December 1980 Issue

Features
I, Claus
Better not shout, cry, or pout, ‘cause we’re telling you why, after all these years, Santa Claus is still coming to town.
Out Of Control
We’ve got inadequate airports, jam-packed airspace, and antiquated traffic control system, and inept federal overseers. Is air safety just pie in the sky?
These Boots Weren’t Made for Walking
You can drink coffee out of them, plant ivy in them, or put them on a pedestal. The only thing you can’t do with these realist ceramic boots is wear them.
Miscellany
State Secrets
What’s in store for ‘88; riding Reagan’s coattails; welcome to the great El Paso gold rush; Yankee lawyers invade Dallas.
Columns
Cowboys and India
Beef is king at Cattlemen’s in Fort Worth; food fit for a rajah is yours at Houston’s Taj Mahal.
Home, Bittersweet Home
An Alley Theatre world premiere, To Grandmother’s House We Go was a play about family foibles that really hit home.
Tidings of Comfort and Joy
These recordings of Christmas carols and cantatas will help ye rest merry.
Medicine Men
From pig pancreas pills to pyramid power ice trays, the cure-alls of these unorthodox healers are aimed at getting you back on the right wavelength.
Old, Rugged Churches
Century-old Antioch Baptist shouts its message over the sky-high rooftops of downtown Houston. St. Mary’s in Galveston is Texas’ only basilica.
High Gloss
Laura Furman handles The Glass House with a little too much care; Elmer Kelton’s novels take you way out West; a new filed guide digs into Texas’ past; Hearts will win yours.
Art From the Underground
Dissident Russian artists paint a grim picture of life behind the Iron Curtain.
True Confessions of Fathers and Sons
What is a man to his boys? Fiend, antagonist, taskmaster, hugger, educator, realist—put them all together, they spell “father.”
Stompin’ By the Bayou
Houston’s first jazz festival turned Miller Theatre into a hothouse of sound.
The Shadow Warrior
Sword-wielding samurai clash in Kagemusha, Akira Kurosawa’s rousing saga of clan wars in sixteenth-century Japan. The Stunt Man goes out on a limb—and falls off. It’s My Turn is a feminist film that’s funny.
Reporter
Texas Monthly Reporter
Cable TV has Dallas in its coils; acupuncture has its day in court; sex education has parents up in arms.