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The Inside Story|
December 1, 1998

International Males

Texas seems to have a town named for every place in the world. There’s Paris, Turkey, London, Athens—you get the idea. But when we say that two illustrators featured in this month’s issue, Henrik Drescher and Olaf Hajek, are from New Zealand and Berlin, respectively, understand that we really mean

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Around the State|
December 1, 1998

Around the State

Why not party like it’s 1999-since it will be? Watch Junior Brown, Alvin Crow, and other troubadours ring in a honky-tonk New Year (Austin, Forth Worth, San Antonio, and Elsewhere). Plus: A benefit concert by the nation’s top cello fellow (Dallas); a filling exhibit of oil company ads (Elsewhere); Mexican

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Around the State|
November 1, 1998

Around the State

American folk art moves into two Fort Worth museums. Plus: Real cowboys take their rodeo drive to Amarillo; a multimedia show brings the Harlem Renaissance to Houston; an Austin symposium looks at women with the write stuff; and in Houston a Texas actress is ballpark frank. Edited by Quita McMath,

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Politics & Policy|
September 30, 1998

Brother, Can You Spare Some Dimes?

George W. isn’t the only Bush benefiting from the largesse of well-heeled Texans. His brother Jeb Bush, the GOP candidate for governor in Florida, has thus far received more than $382,000 in contributions of $500 or less from Texans. Among the notable donors: financier Perry Bass, oilmen W. A. “Tex”

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The Inside Story|
September 30, 1998

Reid All About It

In August 1973 Jan Reid was published for the first time in Texas Monthly in what was the seventh issue. On April 20, 1998, he was shot by bandits during a robbery in Mexico City. In between, he wrote countless articles for countless publications, earning his reputation as one of

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Around the State|
September 30, 1998

Around the State

A bueno new home for Latin American art (San Antonio). Plus: Dan Flavin’s artful neon (Houston); music fans go bock to the future (Shiner); the queen of the Lion King roars back with The Flying Dutchman (Houston); and Porgy and Bess, you is my show now (Austin).THE MAIN EVENTA Grand

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Business|
August 31, 1998

Ballpark Figures

Now that the Houston Astros have Randy Johnson, can they afford to sign him to a long-term contract? His first two starts in the Astrodome boosted attendance by 20,000 fans a night. At an average ticket price of $10, that means his economic impact was $200,000, plus an additional $30,000

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The Inside Story|
August 31, 1998

Little, Big Man

Any NBA forward will tell you that it’s hard to get good position on Dennis Rodman, so it’s no surprise to hear the same thing from photographer Blake Little, who shot this month’s cover. From the moment the Chicago Bulls star arrived at SmashBox Studios in Culver City, California, Little

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Around the State|
August 31, 1998

Around the State

Around The State Star speakers hit the lecture circuit: Bill Moyers and George Will in Dallas, Bob Dole in San Antonio. Plus: birding in Rockport and Fulton; a world-class mezzo-soprano in Fort Worth; oil-patch art in Beaumont; and contemporary Mexican photography in Houston. Edited by Quita McMath, Erin Gromen, and

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Politics & Policy|
July 31, 1998

Poll Taxed

The hottest topic in the crucial lieutenant governor’s race between Republican agriculture commissioner Rick Perry and Democratic state comptroller John Sharp is the reliability of the Scripps Howard–owned Texas Poll. When the March poll showed Sharp leading with 41 percent of surveyed voters to Perry’s 35 percent, R’s complained vigorously

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The Inside Story|
July 31, 1998

Movers and Acres

A professional photographer since the early seventies, David Stoecklein has devoted the past fifteen years to lovingly recording archetypes of the American West—and although he lives in Idaho, he has spent much of that time shooting Texas for coffee-table books such as Don’t Fence Me In, Images of the Spirit

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Around the State|
July 31, 1998

Around the State

MAIN EVENTA Little Night Music Every Texan knows that, in August, only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun. But as a cool wind picks up in the evening, who can resist joining friends around the gazebo or band shell for some free music alfresco? Since

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Politics & Policy|
June 30, 1998

Situation Wanted

Headline: Situation Wanted by Evan SmithThe revolving door between politics and the media is swinging furiously in New York and Washington, D.C., so why should it be any different in Austin? In this year’s race for attorney general, for instance, the major party candidates have hired journalists as their spokespersons:

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Sports|
June 30, 1998

Rogers Hornsby

BASEBALL’S ROGERS HORNSBY was a success right off the bat. In 1916, at age twenty, he became the leading hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals. His 1924 batting average of .424 is still the best of the modern era (and his lifetime .358 is second only to Ty Cobb’s .367).

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The Inside Story|
June 30, 1998

Oh, Danny Boy

In ten years as a professional photographer for publications like the New York Times, Vanity Fair, and Texas Monthly, Danny Turner has shot his share of heavyweight politicians, from Al Gore to Ann Richards, and they have often been tough to shoot. “Sometimes you can only take as good a

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Around the State|
June 30, 1998

Around the State

Houston goes to the dogs—and we mean that in a good way. Plus: Jerry Seinfeld (perhaps you’ve heard of him) in San Antonio; pride of a country legend in Fort Worth; nature on display in Dallas; crossed swords in Austin.THE MAIN EVENTBow Wow The dog days are coming to Houston—and

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Politics & Policy|
May 31, 1998

Family Values

AS IF TEXAS Democrats didn’t have enough trouble, the state party is losing one chairman (incumbent Bill White) and not getting another (uncandidate Cecile Richards, daughter of Ann) because both wanted to spend more time with their families. White, who describes himself as “not all that partisan—I prefer to find

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The Stand Up Desk|
May 31, 1998

Witt and Wisdom

BILL WITTLIFF IS A RENAISSANCE hombre. An author, a publisher, a film producer, and an arts patron, the longtime Austinite is best known for his screenplays, including The Black Stallion, Raggedy Man, Legends of the Fall, and Lonesome Dove; his adaptation of the latter revived both the miniseries and the

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Guides|
May 31, 1998

Around the State

What a hall! The Houston Museum of Natural Science’s new wing has a mask of a pre-Inca lord, a re-creation of a Mayan temple, and more. Plus: An international opera star takes the stage in Fort Worth; boxer Oscar De La Hoya goes round and round in El Paso; the

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Politics & Policy|
April 30, 1998

City Limits

How serious is the fight by suburbs to limit the annexation power of cities? It’s become a matter of life and death. In Kingwood, which was recently swallowed by Houston, opponents of annexation are blaming several deaths in the area on slow response time by Houston ambulances. Annexation is also

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The Stand Up Desk|
April 30, 1998

A Few Good Men

IT IS SO REFRESHING to know that lawmen who are hardworking and corruption-free still exist [“The Last Posse,” March 1998]. These men set an example in their profession. They seem so down to earth and determined. These men are truly role models.IRENE REYESSan Benito LOOKING AT THE COVER PHOTO, I

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Being Texan|
April 30, 1998

The Newton Boys

UNTIL A STAR-STUDDED FILM SHOT THEM BACK into the spotlight, the Newton Boys had faded from public memory. Famous during the twenties, the four brothers—Jess, Willis (below left), Doc, and Joe (right)—were part Western desperadoes, part newfangled gangsters. They pulled off dozens of bank and train robberies but, unlike more-notorious

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The Stand Up Desk|
April 30, 1998

An Evan Smithee Production

The first film Texas Monthly deputy editor Evan Smith ever saw was A Boy Named Charlie Brown. That was in 1969, when he was only three. But Snoopy, Lucy, and the gang must have had a potent effect because film has been a steady and powerful presence in Smith’s

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Guides|
April 30, 1998

Around the State

The Bass Performance Hall is open for business, and the acoustical expectations are high (Fort Worth). Plus: Readers and writers celebrate literary Texas (Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and elsewhere); the nation’s top golfers get in the swing (Dallas and San Antonio); Texas Czechs bounce to the strains of primo

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Books|
April 1, 1998

Arts and Wozencraft

Except for the time she spent as a police officer in Plano and Tyler—when she couldn’t get past the “emotional shutdown” required by the job—Kim Wozencraft has always been a writer. She kept a journal as a child, as a student at Richland College in Dallas, and later, during a

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Guides|
April 1, 1998

Around the State

For music fans in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Round Rock, and San Antonio, these are the fest of times. Plus: An oilman’s artistic vision is realized in San Antonio; a Dallas photography show honors lensmen from Mexico and Houston; Houston Grand Opera stages Arabella; and many of the nation’s swiftest athletes

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Joan Crawford in 'Montana Moon.'
Film & TV|
March 1, 1998

Joan Crawford

All her life, Joan Crawford raised other people’s eyebrows as often as she reapplied her own. From the time she arrived in Hollywood, the temperamental Texan provoked hostility and gossip, and her wide-eyed flapper persona soon hardened into that of a sleek, steely sophisticate. But the arrogance accompanied a massive talent;

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The Stand Up Desk|
March 1, 1998

Banks a Lot

BEFORE SHE BEGAN putting together finely detailed service pieces for magazines like this one, Suzy Banks was occupied with another kind of construction. “I graduated from college in 1981 with a useless degree in film, but I didn’t want to leave Texas,” says the 39-year-old, who lives in Dripping

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Music|
March 1, 1998

Around the State

Around the State Gary P. Nunn and other singer-songwriters tour the state in celebration of Texas history. Plus: A collection of powerful photos are on display in Corpus Christi; a top Russian ballerina tiptoes into Houston; Golden Gloves boxers are a hit in Fort Worth; and guitar buffs come together

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Guides|
February 1, 1998

Around the State

A three-museum Robert Rauschenberg retrospective in Houston. Plus: Garth Brooks plays Dallas and Fort Worth; mountain bikers converge on Big Bend; Goya’s prints on display in Dallas; and Ellen Burstyn onstage in Houston. Edited by Quita McMath, Erin Gromen, and Katy Vine THE MAIN EVENT The Rauschenbergs Are Coming! The

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The Stand Up Desk|
January 1, 1998

Roar of the Crowd

Race MattersI was captivated by paul Burka’s observation in “What’s Black and White and Red-faced All Over?” [December 1997] that “the only way to open the door to more minority students is to broaden—that means reduce—the standards for admissions.” The real question for society is this: Shall we lower our

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Art|
January 1, 1998

It Ain’t Over Till It’s Overbeek

FOR WILL VAN OVERBEEK, traveling from his home in Austin to Harlingen to shoot the Marine Military Academy (see “A Few Bad Boys,”) wasn’t anything new: Ten years ago he did the same thing (for a proposed photo essay that never got published). In fact, photographing cadets has been

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Guides|
January 1, 1998

Around the State

A Western photographer’s retrospective in Fort Worth will leave you thinking, Holy Cowboy! Plus: Lounging around in Houston; listening to the tenor of the times in Corpus Christi; staging something Wilde in Dallas; and grooving to the joy of sax in Houston.THE MAIN EVENTRange InterludeErwin E. Smith’s artistic vision had

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