February 1983 Issue

On the Cover

Charlie Brooks’ Last Words

Charlie Brooks was the first man to die by lethal injection, but everyone wondered whether he or his partner was the real murderer. In his last days, Brooks answered that, and other questions.

Features


Tea for Texas

Can Texans be won over to the antique tradition of tea and little sandwiches in the afternoon? Dallas’ and Houston’s new gilded hotels are counting on it.

Feature

Other Main Streets

They’re where you went to get your hair cut or to see a picture show or to watch the squirrels on the courthouse lawn.

Columns


As Good as Her Word

Texas women write about crop dusters and frozen custard and the Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport in the encouraging new anthology Her Work. Life Sentences, though, is a flimsy feminist exercise.

Classical Music

Standing Room Opera

Texas opera lovers would have ended the season happily just having seen a lively Rosenkavalier, a magical Rheingold, and a fiery Wozzeck. But then the Houston Grand Opera’s Pagliacci came along and took their breath away.

Movies

Next to Godliness

Gandhi presents its title character as all but a god and India as all but a paradise. Starstruck is a lark; Sophie’s Choice is a letdown.

Thunder Claps

The Fabulous Thunderbirds storm away on a new album that shows why they’re Texas’ hardiest rhythm and blues band. Eight more releases capture everything from mandolin picking to Balinese monkey chants.

Reporter


Reporter

Texas Monthly Reporter

The unhealthy politics of emergency medicine; according an accordionist his due; sucking it up for Lite beer; the condo boom that went bust.

Miscellany


State Secrets

State Secrets

Treasure hunters want state booty; Republicans aren’t so hot about Phil Gramm; there’s hope for Texans with money in Mexico; Texas newspapers worry about USA Today.

Explore the Archive

See all issues
Magazine Latest