Answer Man
Q: Who was so good at a computer network’s trivia game that he got kicked of the system? A: A Texan Bernie Schwal.
Anne Dingus was born and raised in Pampa and attended Rice University. After graduating in 1975, she worked as a journalist at NASA and in the oil industry. In 1978 she joined the staff of Texas Monthly, first as a fact-checker and then as a writer. She wrote on a variety of topics, particularly history, popular culture, and humor. Her 1994 article “More Texas Sayings Than You Can Shake a Stick At,” which contained 662 Texas rural expressions, was by far her most popular article and quickly became a book. Dingus left the magazine in 2005 after more than twenty years on staff.
Q: Who was so good at a computer network’s trivia game that he got kicked of the system? A: A Texan Bernie Schwal.
By Anne Dingus
Two true-crime books unravel the twisted and deadly story of Dallasite Joy Aylor.
By Anne Dingus
When Texas’ last company town disappears this month, so will a cozy way of life my family knew well.
By Anne Dingus
Eight indigenous authors, nine native critters: A bookish look at the wildest, woolliest creatures in Texas history.
By Anne Dingus
Houstonian Betty Ring’s Girlhood Emboidery is a richly illustrated survey of centuries-old needlework.
By Anne Dingus
Hollywood on the Brazos? That’s how it seemed this year, when everyone from Clint Eastwood to Drew Barrymore set up shop in Texas.
By Anne Dingus
Ann-Margret, get your gun: A celebration of pistol-packin’ celluloid cowgirls.
By Anne Dingus
How the memoir of an unknown and homeless writer brought him fame and a place to live.
By Anne Dingus
What’s red and white and growing all over (as a tourist attraction)? Texas wineries.
By Anne Dingus
In these nine Texas towns, produce is more than product. It’s pride.
By Anne Dingus
Renowned legal scholar and law professor Charles Alan Wright is deadly serious—about murder mysteries.
By Anne Dingus
His wives! His lives! A bountiful birthday guide to Sam Houston, Texas’ ultimate hero.
By Anne Dingus
The secret to a well-appointed Texas Christmas.
By Anne Dingus
Get your masks on; put on your dancing shoes. It’s time for Mexico’s Day of the Dead, one of the liveliest celebrations around.
By Anne Dingus
Fashion designers are betting the ranch on new Western shirts with styles inspired by Hollywood, not history.
By Anne Dingus
Haven’t heard of Geof Kern, Texas’ most famous photographer? You must live here.
By Anne Dingus
Vintage Texas postcards depict larger-than-life views in hyper hues.
By Anne Dingus
The great polka boycott, Willie’s Sunday school status, the cold truth about Vanilla Ice, and other notable moments in Texas Music.
By Anne Dingus
From wheezy-voiced geezers to yuk-it-up yokels, these actors excel at portraying the stereotypical Texan.
By Anne Dingus
From Pecos Bill to nightclub comics, we’ve got lots to laugh about.
By Anne Dingus
These seven creatures might be piggy-backed, whale-boned, dog-toothed, goat-eed, elephant-eared, turtle-necked, and bull-headed, but they’re stars just the same.
By Anne Dingus
But for this ever-so-practical invention, Texas history as we know it would be gone with the wind.
By Anne Dingus
The young—and even the not-so-young-can travel back through the state’s glorious past simply by opening up any one of these fourteen children’s classics.
By Anne Dingus
Five favorites from the wide-open spaces, in words and pictures.
By Anne Dingus
Peanut patties are red, raspas are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are pralines, pecan pie, kolaches, and seven other great Texas desserts.
By Anne Dingus
In Joe Scruggs’s music Everymom evicts under-the-bed monsters, Everykid remembers on Monday morning the fifteen things he needs for school that day, and Everybody delights in Scruggs’s corny but sensitive portrayal of childhood.
By Anne Dingus
What kind of dish would a Texas clubwoman invent? One that’s not too greasy, not too spicy, and, well, sort of tasteful.
By Anne Dingus
Look out, Texas! If drought comes, can tons of blowing dirt be far behind?
By Anne Dingus
Growing up, I took the Panhandle’s plain nature for granted. Only after years away and a sentimental journey home did I take it to heart.
By Anne Dingus
The death of Uncle Henry saddened my whole far-flung family, but the gathering at his funeral was an occasion for telling stories and recalling the joys of a small-town upbringing.
By Anne Dingus
Yes, Virginia Sue, Texas really does have its own holiday traditions.
By Anne Dingus
Texans may secretly yearn to live east of the Mississippi or across the Atlantic, but the next best thing is a subdivision named Yorktown, Nottingham County, or village Green West.
By Anne Dingus
Sure it means water. It also means pride.
By Anne Dingus
Can you picture Lbj in a Datsun?
By Anne Dingus
Out of Texas’ ragbag history came the patchwork quilt, the product of cold winters, isolated homesteads, empty pocketbooks, and fertile minds.
By Anne Dingus
The real lowdown on the Lone Star State.
By Anne Dingus
It’s everybody’s favorite reptile, and it’s disappearing from Texas.
By Anne Dingus
It’s only a humble weed, but just try to imagine West Texas without it.
By Anne Dingus
When liquor by the drink went into effect in 1971, Texas changed forever.
By Anne Dingus
When it comes to flops and fiascos, Texans can outdo anyone.
By Anne Dingus
It IS whether you win. And these eight Texans are winners.
By Anne Dingus
If you want big, we’ve got big. If you want small, we’ve got that, too.
By Anne Dingus and Victoria Loe
If you’ve ever wondered about Texans’ penchant for big hair, waving to strangers, shirts with snaps instead of buttons, and belt buckles with our names engraved on the back, consult Read Me. Texas, a primer that will get you through Texas 101 easy as falling off a log. From Fritos
By Anne Dingus