Meaner Than a Junkyard Dog
“Guys like me like Iraq,” says Houston oilman Oscar Wyatt. “That’s the way the real world works, baby.”
Contributing editor Jan Jarboe Russell grew up in East Texas and joined Texas Monthly in the 1980s. Throughout her thirteen years writing for the magazine, she has covered subjects ranging from H-E-B’s “grocery wars” to a sanctuary for silent prayer in South Texas. Russell has also written for the San Antonio Express-News, Slate, and the New York Times. Her books include Lady Bird, a biography of Lady Bird Johnson; Eleanor in the Village, a portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt’s time in Greenwich Village; and The Train to Crystal City, a New York Times best-seller about a family internment camp in Texas during World War II. The Train to Crystal City won the Carr P. Collins Award in 2016.
Russell is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters and the Philosophical Society of Texas. She received Gemini Ink’s Award for Literary Excellence in 2018, and she is a member of the Daily Texan Hall of Fame at the University of Texas at Austin, her alma mater. She lives in San Antonio.
“Guys like me like Iraq,” says Houston oilman Oscar Wyatt. “That’s the way the real world works, baby.”
Is Ann Richards planning a historic move from the statehouse to the White House?
Frank talk about LBJ’s life, JFK’s death, the promise of Hillary Clinton, the perils of Oliver North—and more.
As the president of Texas’ largest private grocery chain, Charles Butt learned that in order to be nice to his customers he had to be tough on his competitors. And vice versa.
The eldest son of Trammell Crow used his money for drugs, guns, and high living. His wife spent a fortune on personal trainers and self-promotion. Now they’re squaring off in an L.A. divorce court.
The city that gave birth to the republic continues to nourish the traits that distinguish the state’s character.
Becky Hammon didn’t get hired as the Spurs’ assistant coach because she’s a woman. She got the job for the same reason everyone gets a job with the Spurs: to keep the team winning.
San Antonio’s new mayor, Ivy Taylor, is not as charismatic as her predecessor. But that doesn’t mean she’s a pushover.
No kid ever had more fun with his favorite toy than Herb Kelleher has in running Southwest Airlines.
Besieged on all sides, will the Daughters of the Republic of Texas finally lose control of the Alamo? Not if they can help it.
Prozac was supposed to cure Skye Morris’ depression. Now her husband is trying to prove that it caused her to commit suicide.
What happens to your belief in God when your son commits suicide after being molested by a priest? That's a question Nancy and Pat Lemberger have been struggling with for years.
Should a monument featuring the Ten Commandments be allowed to remain on the grounds of the Texas Capitol? A homeless former defense lawyer says no.
A new collection of Keith Carter’s photographs captures the magical mojo of East Texas.
They shouldn't be messed with. But you knew that already.
Driven to succeed.
My hometown of Cleveland has become the most disgraced community in America because of a brutal, unspeakable crime that has set everyone against one another.
One year into his first term as mayor of San Antonio, Julián Castro is emerging as perhaps the most prominent young Hispanic politician in Texas. Get ready to get used to him.
Today, many younger Texans may be inclined to think of Lady Bird Johnson as belonging entirely to the past. But if her demeanor and style seemed faintly anachronistic, the virtues instilled by her parents back in East Texas—practicality, thriftiness, good manners, and an open mind—made her remarkably effective as a
Mary Alice Cisneros loved, honored, and cherished Henry’s political career. Now it’s her turn.
What happened—and didn’t—when we “fixed” school finance the last time.
Cancer used to be something you died from. Now, thanks to clinical trials, it’s increasingly something you live with.
The Republicans have made real inroads into winning over Hispanic voters. If that doesn’t freak out the Democrats, I don’t know what will.
San Antonio politics, it ain't what it used to be—which is why it could be time for a grown-up at city hall.
My parents and I had a generation gap. My kids and I have a geographic gap, as I learned when I took my son to my hometown of Cleveland.
A Harvard know-it-all predicts that the emerging Hispanic majority will be a drag on America. Tell it to your friends in Cambridge, bub.
With the passing of Maury Maverick, Jr., Texas liberalsreal ones, not watered-down versionsare nearing extinction.
Haven't we settled the prayer-in-politics debate and turned our attention to more important things, like the budget shortfall? Apparently not.
My divorce made me what I am today.
When I could no longer tolerate the religious fundamentalism of my childhood, I turned to the teachings of a Swiss psychiatristand rejuvenated my spiritual life.
Was the sacred image of the Virgin Mary in Mexico City painted by miracle or man? Even science can't say for sure.
Right with his party, wrong with his religion: where God and government intersect for Rick Perry and Tony Sanchez.
He's is a healthy teenager (and nothing could make his dad happier).
Jan Jarboe Russell finds a revolution brewing at El Paso's Cinco Puntos press.
Jan Jarboe Russell sizes up San Antonio's new mayor.
The life and accomplishments of Henry B. Gonzalez.
“Johnson continues to tower over Texas politics not just because he was the first Texas-bred president but because, 26 years in his grave, he continues to extend the very idea of Texas into American political history.”
How Lady Bird Johnson became the first lady of Texas radio.
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Even in death, the former principal of El Paso’s Cathedral High is larger than life.
After what seemed like a lifetime as the nation’s first daughter, Luci Baines Johnson has finally come of age.
San Antonio mayor Bill Thornton likes to talk about the future, but he’s still a politician of the past—and so is everyone who’s running against him.
Collecting their culture.
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Joe Jamail fights the power. Plus: Who will save the Texas Democratic party?
Jane Roe flips for a preacher.
From hot sauce to hot art.
Head of the class.
Long before racial preferences were a political hot potato, these respected conservatives were bucking conventional wisdom—within their own community.
The tensions between the demands of the spirit and the demands of the world defined my marriage—and destroyed it.
The daughters of San Antonio’s most conspicuous family star in their own how-to videos.
Skip Hollandsworth specializes in long-form narratives.