousands of crumbling, fading, and fascinating legal documents from district and county clerks’ offices all over the state. Can they save Texas history before it’s too late?
Special Condition Z Blocks Wayne East’s Release
Abilene law enforcement officials don’t want the convicted murderer back in their part of the state.
An Update to the Mary Eula Sears Case
The convicted killer of a prominent Abilene resident is set to be released.
Feature
Who Killed Mary Eula Sears?
In 1982 a man named Wayne East was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of one of Abilene’s most prominent citizens. To this day, he maintains his innocence. And one member of the victim’s family believes him.
An Absolute Honest-to-God Texas Frame-up
The “Mineola Swingers Club” cases come to a disgraceful end.
