November 1998 Issue

The Book Repository

Essential reading on the Kennedy assassination.

By Anne Dingus

Music

We’re an American Band

How did Houston supergroup La Mafia get to be the biggest tejano act in the world? By leaving Texas.

By Jesse Katz

Feature

Home Away From Home?

Texas’ largest nursing home chain says it provides a “better place to live” for more than six thousand elderly men and women. State investigators tell a much different story.

By Skip Hollandsworth

The Lone Gunman

Why the Warren Commission was right.

By Gregory Curtis

The Evidence

The magic bullet, the president’s jacket, Oswald’s camera, and other artifacts from the National Archives.

The Witnesses

Nellie Connally, Red Duke, and others remember November 22, 1963.

By Joe Nick Patoski

The Two Oswalds

It’s the most intriguing theory of all: two men with the same identity, one a patsy and the other a murderer who got off scot-free.

By Joe Nick Patoski

The Cuban Connection

Conspiracy theories: The Castro Theory.

Hoover’s Endgame

Conspiracy theories: The FBI Theory.

The Red Scare

Conspiracy theories: The KGB Theory.

Conspiracy A-Go-Go

Conspiracy theories: The Shadow Government Theory.

Et Tu, Lyndon?

Conspiracy theories: The LBJ Theory.

Saigon Surprise

Conspiracy theories: The Vietnam Theory.

Married to the Mob

Conspiracy theories: The Mafia Theory.

The Conspiracy Theories

JFK was killed by (a) the mob, (b) Castro, (c) the FBI, (d) the CIA, or (e) none of the above? Decide for yourself.

Plausible Deniability

Conspiracy theories: The CIA Theory.

Cuba Libre

Conspiracy theories: The Cuban Exiles Theory.

Friendly Fire

Conspiracy theories: The Secret Service Theory.

A handsome young president, a convertible limousine, a sniper, three shots (we think), and our lives were changed forever. A special report on what is, for many, the defining event of the past fifty years.

Food & Drink

Wild Turkey

Here’s something to be thankful for: chef Grady Spears’s holiday feast, with a deep-fried bird and all the trimmings.

By Patricia Sharpe

Columns

Our Foreign Legion

Austria. The Bahamas. Botswana. Jamaica. Sweden. In each place the U.S. ambassador is a Texan sent there by Bill Clinton, whoÕs as partial to our stateÕs best and brightest (and richest) as LBJ was.

By Kathryn Jones

Music

Folk Hero

He’s one of the most influential men in American music. So why haven’t you heard of Alan Lomax?

By John Morthland

Looking for Love

Urban Cowboy rides again.

By Gregory Curtis

Film

Whereabouts Known

Bruce McGill played D-Day, the biker with the handlebar mustache, in the classic comedy Animal House. Twenty years later, he’s still a character.

By Jordan Mackay

Grumpy Old Man

Dan Jenkins has just published his eighth novel. It’s called Rude Behavior. Spend a few hours with him and you’ll know why.

By Jason Cohen

The Culture

Foxx, Whole

With feature-film roles, a chart-topping album, and a successful stand-up career, sitcom star Jamie Foxx is laughing all the way to the bank.

By Cynthia True

Reporter

Face

Luann Williams

Luann Williams, the editor and publisher of Pop Culture Press, isn’t the type who waits for opportunity to knock. “In the mid-eighties I was working at a Memphis record store and loved music magazines,” says the thirtysomething Tennessee native. “I was looking at a couple, and I thought, ‘You know,

By Katy Vine

Low Talk

Moody Blues

“Aunt Jimmy” sues Galveston’s first family.

By Evan Smith

Sports

Hannah Storm

When I graduated from Notre Dame in 1983, I wanted to be a sportscaster. But at the time there were very few women doing that, so I had a difficult time finding a job. I answered some want ads in a broadcasting publication, and one of the advertisements was for

By Brian D. Sweany

The Culture

Alley Catty

There’s nothing civil about the debate over The Civil War. Since the announcement in August that the musical re-creation of the War of Northern Aggression was Broadway bound next spring, critics have directed more than a few rebel yells at Houston’s Alley Theatre, where the production originated. As was the

By Eileen Schwartz

CD and Book Reviews

Hot CDsDistancing themselves further still from their earlier banjo-punk novelties, Austin’s Bad Livers go with what they know on Industry and Thrift (Sugar Hill). There is too much attitude and eclecticism at work to call this traditional bluegrass, yet despite a couple of electric interludes, the musical leanings of composer-singer

More Precious Than Oil

To the astonishment of water owners and users across Texas, the state Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to the rule of capture, the basis of all Texas underground water law. This much-criticized doctrine allows landowners to pump as much underground water as they want, even if the

By Paul Burka

Business

Snyderman

A Holocaust survivor saves a West Texas town (maybe).

By Joe Holley

The Culture

Upstaged

A Texas playwright gets panned by Catholic conservatives.

By Keith Kachtick

D.C. Dud

A former Austin, Dallas, and Houston official is under fire in the nation’s capital.

By Jason Zengerle

Go Ask Alice

Fifty years ago LBJ won—some say stole—a U.S. Senate runoff. What happened to the South Texas ballot box that saved his career?

By Pamela Colloff

Web

Recipe

Mrs. Jerabek’s Kolache Recipe

Published often in The West News of West, Texas, this recipe comes courtesy of Nita and Freddy Gerik, longtime residents of West who answer the Westfest information line in their home. According to them, Mrs. Jerabek’s recipe is very reliable.Dough2 yeast cakes or 2 packages dry yeast 1/4 cup lukewarm

Recipe

Green Salad With Texas Goat Cheese, Toasted Walnuts, and Grapes

Salad 1 3/4 cups walnut halves or pieces 12 cups baby field greens (salad mix or mesclun) 1 cup sherry vinaigrette (recipe below) 1 1/2 cups (about 8 ounces) Texas goat cheese 1 3/4 cups red seedless grapes, halved freshly ground black pepper to tastePreheat the oven to 350 degrees

Recipe

Mushroom-Crusted Venison

Sweet Potato Gratin3 medium to large sweet potatoes 1 cup whipping cream allspice to taste salt and white pepper to taste 2 ounces grated Parmesan cheesePreheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel and thinly slice potatoes and toss with cream. Place in a greased baking dish, sprinkling each layer with

Recipe

Dorothy Bohac’s Kolache Recipe

This recipe comes from Dorothy Bohac, Ph.D., President of the Travis-Williamson Counties Czech Heritage Society. She says that “the quality of a kolache is in the texture of the dough. The texture is controlled by the ingredients, particularly the amount of flour used. A baked kolache should be soft to

Recipe

The Morkovsky Sisters Kolache Recipe

Rose Morkovsky Hauger and Ann Morkovsky Adams are Czech sisters who grew up in a large family in San Antonio. Their family farm near Floresville is the focal point of family gatherings and celebrations. They’ve demonstrated their lifetime of kolache expertise in presentations for Texas Folklife Resources around Texas, and

Web Exclusive

We Gotcha Kolache

Czech out these traditional pastries.

By Virginia Wood

Recipe

“Onion Jam” Relish

1 1/2 pounds red onions (about 2 large onions) 1 1/2 pounds yellow onions (about 2 large onions) 4 bunches scallions (green part only) 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as canola 1 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar kosher salt to taste freshly ground black pepper to taste 1/4 cup brown sugarPeel

Recipe

Asparagus Wrapped With Smoked Bacon

4 pounds fresh asparagus 16 pieces smoked bacon kosher salt to taste freshly ground black pepper to tastePreheat the oven to 325 degrees. Trim off the woody ends of the asparagus and blanch for 45 to 60 seconds. Plunge immediately into an ice-water bath; when cooled, drain and set aside.Cook

Recipe

New Potatoes With Sun-Dried-Tomato Mash

2 cloves garlic 1/4 cup cilantro 1/4 cup olive oil 1/4 cup coarsely chopped rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes (about 1 ounce or .06 pound dry weight) 1/4 cup grated Asiago or Parmesan cheese 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 4 pounds new potatoes, washed and thinly slicedPreheat the

Recipe

Blue Cheese Cornbread Stuffing

Cornbread 1 cup buttermilk 1 egg, beaten 6 tablespoons sugar 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons kosher salt 1/2 cup butter, softened 2 cups fresh corn kernels 1/4 cup seeded and diced jalapeño (2 large jalapeños) 2 1/4 cups cornmeal 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 cup flourPreheat the oven to 350

Recipe

Buttermilk Chess Pie

Dough 2 cups flour 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon kosher salt 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), divided into several pieces 1/3 cup shortening, divided into several pieces 1/4 cup ice waterIn a food processor combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter and shortening. Process (or pulse) until the

Recipe

Cowboy Coffee With Kahlua Cream

1 pot hot coffee 1 1/4 cups heavy cream 2 tablespoons powdered sugar 2 tablespoons Kahlua liqueur 8 teaspoons shaved chocolateMake a pot of good strong coffee. In a bowl whip the cream until soft peaks form. Fold in the powdered sugar and Kahlua. Put a dollop on each cup

Food & Drink

How to Deep-Fry a Turkey

Equipment1 turkey cooker with a propane burner (also called a catfish cooker or crawfish boiler) 1 36- to 40-quart stockpot and basket 1 large turkey injector with needle 1 deep-fryer thermometer or candy thermometer elbow-length oven mitts Cinnamon-Chile Rub 1/2 cup cinnamon 1/2 cup pasilla or other red chile powder

By Andrea Valdez

Miscellany

Around the State

American folk art moves into two Fort Worth museums. Plus: Real cowboys take their rodeo drive to Amarillo; a multimedia show brings the Harlem Renaissance to Houston; an Austin symposium looks at women with the write stuff; and in Houston a Texas actress is ballpark frank. Edited by Quita McMath,