Abilene

BBQ |
January 7, 2015

Interview: Tom Perini of Perini Ranch Steakhouse

Co-Owner: Perini Ranch Steakhouse; Opened 1983Age: 71Smoker: Indirect Heat Wood-Fired PitWood: MesquiteTom Perini cooks with mesquite. It might be in the form of coals for direct heat cooking, or the active flames of burning logs for grilling steaks. That mesquite also fuels an offset smoker for the smoked prime rib served

By Daniel Vaughn

BBQ Joint Reviews |
December 12, 2014

Stillwater Barbeque

With a history formed by ranching and railroads, Abilene sounds like a city destined to have good brisket. It was founded in 1883 after cattle ranchers and land speculators convinced the railroad to swing north of former county seat Buffalo Gap, and a new city was born. After the

By Daniel Vaughn

Travel & Outdoors |
January 21, 2013

The Cattle Trail Drive

ROUTE: Fort Belknap to Red Bluff 
ReservoirDISTANCE: 505 milesNUMBER OF COUNTIES: 15WHAT TO READ: J. Evetts Haley’s Charles Goodnight: Cowman and PlainsmanIn the rolling country northwest of the Palo Pinto Mountains, nestled along FM 61, stand the barracks of Fort Belknap. It was from this outpost, in 1860, that a

By Brian D. Sweany

Web Exclusive |
January 21, 2013

A Q&A With Michael Hall

The senior editor on writing about Mary Eula Sears, talking to relatives of the deceased, and dealing with sensitive issues.

By Stephanie Kuo

Feature |
January 21, 2013

Who Killed Mary Eula Sears?

In 1982 a man named Wayne East was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of one of Abilene’s most prominent citizens. To this day, he maintains his innocence. And one member of the victim’s family believes him.

By Michael Hall

Art |
January 21, 2013

Texas Treasures

My journey in early Texas art began while I was a student at Southern Methodist University, where I studied Frank Reaugh pastels and met Jerry Bywaters. After 24 years at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, curating exhibitions and traveling the state, I’ve come up with a list of greatest hits.

By Michael R. Grauer

Art |
January 21, 2013

The Art Lover’s Companion

More than sixty art insiders gave us their list of favorite works of art to see in Texas. So grab your notepad, sketchbook, or iPad and take the ultimate tour of must-see art in Texas.

By Jordan Breal

Food & Drink |
January 21, 2013

BBQ08

Eighteen hungry reviewers. 14,773 miles driven/flown. 341 joints visited. Countless bites of brisket, sausage, chicken, pork, white bread, potato salad, and slaw—and vats of sauce—ingested. There are only fifty slots on our quinquennial list of the best places to eat barbecue in Texas. Only five of those got high honors.

By Patricia Sharpe and Patricia McConnico

The Culture |
January 20, 2013

126–150

From Buzz Bissinger arriving in Odessa—with a notepad—to Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen writing songs in College Station

By Texas Monthly

The Culture |
January 20, 2013

126–150

From Buzz Bissinger arriving in Odessa—with a notepad—to Lyle Lovett and Robert Earl Keen writing songs in College Station

By Texas Monthly

Music |
January 20, 2013

Three Chords and A Station Wagon

In the years before anyone had heard of Woodstock or Altamont, teenagers across Texas started bands in their parents’ garages, banging out earnest rock songs on cheap equipment and hoping to hit it big at the local skating rink or VFW post. For some, those dreams won’t fade away.

By Michael Hall

The Wanderer |
September 6, 2012

Choose Your Own Texas Adventure

The first column I wrote for Texas Monthly appeared in the March 2000 issue. The article was titled “Voting Rites,” and I argued that the Voting Rights Act, which Lyndon Johnson had proposed to a joint session of Congress 35 years earlier, was the greatest accomplishment of his presidency. The truth

By Jordan Breal

Sports |
March 4, 2012

A Bittersweet End for Beren Academy

The Beren Stars fell to the Abilene Christian Panthers, 46-42, in Saturday night's TAPPS 2A final, but people are still talking about how the Houston Orthodox Jewish day school got there. 

By Jason Cohen

Media |
March 1, 1999

Urban Cowboy

Peter Jennings. Liz Smith. Barbara Walters. Joe Armstrong? You may not know the name, but New York publishing’s most famous ex-Abilenian is at home among the stars—and is a star in his own right.

By Meghan Daum

On Location |
June 30, 1998

Ernest Goes to Texas

Borgnine: The word itself is barrel-chested, glaring, grotesque. And has a name ever been so suggestive of a face? Known for cinematic classics like From Here to Eternity and Marty (for which he won an Academy award in 1955), Ernest Borgnine last worked in Texas in the mid-fifties, when he

By Jordan Mackay

Feature |
June 30, 1997

Happy Doomsday

In the wake of Heaven’s Gate, the media marched en masse to Abilene, the home base of the House of Yahweh, whose charismatic leader, Yisrayl Hawkins, was supposed to be the next David Koresh. Not even close.

By Robert Draper

The Inside Story |
June 30, 1997

Hail, Mary Ellen

For thirty years Mary Ellen Mark has made her name as a documentary photographer by not shying away from tough assignments, whether that means traveling for six months in India to shoot circus folk or infiltrating the world of runaway kids in Seattle. Chronicling life at Abilene’s House of Yahweh

By Jordan Mackay