Travel & Outdoors
April 1, 1981
Tenting Tonight
How you can—and why you should—go camping in the middle of the week.
Longreads
News & Politics
March 1, 1981
Home Sweet Home, Good-bye
And hello to high prices, high interest rates, high rents, and a new low for the American dream.
Music
March 1, 1981
Make Friends With the Quin Tikis
Onstage, all happy lounge acts are alike; offstage, all unhappy lounge acts are unhappy in their own ways.
Travel & Outdoors
March 1, 1981
Out in the West Texas Town of El Paso
What to eat, how to shop, and where to boogie in the most enchanting corner of Texas.
Politics & Policy
March 1, 1981
Speed Demons
State highway patrolmen hate the 55 mph speed limit almost as much as other Texas motorists do, and for better reasons.
Travel & Outdoors
March 1, 1981
Going Under
For a man and his daughter out for a pleasant day’s fishing, the first sign of danger was a man’s hat floating silently down the stream.
News & Politics
February 1, 1981
Crime Without Punishment
Lock your doors. The police have given up trying to catch burglars.
Critters
February 1, 1981
Life Behind Bars
Zoos are fine for people, but they make animals go crackers.
Style & Design
January 1, 1981
Rags to Riches
When buyers and sellers converge on Dallas’s Apparel Mart for a week-long orgy of fashionable commerce, high style and discriminating taste confront the cold reality of the bottom line.
Politics & Policy
January 1, 1981
Laying Down the Law
That’s what the Legislature is here to do, and unless we’re lucky, it just may.
Style & Design
December 1, 1980
No Man’s Land
Welcome to Highland Park, a small town right in the middle of Dallas where the living is easy and time stands still.
Politics & Policy
November 1, 1980
Why Is Houston Falling Apart?
Because nobody at city hall is doing his job, that’s why.
Travel & Outdoors
November 1, 1980
Discover Beautiful Beaumont
Okay, we heard that snicker. But give the place a chance. You’ll find plenty to enjoy.
Travel & Outdoors
November 1, 1980
Can the Boy Scouts Save America?
Perhaps. At least they’re on the right track and trying hard.
True Crime
November 1, 1980
Rex Cauble and the Cowboy Mafia
The Denton millionaire hated drugs and liked cops. He also liked Muscles Foster, a footloose cowboy who was one of Texas’ biggest drug runners.
Politics & Policy
October 1, 1980
What Ever Happened to the Storm of the Century?
Hurricane Allen proved that everyone talks about the weather but nobody knows much about it—least of all the National Weather Service.
Politics & Policy
September 1, 1980
The $38,000 a Year, Wife and Two Kids, House and a Pool Blues
Is inflation deflating your standard of living? You are not alone.
Politics & Policy
August 1, 1980
Fire!
What you don’t know about your fire department could burn you up.
Travel & Outdoors
August 1, 1980
The Secret Life of the Beach
Along the silent, lovely beach, tiny armies fight in the tide, fierce battles rage in the sky, and nocturnal marauders slither across the sand.
Sports
August 1, 1980
Ring of Truth
Two brave bulls stood between Paco Olivera and the prize he had worked for all his life.
Best Thing In Texas
July 1, 1980
The Best Strikes Back
Four years ago we brought you the Best of Texas. Now we do it again— only better.
Politics & Policy
July 1, 1980
Why I Turned In Lee Otis Johnson
When black militant Lee Otis Johnson got out of prison his old friends welcomed him with open arms. Later, some of them wished they hadn’t.
Energy
July 1, 1980
Profits? What Profits?
Reading Big Oil’s annual reports for the truth about profits is a little like drilling for oil in the Baltimore Canyon: you know it’s there, but how deep will you have to go to find it?
Business
June 1, 1980
Who Owns Texas?
The biggest landholders in the state, acre by acre.
Travel & Outdoors
June 1, 1980
An Insider’s Guide to San Antonio
There’s more for the traveler in San Antonio than meets the Alamo.
Sports
June 1, 1980
Spit and Polish
If throwing a spitball is an art, Gaylord Perry is Michelangelo.
Being Texan
June 1, 1980
Lawn Boy
Here’s how to achieve inner peace, perfect serenity, spiritual calm, and a nice, neat lawn.
Border & Immigration
May 1, 1980
Town Without Pity
Nuevo Laredo’s Boys’ Town, where lost innocence meets failed dreams.
Travel & Outdoors
May 1, 1980
The Good Life
You can still find it in these great small towns.
Politics & Policy
April 1, 1980
The Tragedy of Bob Bullock
Bob Bullock, in his flamboyant style, built a powerful state agency. Then Bob Bullock, in his flamboyant style, was seduced by its power.
Health
April 1, 1980
Little Boy Lost
Being autistic nearly ruined Michael Shipley’s life, but his parents sent him to a state mental hospital. Then Michael’s life was ruined for good.
Sports
March 1, 1980
Termite Watkins and the Fatal Pancakes
In a big fight you can outwit, outhit, or outlast your opponent. But you’d better not try to outeat him.
Music
February 1, 1980
Rock ’N’ Roll’s Wizard of Oz
How Gordon McLendon stormed Texas with Top 40 . . . da doo ron ron.
Travel & Outdoors
February 1, 1980
Down in the Depths
The intricate underwater passages and pristine water of Jacob’s Well fascinate divers. Too often, the fascination proves fatal.
Being Texan
February 1, 1980
The Joy of Kissing
The art of romantic osculation barely survived the jaded seventies. Now it’s time to rediscover the private delights and civic benefits of real kissing.
Health
February 1, 1980
The Crack-Up
You learn one clear and not so very grim lesson by looking death in the face.
Health
January 1, 1980
Life Got You Down? Getting Nowhere? Wishing for Wealth? For Success? For Happiness?
My friend, you have come to the right place.
Food & Drink
January 1, 1980
The Vanishing Steak
Beefing and chewing the fat about a rare pleasure that’s almost done for.
Sports
December 25, 1979
The Real Mean Green
Talk to coaches and team owners about AstroTurf and you’ll hear all its advantages. Talk to the players and you’ll hear a different story.
By Jan Reid![Jan Reid's Profile Photo]()
Being Texan
December 1, 1979
My Life and Hard Times in the Junior League
“In the League, you’ll run into a little tradition, some noblesse oblige, and a lot of talk about diets, dyslexia, designer dresses, and divorce.”
Health
December 1, 1979
Smokers Are People Too
You can always spot a smoker. He fiddles with matches, his shirt pocket bulges in a tiny rectangle, and fumes emerge from his mouth and nose. But what should we do about him?
Business
December 1, 1979
Picking Up the Pieces
You load sixteen tons, and what do you get? Ask your garbageman.
Travel & Outdoors
December 1, 1979
The Best Little Hotels in Mexico
We’ve found them: nine of Mexico’s best colonial inns and lodges. All you have to do is make reservations.
Politics & Policy
November 1, 1979
The New Apartment Slums
Behind the gleaming facades of many new apartment villages are the crumbling walls of next year’s urban blight.
Travel & Outdoors
November 1, 1979
Funky Hotels
Why subject yourself to the dreariness of impersonal, prefab hotels when these country hostelries are just down the road?
Business
October 1, 1979
The Man Who Built River Oaks
Architect John Staub, the forgotten genius of River Oaks, transformed a few nondescript Houston streets into Millionaires’ Row.
Being Texan
October 1, 1979
A Delicate Balance
Who turned off the melting pot? Vietnamese and Texans fight on the coast.
Business
September 1, 1979
Easy Money
Faster than a speeding Master Charge, funkier than a garage sale, able to leap bad credit ratings at a single bound. Look, up at the sign! It’s a bank! It’s a store! It’s—Super Pawn!
Politics & Policy
August 1, 1979
Say, Have You Heard the One About Cactus Pryor?
Don’t look now, but the rather odd gentleman with the suspicious accent and outlandish military getup may not be exactly what he seems.
News & Politics
July 31, 1979
The Throwdown
Houston police said they shot Randy Webster because he pointed a gun at them. Randy’s father set out to prove they were lying.