September 1999

Features

They worked hard, overcame obstacles, bucked conventional wisdom, and touched our lives. Meet the most impressive, intriguing, and influential Texans of 1999.

Reporter
Attorney General John Cornyn sure knows how to stir up controversy. He has attacked the fees of the outside lawyers hired by the state in its successful lawsuit against tobacco companies, impugned the integrity of his predecessor, Dan Morales, and now has created a huge exception to the state’s open…
MUSIC RARE PEARL: The complete Joplin. Janis Joplin Box of Pearls: The Janis Joplin Collection Columbia/Legacy RARELY HAS A POP ARTIST’S legacy rested on such a small and erratic output. But it seems strangely appropriate to Janis Joplin, who practically disappeared from rock radio soon after her 1970 death…
“Everything I do out in the yard—throwing the baseball with my brother or the football with my dad—always turns into an accuracy contest,” says Drew Brees. And practice, in the case of this twenty-year-old quarterback, has made near-perfect. As the starter at Austin’s Westlake High School during his junior and…

Biz
• EXXON, IRVING, $4.45 MILLION More than $3.4 million in unrestricted gifts to 69 Texas colleges and universities, including Abilene Christian University, Rice University, in Houston, Trinity University, in San Antonio, and the University of Texas at Austin. The gifts were made under the Exxon Education Foundation’s matching gift…
Hold your nose and open your wallet: Why the business of garbage is good for Houston.
After years of neglect, what did the Legislature do this session for the good people of South Texas? ¡No mucho!
What are the Dallas Stars and the San Antonio Spurs worth—not to mention less successful Texas teams.
How much do Tom Hicks and Jerry Jones pay themselves for the privilege of owning the Dallas Stars, the Texas Rangers, and the Dallas Cowboys? That and more in a revealing joint interview.
At the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, a handful of rich Texans are exhibiting their mastery of the art of out-of-state philanthropy.
No surprise: The best place in the state to get an MBA is UT-Austin. But there are plenty of great alternatives.
Miscellany
Lubbock’s Music Crossroads of Texas guarantees that our memories of Buddy Holly will not fade away. Plus: A saintly exhibit in Abilene; the Dallas Theater Center turns forty with a season worth a standing ovation; Bedford sings the blues; and revolutionary art in Houston. THE MAIN EVENT Oh, Boy!…
Sure, Steve Austin boasts an imposing nickname: Stone Cold. But what the World Wrestling Federation superstar doesn’t know is that Texas Monthly assistant editor John Spong, who profiled him for this year’s Texas Twenty, has a pretty impressive appellation of his own. During his days at Austin’s Westlake High…
Jailhouse Chili is a gastronomic pleasure for the Kinkster—and the rest of us.
Columns
After years of not much brewing, Houston’s Duncan Coffee Company is piping hot all over again.
Ricky Martin? Jennifer Lopez? The real Spanish-language stars of the moment are the Monterrey punk, funk, jazz, and hip-hop duo Plastilina Mosh.
Once upon a time, you went to a museum to see what was inside. Now you go to see the museum itself—and nowhere is this trend more in evidence than in Texas.

What do gossipeuse Liz Smith, politico Paul Begala, and Hollywood hotshot Robert Rodriguez have in common? They all worked—and networked—at the hundred-year-old Daily Texan.
Web

3 or 4 pounds beef (such as shank, round steak, flank steak, or lean chuck) 1 or 2 beers for marinade 1⁄4 cup canola or other vegetable oil 1 or 2 onions, finely chopped 5 garlic cloves, minced, or 1 tablespoon garlic powder 2 to…