November 1985

Features
My father had to have an answer for everything—adultery, spiritual crises, the pigeons defecating in the church gutter. No wonder I didn’t become a preacher. The miracle is that my sister did.
The odds for having a child of our own were slim to none. We took a chance on slim.
The genteel practice of law is dead. Nowadays lawyers fight for clients, raid each other’s firms, and bill, bill, bill.

People who have watched a certain prime-time soap opera think they know what goes on at the Petroleum Club. They don’t.
Five years ago, Hollywood took some cowboys and cowgirls and portrayed their lives as filled with romance, heartbreak, and country music. Since then, they’ve returned to reality. And their lives have been filled with romance, heartbreak, and country music.
A new chapter in art history? Five artists dabble in a medium you’ll never see at the Met.
They’re cheesy, they’re tasteless. But each black velvet painting is a one-of-a-kind work of art.
Here they are—the Texas homecoming queens. Take a look at the girls the boys liked best.
Web
Fast becoming a master soda jerk, Marilyn Shackelford, manager of Johnny B’s Old-Fashioned Soda Fountain, showed us how to make a fresh Lime Rickey at home. 1 juicy lime Crushed ice 1 1/2 oz. cherry syrup (Jubilee brand is good) Fill a pint glass with crushed ice.

IT WASN’T BECAUSE I was touring West Texas that I ate a cheeseburger for breakfast. It was after stumbling upon Johnny B’s for lunch the day before. Never mind the open sky and distant mesas, the cheeseburger at this inviting luncheonette was all I could envision. Open only since November…
Miscellany
You have to wonder if guys like San Antonio’s C. A. Stubbs aren’t the future of urban politics.
Fundamentalists lose ground in textbook war; White maneuvers to keep Hispanic support; round two for Crystal City.
They said it couldn’t be done, but Larry Brumfield built Texas’ largest indoor bass aquarium.
NorthPark Mall inaugurated an epoch twenty years ago. It’s still the standard for upscale shopping.
Columns
Compact discs: coasters? Frisbees? or the best sound you’ll ever hear?
It had to happen. Novelist James Michener has finally trained his macroscope on Texas, and the result is, well, long.
With one bold acquisition the Dallas Museum of Art could double the value of its holdings. But there were a few strings attached.
White Nights is too much cold war, not enough Baryshnikov; After Hours is overwrought Scorcese; Mishima is a mishmash.
Graze on the street corners of Texas for fast, tasty, and inexpensive meals.
Reporter
A turf battle over shrimp on the coast; a nominee for the meanest man in Houston; a former Cowboy’s reflections on why athletes go broke.