Food & Drink
November 12, 2013
The Things They Buried
The Sunday barbacoa luncheon was one of my family’s few traditions. Had I known what was in those tacos, it might not have been.
Features
Texas History
October 23, 2013
Robert L. Wood’s Letter to Jackie Kennedy
November 22, 1963Mrs. John F. KennedyWHITE HOUSEWashington, D.C.My dear Mrs. Kennedy:I have never before written to a Congressman, President or any type of Statesman. In fact, in my thirty some years of living I have never DONE MUCH OF ANYTHING, except vote, toward being an American or making this Country
Texas History
October 23, 2013
Mary McMillen’s Letter to Jackie Kennedy
Dear Mrs. Kennedy,I am a Catholic also, I go to Saint Georges School. I can remember Nov. 21, the day before you came. We go to mass every day, then we go to lunch. This day was different, after mass our pastor told us to sit down. I wondered to
Texas History
October 23, 2013
Jane Dryden’s Letter to Jackie Kennedy
January 18, 19644201 LullwoodAustin TexasDear Mrs. Kennedy,I know that you hate the whole state of Texas. I do to. I wish I lived in Washington, D.C. where maybe I could maybe see you standing on your porch. I am determined to move there as soon as I can. I would
Texas History
October 23, 2013
Monroe Young’s Letter to Jackie Kennedy
December 1, 1963in 1962 September 23,Some mean man killed my dady too-Here in Dallas-my dady was a soldrerSanda Clause diden get my letteri hope he will get my letteri wont a bicycle—When you write him- tell him my name.Monroe Young Jr. III1838 Nomas StreetDallas, Tex.Read another letter to the first
Texas History
October 23, 2013
David Blair McClain’s Letter to Jackie Kennedy
Nov. 22 1963Dear Mrs. Kennedy,I was at school when I heard about the President. I cried for two or three minuts. My mother also cried, and so did my teacher Mrs. Mansir. I was very sad for President Kennedy. He was my friend even though he didn’t know me. Some
Texas History
October 23, 2013
Eileen Mitchell’s Letter to Jackie Kennedy
1:10 pmNov. 22, 1963From a student of North Texas State UniversityThe radio sat in the window of the second floor dorm window blaring out the sad news that our President had been shot! People walking around in twos and threes stopped their happy chattering and stood silently on the street,
Texas History
October 23, 2013
J. E. Y. Russell’s Letter to Jackie Kennedy
906 ParkviewDallas, TexasDec. 1 – 1963Mrs Jacqueline KennedyFirst Lady in our hearts.I live in Dallas, a city bowed in sorrow, and shame. I am 76 years old and live on a social security checkI must pour out my heart to you if my feeble hands will hold out to scribble
Texas History
October 23, 2013
Henry Gonzales’s Letter to Jackie Kennedy
P.O. Box 9652El Paso, Texas 79986Dec. 8, 1963Mrs. J.F. KennedyWashington, D.C.Dear Mrs. Kennedy:I am but a humble postman and I realize the many letters you have received, which is but deserving to you, throughout this wide world. We at our house have continued to mourn the great loss to all
Texas History
October 23, 2013
Marie Tippit’s Letter to Jackie Kennedy
MRS JOHN F KENNEDYWASHDCMAY I ADD MY SYMPATHY TO THAT OF PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD.MY PERSONAL LOSS IN THIS GREAT TRAGEDY PREPARES ME TO SYMPATHIZE MORE DEEPLY WITH YOU.MRS. J D TIPPIT DALLAS TEX(34).Read another letter to the first lady here.
Texas History
October 23, 2013
Claudine Skeat’s Letter to Jackie Kennedy
Mrs. John F. KennedyWhite HouseWashington, D.C. Dear Mrs. Kennedy,You and President Kenney were in my office a week ago yesterday.I am secretary to General Bedwell at Brooks Air Force Base, and I will forever be haunted by how handsome and healthy and happy you two looked – and how gracious you
Texas History
October 23, 2013
Tommy Smith’s Letter to Jackie Kennedy
Dear Mrs. Kennedy:I know the grief you bear. I bear that same grief. I am a Dallasite. I saw you yesterday. I hope to see you again. I saw Mr. Kennedy yesterday. I’ll never see him again. I’m very disturbed because I saw him a mere 2 minutes
Texas History
October 23, 2013
Suzan Lane’s Letter to Jackie Kennedy
Dec. 6, 1963Houston, TexasDear Mrs. Kennedy,I am ten years old. When I saw them moving President Kennedy’s rocking chairs out of the White House, a great sadness entered my heart.You made such a beautiful collection of treasures from other Presidents of the United States. Do you think you could find
Texas History
October 23, 2013
Marcy Wentworth’s Letter to Jackie Kennedy
5509 Dalwood DriveAustin, Texas 78723November 25, 1963Dear Mrs. Kennedy,There are no words in any language to express truly our grief and the sympathy we wish to extend to you and your family on the death of your husband, the President – our President. We Texans pride ourselves in our state,
Texas History
October 23, 2013
“May God Be With You, My Dear Mrs. Kennedy”
After President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, scores of Americans wrote letters to the first lady to express their grief. The most heartbreaking were those with a Texas return address.
Art
October 21, 2013
What Is Art?
When Playboy Enterprises—yes, that Playboy Enterprises—erected a forty-foot-tall sculpture near Marfa, it was convinced the town would appreciate its take on the local art scene. Instead it started a revealing debate.
Energy
October 21, 2013
The Energy Hunter
George Mitchell didn’t set out to launch one of the biggest oil and gas rushes in world history—he just wanted to coax some more gas out of an old well near Fort Worth.
Energy
October 21, 2013
Meanwhile, in West Texas . . .
The Tall City gets taller.
News & Politics
October 15, 2013
“May God Be With You, My Dear Mrs. Kennedy”
After President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, scores of Americans wrote letters to the first lady to express their grief. The most heartbreaking were those with a Texas return address.
News & Politics
September 17, 2013
Money Makes the World Go Round
And as president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Richard Fisher helps make the money go round. Meet the Fed’s most unlikely central banker.
Politics & Policy
September 17, 2013
The Coup Against Dew
Most people seem to agree that Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst is a decent, reasonable fellow with good intentions. So why is he having to fight for his job?
Sports
September 17, 2013
Failure Is Not an Option
Last year, UT forced prominent track-and-field coach Bev Kearney to resign because of her affair with a student. Now she’s fighting back, with a lawsuit that opens a window onto the world of high-stakes collegiate athletics—a window that many people would just as soon keep closed.
Business
September 15, 2013
Telling Fortunes
The 41 richest people in Texas.
West, TX
August 13, 2013
The Line of Fire
When flames erupted at the West Fertilizer Company plant, the members of the local volunteer fire department pulled on their bunker gear and jumped in their trucks, just like they always do.
The Culture
August 12, 2013
Made in Texas
The tradition of handmade craftsmanship is as old as the frontier. Meet some artisans who are keeping it alive in the modern age.
The Culture
August 12, 2013
Big Tex, My Big Tex
Nobody asked me, but here’s how I’d like to see Big Tex rebuilt. (First off, let’s make him a whole lot bigger.)
Politics & Policy
July 18, 2013
Best and Worst Legislators 2007
The impulse to make best and worst lists is sown in the nature of man. By the time my firstborn had reached the age of three, she had established her own pecking order for McDonald’s, Burger King, and Jack in the Box. If you walk into any high school,
Features
July 15, 2013
The Passion of Benjamin Sáenz
The messy, lonely, and visionary life of the first Texas writer—and the first Latino—to win the vaunted PEN/Faulkner Award.
Texas History
July 15, 2013
Singin’ on the Range
At the Fort Griffin Fandangle, Texas’s oldest outdoor musical, an all-amateur local cast reenacts its own bloody history.
Drugs
July 15, 2013
The Best Little Checkpoint in Texas
A dramatic increase in border security over the past six years has made the Sierra Blanca inspection station one of the nation’s toughest. And I oughta know.
News & Politics
July 3, 2013
The Best and Worst Legislators 2009
The Eighty-First Legislature was like Seinfeld: a show about nothing. It was dominated by an event that was a year away, the looming 2010 Republican gubernatorial primary battle between Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison, and by issues that were political rather than substantive, none more so than the session-long battle
News & Politics
June 28, 2013
The Best and the Worst Legislators 2003
It was a session like no other: different rules, new power players, a surprise trip to Oklahoma, and the small matter of a $9.9 billion budget shortfall. All of which made it tricky to separate the heroes from the zeroes. But we did.
News & Politics
June 28, 2013
The Best and Worst Legislators of 2005
IMAGINE A KITTEN, VERY CURIOUS BUT EASILY FRIGHTENED: That was the Seventy-ninth Legislature. It poked around school finance, pawed at tax reform, heard loud shouts of “No!”, fled to Mama, curled up, and went to sleep. Lawmakers did a lot of exploring, learned a lot about the world, even grew
Politics & Policy
June 28, 2013
Best and Worst Legislators 2001
Rodney Ellis was excellent. Gary Elkins was well, significantly less so. Bill Ratliff was a model of dignified leadership. Domingo Garcia was a one-man leper colony. Our biennial roundup of the Legislature's leading lights and dim bulbs.
Travel & Outdoors
June 27, 2013
Where to Stay Now, 2012
The Ten Best New (or Improved!) Texas Hotels
Sponsored
June 19, 2013
A Homecoming at Fort Bliss
Soldiers and their families wait desperately—and courageously—for the moment when they will be reunited. And when, for the lucky ones, it finally comes, it does not disappoint.
The Culture
June 19, 2013
A Homecoming at Fort Bliss
Soldiers and their families wait desperately—and courageously—for the moment when they will be reunited. And when, for the lucky ones, it finally comes, it does not disappoint.
Politics & Policy
June 16, 2013
2013: The Best and Worst Legislators
Proving the skeptics wrong, the Eighty-third Legislature accomplished most of what it planned to do. Our twenty-third roundup of the Capitol’s saints and sinners reveals who we can thank—and who we needn’t.
Texas History
June 10, 2013
Auf Wiedersehen to a Dialect
When the local vernacular dies, what goes with it?
Personal Essay
June 10, 2013
The Call of Battle
I was a soldier who neither loved war nor hated it, but I couldn’t ignore the fierce lure of combat. Six years after I came home from Iraq, I had a successful career, a beautiful wife, and a bright future, but one day I woke up and realized I had
Travel & Outdoors
June 5, 2013
Miles and Miles of Texas
The Hill Country Drive, the BBQ Market Drive, the Backwoods Drive, and thirteen other summer trips, from the mountains to the coast, that will take you down some of the prettiest, most picturesque, most wide-open stretches of asphalt Texas has to offer. Buckle up!
Books
May 13, 2013
Big Little Man
“By the time I’d been with the band a year, I was treated the same as any other Comanche.” An excerpt from Philipp Meyer’s epic new novel, “The Son.”
The Culture
May 13, 2013
The Guilty Man
Twenty-six years after Michael Morton was sent to prison for a murder he didn’t commit, his wife’s killer was finally brought to justice.
News & Politics
May 10, 2013
Conflicts and Interests
John Carona is a state senator from Dallas who chairs the Business and Commerce Committee. He’s also the CEO of the country’s largest homeowners’ association management company. And the word “recusal” isn’t in his vocabulary.
Travel & Outdoors
April 17, 2013
The Silver Kings
The wild and powerful tarpon once ruled the seas off Port Aransas. Why did the ancient fish disappear? And could they make a comeback?
Energy
April 16, 2013
It’s Oil for the Best
One expert explains how the BP spill could be Texas’s greatest boon.
Food & Drink
April 16, 2013
Southeast Texas Seafood Shacks
A taste of our coast at its most satisfyingly simple.
Politics & Policy
April 10, 2013
Crash Test
Over the past two decades a movement to increase the importance of standardized testing in public schools has swept across the country. It was born in Texas. Is Texas also where it might die?
SCANDALS
April 10, 2013
Darkness on the Plains
For decades, Stanley Marsh 3 was one of the most celebrated eccentrics in Texas. Then one Houston attorney set out to prove that he had a dark and terrible secret.
Sports
March 11, 2013
Hoop Queens
Half a century ago, the women’s basketball team at Wayland Baptist College set an extraordinary record that may never be broken: the longest winning streak in sports history.