The Blood of the Farentholds
Sissy Farenthold’s family has long battled with its capacity for self-destruction. With the disappearance of her youngest son, the battle is once again joined.
April 1992
Features
My Underwater Self
From the YMCA pool to the ocean blue, I’ve always been at peace in the deep.
The Killer Next Door
For six years, my landlord and his wife were the perfect neighbors. Then he was accused of murdering her—and suddenly I didn’t know what to believe.
“This Is the Alamo!”
If Congressman Charlie Wilson has his way, the humble wood chip will be the focus of a trade war between East Texas and Japan.
Columns
Hard Rock
It chopped, it scraped, it cut, it carved! Texas’ own Alibates flint helped civilize a continent.
Other People’s Money
A man with big ambitions, Paul Rush bought his way into San Antonio society. Too bad the money he spent wasn’t his.
Testing Delusions
This year is the twenty-sixth anniversary of the hardest test I ever took. Then, about to graduate from college with an English degree, I had been in school for so long and had liked it so much that I had no particular yearning to go out into the world. Perhaps…
Having a Cow
Beyond Beef blames cattle for the decline of civilization—not to mention famine, pestilence, destruction, and death.
Radio Central
Part history, part gossip, part stream of consciousness, Mattie Dellinger’s talk show speaks to the heart of Center, Texas.
Miscellany
Split Personalities
With the never-ending school finance crisis entering its umpteenth round, Governor Ann Richards and Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock appear to be on a collision course. Richards has decided that the educational problems of public schools should be considered along with their funding problems. Bullock has decided just the opposite. The…
The Sweetwater Rattlesnake Roundup
Photojournalist Jim Cammack was struck by an odd sight at Sweetwater’s annual spring rattlesnake roundup: a man with a tail. No, the man, a Jaycees volunteer, was not participating in a roundup-sanctioned snake-wrestling contest. He was demonstrating one technique for holding the powerful Western diamondback while milking its venom.
Corps Values
As a female member of Texas A&M’s Parsons Mounted Cavalry (“one of the units most determined to remain all male”), I want to clear up some of the misconceptions in Mimi Swartz’s “Love and Hate at Texas A&M” [TM, February 1992]. I have been a Drill and Ceremony…
Reporter
The Write Stuff
Suzanne Coleman reveals the secret of her success: “You have to be a sentimental fool.”
Aquarena Mermaids
Water acts may ebb and flow, but since 1950 the polyester-clad mermaids at San Marcos’ Aquarena Springs have barely had time to keep their heads above water. Their subaquatic dances are a tribute to the popularity of such swimming celebrities as Esther Williams and Johnny Weissmuller, a testament to…
Liquor Licker
Larry Peterman is a revisionist where suckers are concerned. His new tequila lollipop con gusano (complete with the worm) is his take on making hard liquor palatable: “We tried using mescal,” he says, “but it tasted so bad—kind of like burned dirt with rubbing alcohol—that nobody would eat it.”…
Bingo Nation
The Choctaw Nation’s cavernous hall accommodates a weekly flood of fanatical game players.
Web
Chicken Tikka
Chicken Tikka with Yellow Lentils and Crispy Pappadums Yellow Lentils 2 tablespoons each celery, onion, and bacon, finely chopped 1⁄2 ounce olive oil 5 cups (40 ounces) chicken stock 2 tablespoons curry powder 2 cups dried split yellow or pink lentils Kosher salt to taste…
