Community
February 1, 1988
Habits of the Heart
Time-honored Texas rituals by Paul Burka,
More Stories
Community
February 1, 1988
Now For the Weather
When a rural Texas says, “It looks like rain,” he’s really meditating on the nature of the universe.
Community
February 1, 1988
The Banker’s Lament
Everybody loved Susi Tucker when she was giving money away. Now the notes are due, and the good feelings are in escrow.
Community
February 1, 1988
The Promised Land
Can a New York employee of J.C. Penney find happiness amid the hustle and bustle of Plano?
Community
February 1, 1988
Called to Care
A friend’s illness propelled a Baptist minister from a life or though to a life of action.
Community
February 1, 1988
Oh, Give Me a Home
We all need a place to call our own.
Community
February 1, 1988
A Test of Character
Triumphing over adversity is the story of Texas. We’d better be able to do it again.
Behind the Lines
February 1, 1988
Behind the Lines
A special celebration.
Authors
February 1, 1988
Authors
About our contributors.
Business
January 1, 1988
Break the Bank!
Don Dixon ran Vernon Savings the way the Romans ran orgies, equating excess with success, until his empire collapsed.
Style & Design
January 1, 1988
Ode on a Hempstead Urn
That concrete urn you bought by the side of the road is making decorating history.
Lifestyle
January 1, 1988
Sweet Fifteen
More than an excuse for a good time, the Mexican quinceaera party is a fifteen-year-old girl’s rite of passage.
State Secrets
January 1, 1988
State Secrets
Does Texaco have a chance in the U.S. Supreme Court? Dukakis and Gore fight over Texas; a bad start for Kent Hance; the latest Disneyland-comes-to-Texas tale.
Roar of the Crowd
January 1, 1988
Roar of the Crowd
Speaking up for unsung cowgirls; Greeks bearing gripes; Libertarians looking for a landslide.
Reporter
January 1, 1988
Texas Monthly Reporter
Down but not out in Bent Tree; dishes only the devil could love; hello, Wal-Mart; stupid napkin tricks; gossip boys and Gorilla girls.
Sports
January 1, 1988
Texas Primer: The Cotton Bowl
The ghosts of bowl games past recall an era when cotton and the Cotton Bowl were king in Texas.
Music
January 1, 1988
Chantilly Lace and A Jolly Face
When Texas songwriter the Big Bopper died with Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens in a 1959 plan crash, his hit “Chantilly Lace” became the end rather than the beginning of a national career.
Travel & Outdoors
January 1, 1988
The National Tour of Texas
Out itinerant reporter visits with a Lubbock man determined to preserve the American Way of Life; the doughty clan that brought beer to Levelland; a windy lady fascinated with the weather and a rusticated professor gone to seed.
Being Texan
January 1, 1988
This Land Is My Land
Growing up, I took the Panhandle’s plain nature for granted. Only after years away and a sentimental journey home did I take it to heart.
True Crime
January 1, 1988
The Sins of Walker Railey
He had a wife and a girlfriend. His ambition was unchecked. He tried to commit suicide. But when I came face to face with the minister of my boyhood church, the sin we talked about was murder.
Bum Steers
January 1, 1988
1988 Bum Steer Awards
A year of clumsy Clements, stupid stickups, ripped-off Rangers, cockeyed cops, agitated alligators, rotund cockroaches, jumpy judges, nitwit newsmen, addled Aggies, naughty newlyweds, randy retirees, and a pestered pontiff.
Education
January 1, 1988
Not What the Doctor Ordered
When Houston’s Hermann Hospital sought a cure for its financial ills, it decided to perform major surgery on its agreement with the UT medical school next door.
Behind the Lines
January 1, 1988
Behind the Lines
The big squeeze.
Film & TV
December 1, 1987
The Trip to Paradise
Small Texas towns live either in our memory or in our imagination. The ones with the storybook names live in both.
News & Politics
December 1, 1987
All Choked Up
A ground war at the Dallas–Fort Worth Airport is turning innocent passengers into anxious bystanders.
Style & Design
December 1, 1987
Most Likely to Succeed
Seven outstanding young Texas design students translate their visions of fairy tales, Greek goddesses, and Catholic rituals into fashion statements.
Books
December 1, 1987
Growing Up With George and Martha
By turning two tiny dots into two huge hippos, James Marshall made an indelible mark on children’s literature, and little people laughed happily ever after.
Being Texan
December 1, 1987
Texas Primer: The Balcones Escarpment
The blackland prairie of the old South meets the wide-open spaces of the wild West at Texas’ great geologic divide.
State Secrets
December 1, 1987
State Secrets
Halloween handouts for a savings and loan; why the Texaco-Pennzoil decision was predictable; bad news for judicial reform; UT and A&M head south; the King Ranch contemplates a road.
Roar of the Crowd
December 1, 1987
Roar of the Crowd
Methodist misadventures, political predicaments, utopian unrest.
Reporter
December 1, 1987
Texas Monthly Reporter
A black and gamy Monday; Wick Allison as low-profile Buckley; heartthrobs Quaid and Swayze; fine food for feedlots; Augie’s Gringo Lingo.
Travel & Outdoors
December 1, 1987
The National Tour of Texas
In the Mesquite Kingdom, where the coyotes howl, the wind blows free at the MacArthur Academy of Freedom, an honest face gets you a phone and immigration throws mariachi parties.
Lifestyle
December 1, 1987
One Man, One Oat
Twenty years ago the Furry Freak Brothers, Dealer McDope, and Oat Willie were Austin’s underground heroes. A mild-mannered ex-hippie reveals how he lived the legend.
Health
December 1, 1987
This Can’t Be Happening to Me
From the look on my doctor’s face, I knew the results of the biopsy. The lump in my breast was cancer.
Classical Music
December 1, 1987
That’s Entertainment
The Houston Grand Opera was out to impress, with its new house and three ambitious productions in one week, but what it proved best was just how enjoyable this brand of theater can be.
Business
December 1, 1987
Go East, Young Man
Texas developers are snapping up land, putting together deals, and building like crazy—in Washington, D.C.
Behind the Lines
December 1, 1987
Behind the Lines
The World War I theory of law.
Books
December 1, 1987
Poison Pen
Dallas’ drive-in film critic Joe Bob Briggs made us laugh at bad movies. When we became the butt of the joke, it wasn’t funny anymore.
Art
December 1, 1987
Lost Horizons
An exhibit at Fort Worth’s Amon Carter Museum contends that before the cowboy became America’s hero, Indians and mountain men were the icons of a vanishing frontier.
True Crime
November 1, 1987
Every One a Victim
The parents of a confessed killer went to jail rather than testify against their son. Now the murder conviction has been reversed, and the family of the deceased must endure renewed anguish.
News & Politics
November 1, 1987
Sold!
Never mind the million (no lie!) other houses for sale in Texas. If you follow our advice, yours will be the first to sell.
Being Texan
November 1, 1987
Dear Mum
Autumn is the time when true school spirit blooms.
News & Politics
November 1, 1987
Old Times
Before the Dallas newspaper war, the Herald was full of character—or was it characters?
Business
November 1, 1987
Paper Boy
When newspaper entrepreneur William Dean Singleton bought the ailing ‘Dallas Times Herald,’ people thought he was crazy. When he bought the ‘Houston Post,’ they were sure of it.
Being Texan
November 1, 1987
Head, Heels, and Heart
For team ropers on the All-Girl circuit, the true reward is the happiness of pursuit.
Being Texan
November 1, 1987
In Praise of Cowgirls
Call them what you will. We call them the living, breathing spirit of the Western woman. A working definition, you might say.
State Secrets
November 1, 1987
State Secrets
Yankees discover a Texas bumper sticker they like; UT and A&M get tough; Saudi Arabia’s crude tactics; an acid test for Dukakis.
Sports
November 1, 1987
Spur of the Moment
San Antonio put a full-court press on basketball superstar David Robinson in hopes that he wouldn’t forget the Alamo City.
Roar of the Crowd
November 1, 1987
Roar of the Crowd
Cisneros in the public eye; cowboys in Washington; school boards all over Texas.
Reporter
November 1, 1987
Texas Monthly Reporter
Onward through the fall at SMU; home on the fringe with Rob Paul; good news from the catalog jungle; a taste of Longhorn.