Quick Links

Contributors

Katy Vine

Katy Vine's Profile Photo

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.

342 Articles

Food & Drink|
January 20, 2013

Taylor: Louie Mueller Barbecue

Forty-nine years of post oak coals in the pit have smoke-cured the building, which previously housed a ladies’ basketball court and a grocery market. Louie moved in with his barbecue business in 1959; his son, Bobby, took over more than three decades ago, but not a thing has suffered from

By

Travel & Outdoors|
January 20, 2013

Museums

Bronzes by Remington and Russell in Orange, Quanah Parker’s trail bonnet in Canyon: Ten spaces that excel at the art of exhibition.

By

Feature|
September 30, 2011

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.

By

Music|
May 31, 2011

The Apprentice

Carrying on the legacy of the legendary musician Steve Jordan isn’t easy, especially when you’re only 22 years old and blind. But Juanito Castillo is too busy reinventing the conjunto accordion to care.

By

Music|
April 30, 2011

He Lost a Good Thing

Huey P. Meaux, one of the most successful and significant record producers in Texas history, died last weekend at age 82. He leaves a legacy marked by brilliant songs and some very bad decisions.

By

Abel Gonzales
Food & Drink|
September 1, 2010

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.

By

Letter From Austin|
March 31, 2010

Fear Less

Can new research predict which soldiers will suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder—and which won’t?

By

Health|
January 1, 2010

Mother, Heal Thyself

Susan Hyde’s children were constantly in and out of the hospital with one illness or another. But were they the ones who were sick?

By

Merrianne Jessop, child from the Yearning for Zion Ranch.
Feature|
October 1, 2009

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

By

Texas History|
July 20, 2009

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.

By

Web Exclusive|
June 30, 2009

This Film Is Not Yet Rated

Bob Hudgins, director of the Texas Film Commission, talks to Katy Vine about the “Waco” controversy, tax incentives, and how to get your movie made in Texas.

By

Feature|
May 31, 2009

Hello to a River

Location: The Frio, outside LeakeyWhat You’ll Need: Inner tube, groceriesI was promised no mosquitoes. The little buggers had just started to attack back home in Austin, and as I smacked my first one of the season against the wall (making a mess but impressing my husband and

By

Letter From Lubbock|
April 30, 2009

High Plains Snifter

After 118 years, Lubbock finally appears ready to allow liquor stores inside the city limits—unless a shutter salesman and a handful of Baptists can turn back the clock.

By

Web Exclusive|
March 1, 2009

Let’s Talk About Sex

Ninety-four percent of Texas high school students receive abstinence-only education. More than half of these teens are losing their virginity. So what do the majority of Texans really want their kids to know about sex? 

By

Web Exclusive|
February 1, 2009

Music Man

So Raising Sand, the collaborative album between Robert Plant and Alison Kraus, produced by Fort Worth native T Bone Burnett, cleaned house with five trophies at Sunday night’s Grammys. Was anyone besides me not surprised? I guess it could have been a disaster, with all the egos involved, but anything

By

Web Exclusive|
January 1, 2009

Legalize It?

The El Paso City Council may override the mayor’s veto to create a debate on the current U.S. drug policies. In these interviews, the mayor, council members, and others explain their views.

By

Web Exclusive|
December 1, 2008

Slow to Evolve

The reason so many Texans testified in favor of strong language supporting evolution in the TEKS is because they’re having to play defense and they’re losing.

By

The Culture|
December 1, 2008

Anthony Mack, Letter Carrier

Mack was born and raised in Galveston, where he has been a U.S. Postal Service employee for 28 years. As the local union president, he helped coordinate letter carriers’ efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike.To be honest with you, I never believed in my wildest dreams that I’d be

As told to Texas Monthly and Katy Vine

Feature|
April 30, 2008

Faith, Hope, and Chastity

Texas receives more federal funding for abstinence education than any other state. But is teaching kids not to have sex the same as sex education?

By

Education|
November 1, 2006

Acting Up

At the Giddings State School, violent teenagers come to terms with their horrific crimes—and learn how to avoid committing them again—through role-playing exercises in a jailhouse version of group therapy. This is what your tax dollars are paying for? Well, it works. For a while, at least.

By

Letter From Plano|
May 31, 2006

Shabby Chic

Will the upscale shoppers of Plano really buy what Wal-Mart is selling?

By

Feature|
April 1, 2006

Gone in 15 Minutes

How the fire to end all fires obliterated Ringgold—and how residents of the tiny North Texas town are putting their lives back together.

By

Where I'm From|
December 1, 2005

Richard Linklater

The prison affected me personally. I grew up parking cars at the prison rodeo. I had a stepfather who was a prison guard.

By

Food & Drink|
November 1, 2005

Hail to the Chief

For going on five years, my admiration has grown for the weekly paper in the tiny Panhandle town of Miami (above). The New York Times it ain’t, but it tells me everything I could ever want to know about local births and deaths, windblown mail, bad potholes, and good yards.

By

Reporter|
September 30, 2005

Monster Inc.

As mythical creatures go, Bigfoot is right up there with the Loch Ness Monster and the Abominable Snowman. But in Jefferson, the search for the hairy, hulking beast with the, er, big feet is big business—and deadly serious.

By

Polaroid shot of Bob Dow hugging Bobbi Jo Smith from behind, surrounded by other polaroids of them and Jennifer Jones.
True Crime|
August 31, 2005

Girls Gone Wild

Bobbi Jo and Jennifer were young, in love, and on the road, with the wind at their backs and a happy future ahead of them. All that stood in their way was a dead body back in Mineral Wells.

By

Sports|
May 31, 2005

Brooklyn Heights

A one-on-one with Brooklyn Pope reveals her to be—off the court, at least—a fairly typical fifteen-year-old girl. But when the game clock starts, she’s the future of women’s basketball. Maybe basketball, period.

By

The Culture|
March 1, 2005

Return to Splendor

From humble Oak Cliff roots did a hip intellectual giant grow. In this oral history, friends and fans remember the late Grover Lewis, one of the great magazine writers of our day.

By

Magazine Latest