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Paul Burka

Paul Burka's Profile Photo

Former senior executive editor Paul Burka joined the staff of Texas Monthly in 1974, one year after the magazine’s founding. He led TM’s political coverage for nearly forty years and spearheaded its storied roundup of the Best and Worst Legislators each biennium. A lifelong Texan, he was born in Galveston, graduated from Rice University with a BA in history, and received a JD from the University of Texas School of Law.

Burka spent five years as an attorney with the Texas Legislature, where he served as counsel to the Senate Natural Resources Committee. He won the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award in 1981. He also received a National Magazine Award in 1985, for his two-part profile of Clinton Manges. After retiring from Texas Monthly in 2015, he taught at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. He died in 2022.

3666 Articles

Reporter|
January 1, 1995

Straight Arrow

The new Ways and Means chairman, Bill Archer, takes aim at the federal budget.

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Politics|
November 1, 1994

Stuck in the Middle

Shut out by the left, distrusted by the right, shunned by voters obsessed with change: What’s a conservative Democrat to do?

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Politics|
September 30, 1994

Driven to It

The law says customers can file their own car papers and save fifty bucks. In practice, forget it.

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Reporter|
June 30, 1994

Hung Jurists

It’s up to the Texas Supreme Court to solve the school-finance mess. Guess what? They can’t.

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Sports|
April 30, 1994

Seasons to Remember

The end of the Southwest Conference was predictable, but for eighty years it gave Texas fans a brand of football that was anything but.

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Feature|
December 1, 1993

Breakdown!

If you think you’ve seen the worst of crazy, corrupt South Texas politics, you haven’t been to Eagle Pass.

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Reporter|
August 31, 1993

Joe v. Bob

American CEO Crandall and plaintiff’s lawyer Jamail waged the latest airline war in court.

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The Issues|
February 1, 1993

Scrapbook

Profligate prisons, prime Padre, proud photographs, controversial choice, and halfway health care.

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Way of Life|
February 1, 1993

Scrapbook

Cap wearing, Urban Cowboy watching, football playing, Claytie selling, town creating, and tree tainting.

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