The Ground’s the Limit
How a band of thrill-seekers called BASE made jumping off Texas’ tallest building the ultimate urban adventure.
December 1981
Features
Texas, 1945 Or The Sad Cowboy
In a faraway archive we found the best photographs of Texas ever taken, never befor published in a large group. Together, they show every part of the state as it entered the modern age. And each one has a story behind it.
Child’s Play
A brief but opinionated guide to the world’s best toys, from the Alpha Porbe to the telephone.
Let’s Get Serious About Toys
They used to be virtuous and wooden and they were good. Now they’re commercial and plastic and they’re great.
The Black Striker Gets Hit
The life—promising beginning, overripe middle, bloody end—of Lee Chagra, the biggest drug lawyer in El Paso.
Columns
Time of Repentance, Season of Joy
On Yom Kippur, Jews in Dallas mark the Day of Atonement; on Christmas Eve, Episcopalians in Houston gather for a night of adoration.
Oscar’s Follie
Coastal Corporation’s mastermind, Oscar Wyatt, keeps everyone guessing these days—from the IRS to society columnists to stock analysts.
Our Son, The Murderer
Dallas’ Stage #1 proves it’s worthy of its name with a gut-wrenching production about a family torn apart.
Rockers, Kickers, and Hepcats
Texas music is wide open these days. You can stand by old standbys like Willie or take a chance on nuclear polka and Caribbean funk.
Rage of Cajuns
Southern Comfort bathes the bayou in blood; Chariots of Fire sets no track records; Quartet is a marvel of misdirection; True Confessions’ trespasses are forgivable; Time Bandits steals the show.
Kids and Money
Children today understand brand names like Izod and concepts like “rip-off,” but they don’t understand that some things—the best things—can’t be bought.
Miscellany
State Secrets
Dreaming Democrats; juicy news about the News; shake-ups brewing in UT; whey Reagan can’t decontrol gas.
Reporter
Texas Monthly Reporter
Robots take over Dallas; sports talk shows take Houston by storm; border bridges take forever to get built; John Tower takes the lead in the defense debate; a Corsicana bakery takes the fruitcake.
