April 2000

Apr 1, 2000 — By Gary Cartwright

The Borderland, Bud Shrake’s epic novel about the early days of the Republic of Texas, is the crowning achievement of a life that is itself the stuff of legend.

Apr 1, 2000 — By John Morthland

How Nolan and Reid Ryan are Expressing themselves in Round Rock.

Apr 1, 2000 — By Joe Nick Patoski and John Morthland

Meet eight Texas teams that are bringing America's pastime—the gimmicky, anything-goes minor league version—to a stadium near you.

Apr 1, 2000 — By Pamela Colloff

For Tom Cherry, the precise place where loyalty to his dad ends and a larger obligation to society begins lies deep in the woods of East Texas, at the intersection of history and conscience, where the truth about a church bombing during the struggle for civil rights in the South may only now be coming to light.

Apr 1, 2000 — By Anne Dingus

From the fabulous, furry Gilbert Shelton to the hypercaffeinated Shannon Wheeler, these celebrated Texas cartoonists will surely draw you in.

Jan 20, 2013 — By Paul Burka

What’s so important about a stack of wood? Every Aggie knows that the answer is tradition—which is why, after a catastrophe that took the lives of twelve young men and women, the decision of whether to continue, change, or call a halt to the bonfire looms so large at Texas A&M.

Apr 1, 2000 — By Don Graham

The Log of a Cowboy.

Apr 1, 2000 — By Claire Poole

Oh, Canada: You've taken film business away from Texas. Can an Austin soundstage get it back?

Apr 1, 2000 — By Patricia McConnico

I was born in San Marcos at my grandmother’s house in 1933, but I grew up in San Antonio. I did most of the kid stuff you do when you grow up in Texas, like play sandlot baseball. I read all the comics — Li’l Abner, Captain Marvel, and all…

Apr 1, 2000 — By Katy Vine

A Houston native who keeps score.

Apr 1, 2000 — By Anne Dingus

HI, SAYLOR Austin’s grisly past. IN AUSTIN IN 1885 the talk of the town was the series of unsolved ax murders of eight people — most of them maids or young mothers — by unknown fiends who were dubbed the Servant Girl Annihilators. Today Steven Saylor’s fictional take on the…

Apr 1, 2000 — By Mike Shea

Panama’s deposed dictator Manuel Noriega has disappeared from the world’s radar screen, but Austin’s Lawrence Wright shines a klieg light on the despot’s bizarre tenure in God’s Favorite: A Novel (Simon and Schuster). The former Texas Monthly contributing editor brilliantly fictionalizes Noriega’s fall from grace, complete with chilling depictions of…

Apr 1, 2000 — By John Morthland

CDs by Adolph Hofner and the Pearl Wranglers, Sister Seven, and Bob Dorough.

Apr 1, 2000 — By Mike Shea

FOR THE BRIEFEST OF MOMENTS in Shrub: The Short But Happy Political Life of George W. Bush (Random House), the authors allow that political expediency is not George W. Bush’s sole call to arms. Witness his aggressive pursuit of a school funding initiative. That moment aside, Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist…

Apr 1, 2000 — By Luann Williams

HAVING MADE HIS NAME AS A producer, Austin’s Gurf Morlix has finally stepped up to the plate with his solo debut. These eleven originals reflect the music of the artists he’s worked with (Lucinda Williams, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Robert Earl Keen) and the influence of his Southern California cronies Dave…

Apr 1, 2000 — By Joe Nick Patoski

TAKE A LANKY 22-year-old kid in a cowboy hat who cites Flaco Jiménez and Myron Floren as major influences alongside Hank Williams, Garth Brooks, and George Strait, and you just know there’s a whole lotta polka in his country soul. And that’s precisely what Chris Rybak’s self-titled CD is all…

Apr 1, 2000 — By Jeff McCord

HEARD OF BOB DOROUGH? The former Plainview resident’s early work never caught on with the record-buying public, yet many unsuspecting fans know him as the anonymous voice behind such animated Schoolhouse Rock vignettes as “Three Is a Magic Number.” Too Much Coffee Man, Dorough’s sophomore effort in his late-in-life jazz…

Apr 1, 2000 — By Andy Langer

EVER SINCE SISTER SEVEN moved from Dallas to Austin in 1991 and became one of Texas’ most consistently popular and hardest-touring bands, their curse has been that of every post-Dead “jam” band: great improvisational players don’t often fare well in sterile studios, and rubbery funk grooves rarely add up to…

Apr 1, 2000 — By Texas Monthly

Readers point out our mis-givings.

Apr 1, 2000 — By Brian D. Sweany

A tip of the hat to Tom Landry.

Apr 1, 2000 — By Evan Smith

The politics — and semantics — of the Mosbacher divorce.

Apr 1, 2000 — By Eileen Schwartz

Perhaps he heard a voice whisper, “If they build it, you will come.” Whatever the reason, contributing editor John Morthland was happy to spend much of the early part of the year visiting the state’s new minor league baseball diamonds for this month’s guide to the eight Texas teams in…

Apr 1, 2000 — By Patricia Sharpe

You get a spicy stir-fry; Dallas' Abacus gets your gratitude. Call it a squid pro quo.

Apr 1, 2000 — By Joe Nick Patoski

The longtime impresario of the coolest chain of nightlife spots in Texas remembers well what it was like to be a Cellar dweller. Me too.

Apr 1, 2000 — By Andy Langer

How the Stubb's barbecue empire outlasted the death of its namesake—and proved that spice guys sometimes finish first.

Apr 1, 2000 — By Jordan Mackay

Rashard Lewis may have left his Texas hometown for the NBA at a frighteningly young age, but he's no Leon Smith.

Apr 1, 2000 — By Alison Macor

Fresh from a victory tour of the film festival circuit, UT's Paul Stekler is ready for action. And lights. And camera.

Apr 1, 2000 — By Gregory Curtis

Reclaiming George W. Bush.

Apr 1, 2000 — By Texas Monthly

PART ONE: TOWARD THE LITTLE PIGEON I am busy and will only say how da do, to you! You will get your land as it was promised, and you and all our Red brothers may rest satisfied that I will always hold you by the hand.—letter from Sam…

Apr 1, 2000 — By Patricia Sharpe

1/2 cup good quality oyster sauce 2 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons sesame oil (for frying) 3/4 pound squid, either cut in half-inch rings or cut in half lengthwise and scored vertically 2 Thai chiles or 1 serrano chile, minced 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced…