
Over the years, Texas Monthly’s most celebrated voices have written about the places that shaped them, from the Panhandle to the border. We revisit some of the classics.
Prudence Mackintosh is one of a circle of writers closely associated with Texas Monthly. A contributing editor from the magazine’s inception, in 1973, Prudence’s work has continued to appear in its pages for four decades. She gained a loyal following through the years with her observations on social rites of passage for Texas women and her essays on the rearing of three boys. In 1976 she received a Penney-Missouri Award for excellence in lifestyle journalism. Her work has appeared in several national magazines and is frequently anthologized in college writing texts. She is the author of four books: Thundering Sneakers, Retreads, Sneaking Out, and Just As We Were. She co-authored Great American Suburbs: The Homes of the Park Cities. Born in Texarkana, Prudence grew up in the newspaper office of the Texarkana Gazette & Daily News, where her father was the editor and her mother, a reporter, proofreader, and women’s editor. Her older brother became a television journalist. She attended Texarkana public schools and graduated from the University of Texas in 1966. Prudence continues to live in Dallas with her attorney husband. Their three grown sons now live in New York, Los Angeles, and Austin. Each spring semester she and her husband decamp to Austin, where she teaches a nonfiction writing class for Liberal Arts Honors students at UT. She continues to write for Texas Monthly sporadically as a writer-at-large.
Jan 30, 2019 — By David Dorado Romo, Prudence Mackintosh, John Phillip Santos and Anne Dingus
Over the years, Texas Monthly’s most celebrated voices have written about the places that shaped them, from the Panhandle to the border. We revisit some of the classics.
Nov 12, 2014 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Nearly seventy years later, the infamous Phantom Killer attacks may finally be solved. But Texarkana remains as puzzling as ever.
Nov 18, 2013 — By Prudence Mackintosh
I pore over my old cookbooks not for the recipes but for the stories they conjure.
Feb 28, 2013 — By Texas Monthly and Prudence Mackintosh
He was a world-renowned piano prodigy whose romanticism and technical virtuosity inspired thousands and famously helped thaw the Cold War. But as a visit to his hometown of Kilgore made clear to me, Van Cliburn was also a Texan, a Southerner, a Baptist, a patriot, and a man who loved black-eyed peas as much as I do.
Apr 30, 2012 — By Prudence Mackintosh
My mother-in-law knew how to sew, keep an immaculate house, and dress stylishly. In short, she was nothing like the unpolished young woman who married her son. Perhaps that’s why we loved each other so much.
Sep 30, 2011 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Why would anybody take a charming place like Highland Park, tear down the nice old homes, build new fortresses, gradually drain the neighborly spirit, and call that progress? Don’t ask me. I don’t get it either.
Jun 30, 2011 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Babe Didrikson’s pioneering career as a woman golfer.
Sep 30, 2007 — By Prudence Mackintosh
The effortless goodwill of my high school reunion weekend.
Aug 31, 2003 — By Prudence Mackintosh
After thirty years, I still love Highland Park.
Sep 30, 2002 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Why has it taken so long for my sons to get married? Is it the wet towels mildewing on their apartment floors? The pocket change accumulating on every flat surface? Or is it that I've given them a skewed idea of what women expect?
May 31, 2002 — By Prudence Mackintosh
My father was a hard-hitting newspaperman, but he was also an old softy. That helps explain why until his death two years ago this month, he and I were members of a mutual admiration society.
Dec 1, 1999 — By Prudence Mackintosh
“She taught us, she fed us, she entertained us, and best of all, she wrote down the how-to of Corbitt hospitality in five cookbooks, giving us confidence that the civilizing pleasures of the table were within our reach.”
Feb 1, 1993 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Writing about my children was more than a job—it was an adventure.
Apr 1, 1991 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Leave college application to the kids? Not when other parents hire SAT coaches and speech writers for theirs.
Apr 30, 1990 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Now that my son is behind the wheel, I can’t decide whether it’s better to ride shotgun or steer clear of him completely.
Sep 30, 1989 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Reflections and recollections of life among the shadows of the Piney Woods.
Apr 30, 1989 — By Kinky Friedman, Prudence Mackintosh, Beverly Lowry, John Graves, Elmer Kelton, Bud Shrake, Molly Ivins and Tommy Lee Jones
What do the city of Lubbock, a defunct restaurant, and a submerged neighborhood have in common? They’re all places in somebody’s heart.
Jul 31, 1988 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Don’t say this word aloud in polite company if you want to stay on the author’s good side.
Feb 1, 1988 — By Prudence Mackintosh
When it comes to the women of my Highland Park reading club, our histories are an open book.
Mar 1, 1987 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Once kids did their own homework. Now ambitious parents do it for them.
Jul 31, 1985 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Maybe the mayhem generated by a trio of battling boys is just their idea of brotherly love.
Jun 30, 1985 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Is it any surprise that a toddler who goes to sleep clutching a screwdriver instead of a teddy bear grows into a fourteen-year-old with a passion for motorcycles?
May 31, 1984 — By Prudence Mackintosh
You can lead a child to culture, but can you make him like it?
May 31, 1983 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Kids, house, husband - these are the natural enemies of a well-ordered day.
Dec 1, 1982 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Reading aloud at Christmas charms the wiggliest kids and takes the humbug out of anyone.
Jun 30, 1982 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Just say these three little words: “Shall we dance?”
Dec 1, 1981 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Children today understand brand names like Izod and concepts like “rip-off,” but they don’t understand that some things—the best things—can’t be bought.
Jul 31, 1981 — By Prudence Mackintosh
The dog that the family fell in love with was beautiful, well trained, and friendly. The only problem was, she wasn’t theirs.
May 31, 1981 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Our Colorado skiing vacation thrilled the men in my life, but all it gave me was bruised feet and a battered ego.
Dec 1, 1980 — By Prudence Mackintosh
What is a man to his boys? Fiend, antagonist, taskmaster, hugger, educator, realist—put them all together, they spell “father.”
Nov 1, 1980 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Nostalgic daddies think of schoolboy football as good, clean fun. But kids soon realize it’s more like corporal punishment.
Dec 1, 1979 — By Prudence Mackintosh
“In the League, you’ll run into a little tradition, some nobles oblige, and a lot of talk about diets, dyslexia, designer dresses, and divorce.”
Mar 1, 1979 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Trees came crashing down, power lines writhed on the ground, the lights went out, and the heat went off. It was Dallas’ trial by ice.
Aug 31, 1978 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Soon it will be too late; the days of block parties and neighborhood stores are vanishing.
Jan 1, 1978 — By Prudence Mackintosh
At the National Women’s Conference, the feminists changed their sandals for pumps and embraced mainstream America.
Dec 1, 1977 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Women need maids, maids, and maids . . . well, they could use a little help, too.
Aug 31, 1977 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Renewing the old adage of child rearing—you can’t fool mother nature.
Apr 30, 1977 — By Prudence Mackintosh
It’s called competitive childbirth, but no gold medals are awarded for it.
Dec 1, 1976 — By Prudence Mackintosh
A child’s feelings about Christmas can pretty well be summed up in one word: loot.
Sep 30, 1976 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Why kids don’t grow up the way you want them to.
Apr 30, 1976 — By Prudence Mackintosh
A mother is many things to her children, but mostly she’s a chauffer.
Mar 1, 1976 — By Prudence Mackintosh
The savage trials of eating with civilized children.
Nov 1, 1975 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Kids should learn early that music is the staff of life.
Aug 31, 1975 — By Prudence Mackintosh
What is happening to your children, sitting in front of the TV?
May 31, 1975 — By Prudence Mackintosh
Bringing up father is harder these days than it used to be.
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