Columns

Behind the Purple Page

Texas writers of historical romances spice up the old boy- meets-girl plot with more than a pinch of passion.

Home, Bittersweet Home

An Alley Theatre world premiere, To Grandmother’s House We Go was a play about family foibles that really hit home.

Medicine Men

From pig pancreas pills to pyramid power ice trays, the cure-alls of these unorthodox healers are aimed at getting you back on the right wavelength.

True Confessions of Fathers and Sons

What is a man to his boys? Fiend, antagonist, taskmaster, hugger, educator, realist—put them all together, they spell “father.”

Stompin’ By the Bayou

Houston’s first jazz festival turned Miller Theatre into a hothouse of sound.

The Shadow Warrior

Sword-wielding samurai clash in Kagemusha, Akira Kurosawa’s rousing saga of clan wars in sixteenth-century Japan. The Stunt Man goes out on a limb—and falls off. It’s My Turn is a feminist film that’s funny.

Cowboys and India

Beef is king at Cattlemen’s in Fort Worth; food fit for a rajah is yours at Houston’s Taj Mahal.

Tidings of Comfort and Joy

These recordings of Christmas carols and cantatas will help ye rest merry.

Old, Rugged Churches

Century-old Antioch Baptist shouts its message over the sky-high rooftops of downtown Houston. St. Mary’s in Galveston is Texas’ only basilica.

Behind the Lines

Enter Ronald Reagan—the liberals’ true friend.

High Gloss

Laura Furman handles The Glass House with a little too much care; Elmer Kelton’s novels take you way out West; a new filed guide digs into Texas’ past; Hearts will win yours.

Art From the Underground

Dissident Russian artists paint a grim picture of life behind the Iron Curtain.

Man on Bass

A double basist leads a singular life.

Teaming With Problems

The Houston Rockets need work; the Dallas Mavericks need help.

Dust on the Golden Spur

When ranchers gathered in Lubbock to celebrate their way of life, they found they didn’t have much cause for celebration.

On the Rebound

After a sloppy 1979-80 season, the San Antonio Spurs had no coach, no center, and no end to their problems. But all that has changed.

Free Agent

Nostalgic daddies think of schoolboy football as good, clean fun. But kids soon realize it’s more like corporal punishment.

Putting on Heirs

The story of Howard Hughes and the discredited “Mormon will” is the unlikely subject of a quirky film about rags and out-of-reach riches. Ordinary People is full of woe; Stardust Memories has far to go.

Bordeauex Patrol

A loaf of bread, a glass of wine, and though hast a wine bar.

How to Succeed in Opera

At his school in Austria, Texas singer Richard Owens acquaints opera hopefuls with a bravo new world.

Never On Sunday

Why do 61 million adult Americans say “pooh” to the pew?

Behind the Lines

The press keeps telling us how bad Carter and Reagan are, but let he who is without sin cast the first stone.

Love’s Labors Found

Sculptor Jim Love makes art look easy—and fun.

The Sweet Smell of Success

Jumpin’ Joe Flash

Joe “King” Carrasco and the Crowns rock New Wave with a Tex-Mex rhythm.

Ghost Writhers in the Sky

Prince Albert

Although Don Albert’s music was a mainstay of the forties, his obstinate stand against racism put him years ahead of his time.

Lady on the Lam

A Fan’s Notes

Arnold Shoenberg is the century’s most maligned composer, but to know him is to love him.

He Found it!

Behind the Lines

The present against the past: what the New World can learn from the Old, and vice versa.

Measure For Measure

Three Texas poets word their way into print; two new novels trace the adventures of Neanderthals and knights-errant.

Man-child

Leon Box is a retarded artist whose work underscores the beauty and absurdity of a world he has seen very little of.

Shock Tactics

Houston’s Equinox Theatre has fine actors and directors, but its raunchy sex and violence can make you squirm. The nineteenth-century Granbury Opera House is a fetching setting for Texas Meg.

The Inheritance Factor

In Austin, experts in genetics are helping parents of children with birth defects come to terms with the most painful questions of their lives.

Lights, Camera—Willie!

Willie Nelson tries on a starring role and comes out smelling like a Honeysuckle Rose; in Willie an Phil Paul Mazursky pays homage to Truffaut, although he shortchanges himself.

Fit To Be Thai’d

Go east, young Westerners, for the oddest, spiciest food in Dallas; Houston’s Cho is chic, but its kitchen is all shook up.

The Heat Treatment

This one has been a humdinger, but every Texas summer is broiling hot—and that’s nothing to get all steamed up about.

Onward, Brother Roloff

The feisty pastor of the People’s Baptist Church keeps marching on to war with the State of Texas. Mexican American Pentecostals in the Valley ask Houston’s God’s help on a hot problem.

Behind the Lines

On the Move.

Capote Changes Coler

In Music for Chameleons it’s hard to tell whether Truman Capote is telling the whole truth or nothing at all of the truth; Conspiracy ferrets out much of the truth about John F. Kennedy’s murder.

The Conqueror Worm

All the beautiful kickers gathered in Houston for the premiere of Urban Cowboy. It began at a shopping center and ended in a honk-tonk, and John Travolta had to say he liked it.

It’s Not Whether You Win

The Astros are packing ‘em in with a great new pitch—a sales pitch.

The Armadillo’s Last Waltz

The imminent demise of Austin’s famed music hall already has Texans singing the Armadillo homesick blues.

The War-horse

The Big Red One is Sam fuller’s war baby; roadie never gets out of its rut; The Tin Drum misses a few beats.

Lasagne and Old Lace

Try pasta and veal at Sergio’s in Dallas—that’s Italian! For an outstanding Sunday brunch, put your stock in Austin’s Green Pastures.

Bring Home the Bach

Mozart and Beethoven made an appearance, but Johann Sebastian was the guest of honor at Victoria’s annual Bach Festival.

God With the Wends

Texas’ rural Wends take time from chores to attend St. Paul’s Lutheran in Serbin; vacationers on Padre Island take time from play to attend an open-air mass at St. Andrew’s by the Sea.

Why I wish I Didn’t Have $137 Million

Those luck Arabs, with all that oil! The only problem, as a Saudi finance minister points out, is that oil is all they have.

Behind the Lines

Poor Houston.