The Children of Texas
I was never certain how to explain the importance of the state to my three daughters. Now that I have two grandsons—named Mason and Travis, no less—I’ve realized something that I should have known all along.
September 2012 Issue
Features
The Kids Are All Right
Meet eight of this year’s valedictorians, the products of schools across Texas, from El Paso’s Silva Health Magnet to Houston’s Westbury High.
The Texanist’s Parenting Quiz
How are you doing as a raiser of authentic Texan offspring? Take this handy quiz and find out.
I Shall Never Surrender or Retreat . . .
. . . from teaching my fifteen-year-old daughter about her Texas roots. So when I realized I was failing to accomplish this most sacred of duties, I did what any well-meaning parent would do: loaded her (and her friends, of course) into the car and hit the road.
The Education of Mi Hijita
My daughter is only two, but I’m already planning to teach her what it means to be a Texan—and a Tejana.
Mother Knows Least
I was thrilled when my daughter began learning a second language at day care. But what was I supposed to do when my three-year-old started engaging in conversations I couldn’t understand?
By Katy Vine![Katy Vine's Profile Photo]()
The Exile’s Lament
Even after I moved to Los Angeles, there was no question that I’d always be a Texan at heart. But what about my daughter?
The Boys of the Dipper Ranch
On 50,000 acres that they have mostly to themselves (not including their hounds, mules, horses, cattle, chickens, piglets, and parents), Jasper, Trevor, and Tanner Klein live a life almost untouched by the modern world.
How to Raise a Texan
Confessions of a Seventh-Grade Texas History Teacher
Bobby Jackson has taught students in the Aransas County school district about the Plains Indians, the Battle of San Jacinto, and Spindletop since the state celebrated its sesquicentennial. How he does it bears no resemblance to the class I took when I was stuck in middle school.
By John Spong![John Spong's Profile Photo]()
Columns
The Texanist
The Texanist: Do I Need to Stop Raising My Little Girl Like a Tomboy?
On tomboys, spiciness, and the end of the UT-A&M rivalry.
Reporter
Not Fade Away
Can a posthumous release of Waylon Jennings’s last recordings keep his legacy from disappearing?
Screens
Quaid in Full
After years of bad choices and bad luck, Dennis Quaid—older, wiser, and emotionally raw—proves his mettle in a new movie and his first TV series.
Cell! Cell! Cell!
As cancer hospitals in Dallas try to compete with Houston’s M.D. Anderson, the medical technology arms race is heating up. Is that good news for patients?
Education
Hullabaloo, Qatar! Qatar!
Now that Texas A&M has opened a campus in the Middle East, can it hold on to its traditions? Can the Middle East?
Greg Abbott’s War
The state attorney general on Obamacare, secession, and challenges to Texas sovereignty.
6 Things You’ll Be Talking About in September
1. “Goodbye to Texas University . . . Hello to the University of Louisiana State?”The trash-talking for Texas A&M’s first-ever Southeastern Conference game got off to an early start in May, when University of Florida head coach Will Muschamp took a shot at Aggieland. “You ever been to College
By Jeff Salamon![Jeff Salamon's Profile Photo]()
The Texas Supermodel
America is chasing the myth of Texas. Fortunately, we aren’t.
Touts
Cowgirl Up!
From horseback riding to grilling my own ribeye, three days in Bandera brought out my inner Dale Evans.
King Creole
I walked into Underbelly the other night and straight into a bear hug from chef-owner Chris Shepherd. And I wasn’t the only one. Every woman that the extroverted Houston chef had ever met before, plus random strangers who were looking a little jealous, also received a hug. I’m not sure
Web
Web Exclusive
How to Successfully Release a Conservative Film
Movie distributors of 2016: Obama's America, which is on track to be one of the five highest-grossing documentaries of all time, focused their initial marketing strategy on a Houston release. Why?
Andrew Porter’s Novel Has a Houston Problem
The San Antonio writer's novel, In Between Days, doesn't get its Houston setting quite right.
The Drop Everything List
Bison Celebration Days, Shawn Colvin, Schützenfest, and Bill Callahan . . .
Ryan Bingham Strikes Out on His Own
Starting a new label is a dicey proposition, but the country star who co-wrote the Oscar-winning song "The Weary Kind" thinks the time is right.
The Drop Everything List
Gustavo Arellano, "The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs," Kolache Festival, and the Xtreme Hummingbird Xtravaganza . . .
Making Something Out of Nothing
How McAllen turned a vacant Walmart into one of the most architecturally imaginative libraries in the country.
The Drop Everything List
Aggie Football, Great Recession Orchestra, Marfa Dialogues, and Grossology: The (Impolite) Science of the Human Body . . .
The Drop Everything List
Robert Rodriguez, the Fort Worth Symphony's American Festival, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, and the 16th Annual Grape Stomp . . .
A Q&A With Brené Brown
Brené Brown discusses her book Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead (Gotham Books) and her 2010 TED talk on vulnerability.
By Jeff Salamon![Jeff Salamon's Profile Photo]()
Made in Texas?
Lone Star State conservatives may be happy about America’s turn to the right, but that doesn’t mean we can take the credit (or blame!) for it.
The Renaissance of Ann
Nearly six years after her death, Ann Richards, who is the subject of a new documentary, book, and stage play, still casts a long shadow.
Miscellany
Cover Credit
Cover Credit
Composite photograph by Randal Ford. Retouching by Gigantic Squid. Styling by Bonnie Markel.
Roar of the Crowd
Roar of the Crowd
Our July issue on drought and water in Texas was greeted with enthusiasm, though it was qualified by despair. “The package of articles is very informative,” wrote the San Angelo Standard-Times, “but for those of us who watched Texas dry up in the 1950s . . . those memories are
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