Katy Vine, Contributor at Texas Monthly

Katy Vine joined the editorial department of Texas Monthly in 1997 and became a staff writer in 2002. As a general assignment reporter, she has written dozens of features on a range of topics, including rocket scientist Franklin Chang Díaz, hip-hop legend Bun B, barbecue pitmasters, cult leader Warren Jeffs, refugees in Amarillo, the moon landing, a three-person family circus, chess prodigies, a woman who kidnapped the Kilgore Rangerettes director and her daughter, an accountant who embezzled $17 million from a fruitcake company, and a con man who crashed cars, yachts, and planes for insurance money. Her stories have been anthologized in Best American Sports Writing and Best Food Writing. Her feature story about a West Texas sting operation was the inspiration for the 2012 television series The Client List.

Featured Articles

Food

Just Desserts

Sandy Jenkins was a quiet accountant at the Collin Street Bakery who felt overlooked and dreamed of living the good life. He found it (for a while) by embezzling nearly $17 million from the famed fruitcake maker.

Kilgore-Rangerettes-kidnapping-Alexa-Dana-Blair-feat

True Crime

The Positively True Adventures of the Kilgore Rangerette–Kidnapping Mom

What pushed an East Texas mother to kidnap at gunpoint the director of the famed college drill team and her nineteen-year-old daughter?

Illustration of a small plane on fire in a hangar as one of Theodore Wright's insurance fraud schemes.

True Crime

The Wildest Insurance Fraud Scheme Texas Has Ever Seen

Over a decade, Theodore Robert Wright III destroyed cars, yachts, and planes. That was only the half of it.

John Mueller (above left) at his trailer, in South Austin. Aaron Franklin (above right) at his restaurant, in East Austin.

BBQ

Of Meat and Men

John Mueller was the heir to one of the great Texas barbecue dynasties. Aaron Franklin was an unknown kid from College Station who worked his counter. John had it all and then threw it all away. Aaron came out of nowhere to create the state’s most coveted brisket. Then John

Feature

Love and War in Cyberspace

Brandon and Denise were not like other people. They were smarter, more introverted. They adored computers, playing games online at three in the morning with people in Finland. When they and other hard-core techies moved to Walden, a Houston apartment complex with the fastest residential Internet connection in the world,

Merrianne Jessop, child from the Yearning for Zion Ranch.

Feature

With God on Their Side

The child custody battle between the State of Texas and a fundamentalist Mormon sect prompted many people to wonder how 437 kids could have been ripped away from their parents. When the criminal trials of a dozen sect members got under way this month, the question became, Was it really

Feature

Non-Prophet

When Warren Jeffs fired his attorneys and decided to represent himself in his sexual assault trial, many predicted, accurately, that he would fail miserably. Few realized just what a wild show he would put on.

Food & Drink

I Believe I Can Fry

How a mild-mannered database analyst from Dallas became the undisputed king of extreme competitive deep-frying in Texas—which is to say, the world.

Texas History

Walking on the Moon

On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made history as the first humans to set foot on the surface of the moon. Forty years later, the researchers, astronauts, engineers, scientists, and NASA officials who made the voyage possible remember the day the Eagle landed.

Feature

“She Had Brains, a Body, and the Ability To Make Men Love Her”

Meet the 22-year-old hooker who, with her fellow “massage therapists,” scandalized Odessa

330 Articles

Being Texan|

May 23, 2023

Got an Unsolved Murder? Call the Cold Case Club

In Fort Worth, true crime–obsessed citizen detectives have banded together to dig up new evidence for their pet cases.

Style & Design|

May 3, 2023

Shattering the Glass Bong: Women Take On the Male-Dominated Weed Space

With cloud-shaped pipes and rose-infused pre-rolls, these female small-business owners are catering to femme stoners.

Texas-letter-Friedrich-Ernst-German-immigrants

Texas History|

April 14, 2023

The Glowing Letter That Brought Thousands of German Immigrants to Texas Was a Lie

Friedrich Ernst’s missive portrayed Texas as a paradise. His wife and daughter begged to differ.

Texas Trip Guides|

April 4, 2023

Hip Bars and Culinary Surprises Take Longview to a New Level

Come to this East Texas city for the hot-air balloons. Stay for the gluten-free beers, natural wines, and impressive array of cuisines.

Music|

February 1, 2023

A Culture Writer and Lifelong Selena Fan’s Ultimate Love Letter to the Icon

Cat Cardenas’s 2021 essay made a poignant case about the mistakes Selena never got to make—and how they would have deepened our love for her.

Music|

January 31, 2023

The Ultimate Road-Trip Playlists for Six Texas Destinations

A longtime reporter makes some big decisions about what to listen to when you’re heading to Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth, or the Big Bend region.

The Stand Up Desk|

January 26, 2023

An Unforgettable Texas Tale of Envy, Embezzlement, and Fruitcake

The writer of an oddball 2016 crime story recalls emailing with an accountant who skimmed $17 million from Corsicana’s Collin Street Bakery.

The Stand Up Desk|

January 25, 2023

The True-Crime Classic That Inspired HBO Max’s Forthcoming ‘Love & Death’

In reporting how Candy Montgomery came to murder her lover’s wife, the authors recall trying to capture a “time and place in Texas history.”

By and

Music|

January 9, 2023

Checkerboards, Stripes, and Fish: A Family of Luthiers Unearths Its Magical Guitars

For many legendary musicians, there was no finer guitar than one made by San Antonio’s Guadalupe Acosta and his sons. Their descendants are restoring their legacy.

Marcos Acosta of Trio Paseador Hidalguense performs at the Festival of Texas Fiddling at Twin Sisters Dancehall in Blanco on December 3, 2022.

Music|

December 21, 2022

At the Festival of Texas Fiddling, “Let ’er Rip, and Maybe a Little Out of Tune”

At Blanco’s annual gathering, ethnicities, genres, and styles mix and clash, but are united by a common instrument.

The Stand Up Desk|

November 21, 2022

The Exoneration of Anthony Graves Still Resonates

Pamela Colloff reflects on her 2010 story about the shoddy police work and prosecutorial misconduct that put an innocent man on death row.

DWI-Dude-Jamie-Balagia-Austin-lawyer-Colombian-drug-traffickers-crime-surveillance-feat

True Crime|

November 7, 2022

The DWI Lawyer Who Represented Cocaine Traffickers—and Paid the Price

Austin attorney Jamie Balagia, a.k.a. “the Dude,” thought that he’d finally hit the big time. Then everything fell apart.

A dinner at the Rancho Pillow hotel, in Round Top, part of the Feasts in the Field series, on March 28, 2022.

Style & Design|

October 13, 2022

How Round Top Became a Whole Vibe

Celebrities, influencers, and high-end shoppers are among the throngs that descend upon the tiny town’s biannual antiques fair, which has flourished—even during a pandemic.

Douglas McGrath's new show Everything's Fine

Art|

October 3, 2022

Everything Wasn’t Fine: Doug McGrath’s Play About Growing Up in Midland

The actor and writer’s one-man off-Broadway show, ‘Everything’s Fine,’ is about a series of bizarre events involving one of his junior high teachers.

Film-David-Gordon-Green-Director-Halloween-Ends-feat

Film & TV|

September 7, 2022

How David Gordon Green Became Hollywood’s Horror Necromancer

He’s made critics gush with his art-house dramas and howl with his stoner comedies. But for the director of ‘Halloween Ends,’ it’s all about experimentation.

Rogers (center) with deputy chief Paul Williams (left) and budget director Dale Cramer (right), preparing to testify at a legislative hearing about Governor Ann Richards' budget proposals in 1991 at the capitol building in Austin.

Books|

August 31, 2022

Remembering When Texas Was Run by Women

Mary Beth Rogers, who served as Ann Richards’s campaign manager and chief of staff, reflects on Texas politics in ‘Hope and Hard Truth.’

Film & TV|

August 24, 2022

What Netflix Needs: Some ‘Mo’ Houston

In the new Netflix series ‘Mo,’ created by Houston comedian Mo Amer, Bun B is a priest and Paul Wall is a security guard. But it’s not all laughs.

Fiction-Texas-The-Last-Karankawas-Kimberly-Garza-Galveston-Stewart-Beach-2

Books|

July 14, 2022

Why Are Texas Novelists So Fascinated by Galveston?

Kimberly Garza’s coastal debut, ‘The Last Karankawas,’ draws on her childhood memories of one of the city’s lesser-known ethnic enclaves.

Arts & Entertainment|

April 19, 2022

Robert Wilson Brings the Avant-Garde to a Century-Old Opera

After a lifetime away from his hometown of Waco, the legendary director and playwright returns to the Houston Grand Opera with ‘Turandot.’

The waiting lounge at Milk + Honey’s Arboretum location, in Austin.

Style & Design|

April 14, 2022

Marital Bliss-out: Indulging in a Weekday Couple’s Massage

If a husband and wife can quarantine together, they can get manicures together.

Guests at Hotel Ritual in Jacksonville participate in a burning bowl ceremony.

Travel & Outdoors|

April 14, 2022

What Year Is It? New Age Meets Days of Yore in This East Texas Hotel and Spa.

At the charming Hotel Ritual in small-town Jacksonville, you can tap into any frequency you wish.

Nina Diaz in her home recording studio, in San Antonio, on February 21, 2022.

Music|

March 8, 2022

Nina Diaz Almost Lost It All. Now She Wants to Guide San Antonio’s Next Rock Star.

The Alamo City legend broke up Girl in a Coma and decamped to L.A. She’s back with a new solo album, a recording studio, and some hard-earned wisdom.

Texas History|

March 4, 2022

How Legendary Sportswriter Gary Cartwright Joined Texas Monthly

He was the magazine’s first big hire and—over the next few decades—delivered some of its most memorable stories.

True Crime|

January 12, 2022

The Positively True Adventures of the Kilgore Rangerette–Kidnapping Mom

What pushed an East Texas mother to kidnap at gunpoint the director of the famed college drill team and her nineteen-year-old daughter?

Business|

December 15, 2021

Can This UT Professor Clean Up Outer Space?

Moriba Jah, a self-proclaimed “space environmentalist,” has joined a new effort to map the millions of bits of discarded debris orbiting the Earth.

Travel & Outdoors|

November 29, 2021

A Day Inside America’s Largest Indoor Water Park in Round Rock

On Kalahari’s thirty waterslides and lazy river, my kids and I took our first plunge into some kind of normalcy since the pandemic started.

Music|

November 23, 2021

Scholar Emcee Mexstep Drops Some Lessons on ‘Vivir’

University of Texas at San Antonio professor Marco Cervantes mixes history, activism, and hip-hop on his latest album.

aerial view of James Webb Space Telescope.

News & Politics|

November 16, 2021

The Most Powerful Telescope Ever Made Will Launch Next Month. A Texas Astronomer Is Leading Its Biggest Project.

UT’s Caitlin Casey will use the Webb Telescope to peer nearly 14 billion years back in time.

Being Texan|

September 12, 2021

The Great Corny Dog Feud

For almost eighty years, the name “Fletcher’s” has drawn state fair visitors. After a dramatic feud—and a pandemic—the family’s banner will fly again.

Being Texan|

June 14, 2021

Texas First: The Night I Went Two-stepping With the Gilleyrats

One lucky night of dancing with the masters unlocked a new appreciation of the craft.

Health|

May 14, 2021

Turn On, Tune In, Feel Better: The Rise of Psychedelic Therapy in Texas

As clinics across the state offer ketamine therapy for depression, a bill would fund further studies on MDMA use and psilocybin for PTSD treatment of vets.

Author Greg Curtis's new book, Paris Without Her

Books|

April 19, 2021

Alone in the City of Light

Former Texas Monthly editor in chief Greg Curtis’s new book explores the years he spent rediscovering Paris after the death of his wife.

Donkeeboy and Donkeemom, muralists in Houston

5:56

Art|

March 31, 2021

Donkeeboy and Donkeemom Brighten Houston With Their Art

The mother-son team are behind some of the city's most colorful murals.

Trae tha Truth and DJ Mr. Rogers in Houston in February 2021.

Music|

March 10, 2021

The Relief Gang Never Stops

When the power went out and the water stopped running, Trae tha Truth and DJ Mr. Rogers were there to pick up the slack.

Black and white candid close-up of Jerry Jeff Walker.

Music|

November 1, 2020

Jerry Jeff Walker, Remembered by Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams, Dan Rather, and Many, Many Others

The New York–born singer-songwriter got to Texas as soon as he could—and spent the next five decades changing the lives of seemingly everyone he met.

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Film & TV|

October 30, 2020

Houston Director Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr. on His Psychological Horror Debut, ‘Black Box’

The filmmaker discusses the winding path, from Texas to Singapore to Japan and back, that led to Amazon commissioning his first feature.

Music|

October 14, 2020

Why Quinn Mason, a 24-Year-Old Composer From Dallas, May Be Classical Music’s Next Superstar

Mason, one of the most sought-after young composers in the country, has a new work set to premiere in November.

Art|

October 6, 2020

An Oral History of notsuoH, Houston’s Most Idiosyncratic “Work of Living Art”

For nearly a quarter century, this bohemian venue and ”social sculpture” has been a gathering place for poets, performance artists, and even a rooster or two.

True Crime|

August 19, 2020

The Wildest Insurance Fraud Scheme Texas Has Ever Seen

Over a decade, Theodore Robert Wright III destroyed cars, yachts, and planes. That was only the half of it.

The Culture|

June 24, 2020

Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Master Auctioneer?

Eight days inside America’s Auction Academy, learning the secrets of “the dynamo from Dallas.”

Being Texan|

June 12, 2020

14 Resources for Teaching Your Kids About Racial Injustice

Recommendations from the creators of Texas’s new African American Studies elective.

Health|

March 21, 2020

A Houston Health Care Executive on the Challenges Facing Her Walk-up Coronavirus Testing Clinics

Katy Caldwell, CEO of Legacy Community Clinics, talks to Texas Monthly about medical supply shortages, staff safety, and financial woes.

Business|

February 11, 2020

A Group of Texas News Veterans Aim to Revolutionize How Women Are Covered in Media

Emily Ramshaw and Andrea Valdez discuss their vision for the 19th*, a nonprofit venture where politics, policy, and gender will converge.

the-new-kidney-in-town-illustration-by-Israel-g-Vargas-1

News & Politics|

January 3, 2020

How Close Are We to Creating Human Organs on a 3D Printer?

A Rice University professor's recent breakthrough may mean that a science fictional scenario is within reach.

By and

Style & Design|

December 5, 2019

How to Buy Cowboy Boots

A guide to finding the perfect pair, whether you're working cattle, two-stepping, or presenting a TED talk.

Miss Lavelle White at Antone's on November 10, 2019.

Music|

November 21, 2019

On the Town With Miss Lavelle White

The 90-year-old blues legend currently holds down three weekly residencies in Austin.

News & Politics|

November 20, 2019

Can Bee Stings Treat Lyme Disease?

Treatments for chronic Lyme disease are controversial and expensive. As a last resort, some patients are pursuing this unproven and painful alternative.