Politics & Policy
November 17, 2023
J. W. Lown Governed San Angelo With a Smile—and Constituents Like Me Won’t Forget It
He lived out his last years in Mexico as a real estate agent, dreaming of returning home to Texas with his husband.
Obituaries
Music
September 19, 2023
Remembering Charlie Robison, Always the Coolest Dude in the Room
Before his anthems had listeners raising their longnecks and singing along, Charlie took me on road trips and taught me there was more to music than country.
By John Spong![John Spong's Profile Photo]()
Sports
August 28, 2023
Terry Funk Brought Texas Everywhere He Wrestled
Over half a century in professional wrestling, Terry Funk built a legacy that stretches from Amarillo to Tokyo.
Film & TV
July 31, 2023
How Paul Reubens’s ‘Pee-wee’s Big Adventure’ Defined Texas for Non-Texans
“There’s no basement at the Alamo!” and other lessons on the state from the late Paul Reubens.
By Dan Solomon![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Art
July 31, 2023
Urban Frontier Artist Jesse Lott Found a New Kind of Beauty in Houston
Jesse Lott, the influential cofounder of Project Row Houses who died last week at age eighty, was a genius in his own right.
Music
July 24, 2023
Big Pokey Was Houston’s Hip-hop Sensei. These Are His Five Greatest Raps.
Pokey, who died in June at age 48, was a founding member of the Screwed Up Click—and Houston’s distinct rap sound.
BBQ
June 15, 2023
LeAnn Mueller, Barbecue Groundbreaker, Dies at 51
Along with opening la Barbecue, the first woman- and-lesbian-owned barbecue restaurant in Texas, she had a keen photographic eye and an irreverent sense of humor.
Books
June 15, 2023
Eleven Texas Writers Remember Cormac McCarthy
Sarah Bird, Fernando A. Flores, Mary Helen Specht, Sergio Troncoso, James Wade, and six more Texas writers reflect on what McCarthy meant to them and to the state.
News & Politics
May 23, 2023
Goodbye to a Writer
John Nova Lomax, a former senior editor at Texas Monthly who died Monday, was a beautiful storyteller who struggled with his own story.
By Mimi Swartz![Mimi Swartz's Profile Photo]()
Art
May 11, 2023
Frank Kozik Perfected the Rock Poster Into a Fine and Filthy Art
Frank Kozik, the Austin-based designer, who died this week, captured a generation with his posters for groups like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and the Beastie Boys.
Art
February 17, 2023
Remembering Jesse Treviño, Who Transformed San Antonio Art
Treviño’s biographer reflects on the artist’s legacy.
News & Politics
February 9, 2023
Running Into Fire: The Legacy of Jeff Blackburn
The cofounder of the Innocence Project of Texas set a model for working with state agencies to investigate potential wrongful convictions.
Sports
December 14, 2022
Mike Leach, the Madman Who Revolutionized Football
The author of ‘The Perfect Pass’ and ‘Empire of the Summer Moon’ reflects on Mike Leach’s coaching legacy.
Sports
December 13, 2022
There Will Never Be Another Mike Leach
The former Texas Tech football coach, revered for his offensive mind and beloved for his one-of-a-kind character, died Monday.
Politics & Policy
September 16, 2022
Ken Starr’s Pursuit of Righteousness
The conservative legal luminary, famous for the Clinton impeachment and his leadership of Baylor, mistook piety for doing what’s right.
Being Texan
August 15, 2022
Remembering Paul Burka—The State’s Most Revered Political Writer Was the Heart and Soul of Texas Monthly
Friends and former colleagues share their memories of the legendary writer, editor, and mentor.
By Mimi Swartz![Mimi Swartz's Profile Photo]()
Food & Drink
July 25, 2022
Cookbook Author and Culinary Anthropologist Diana Kennedy Dies at 99 in Mexico
Throughout her fifty-year career, the English-born cook influenced—and even advised—chefs of some of Texas’s best Mexican restaurants.
Music
June 7, 2022
Jim Seals, the Soft Rocker Who Helped Define the Sound of the ’70s, Has Died
Texas Monthly writer Michael Hall, who profiled Seals in 2020, reflects on some of the musician’s best stories.
By Michael Hall![Michael Hall's Profile Photo]()
Books
April 26, 2022
Rolando Hinojosa-Smith Was a Literary Chronicler of Texas’s Borderlands
The award-winning writer and professor, who died April 19 at 93, was often compared to William Faulkner, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.
Music
April 12, 2022
Sister Bobbie Grounded Willie Nelson in His Music—and His Life
Bobbie Nelson, pianist and older sister to Texas music icon Willie Nelson, died Thursday morning at 91.
By Michael Hall![Michael Hall's Profile Photo]()
The Stand Up Desk
March 28, 2022
Requiem for a Quiet Man
Texas Monthly remembers Jim Darilek, an early art director who helped give the magazine its characteristic look and swagger.
Books
February 21, 2022
Lars Eighner’s Memoir of Homelessness Struck Gold. He Still Struggled to Keep a Roof Over His Head.
The Texas writer, who died in December, caught lightning in a bottle with his celebrated 1993 book ‘Travels With Lizbeth,’ but he still couldn’t escape life on the margins.
Art
January 5, 2022
Fred Baldwin’s Life Was Worth 1,000 Pictures
Baldwin, who died in December, fought in Korea, met Picasso, traveled the world, and, with his wife, Wendy Watriss, made Houston a photography capital.
Sports
December 13, 2021
Dave Campbell Made Texas Football the Juggernaut It Is Today
The legendary sports journalist and founder of the indispensable magazine that bore his name died last week at the age of 96.
Art
November 20, 2021
Remembering Dave Hickey, Brilliant Art Critic and Renegade Texan
The celebrated Fort Worth writer and entrepreneur spent most of his life in exile from his home state. But it never lost its grip on his imagination.
Food & Drink
September 15, 2021
Remembering Dotty Griffith, Pioneering Food Journalist
Over a career spanning three decades, Griffith chronicled the evolution of Texas from a culinary backwater to a major player on the national scene.
Sports
August 9, 2021
The Highest Highs and Lowest Lows: Remembering Astros Great J.R. Richard
The right-hander, the onetime most-feared pitcher in baseball whose career was cut short by a devastating stroke, died last week at 71.
Music
June 30, 2021
Skid Row Front Man Johnny Solinger Was Rock and Roll Personified
The Dallas singer never quite became a huge star in his own right, but that didn't seem to bother him.
Sports
December 9, 2020
Fred Akers, 1938–2020: A Remembrance
The former Texas Longhorns head coach was “one of those guys ... you realize that part of your lifestyle is based on things you learned from him."
Music
November 1, 2020
Jerry Jeff Walker, Remembered by Lyle Lovett, Lucinda Williams, Dan Rather, and Many, Many Others
The New York–born singer-songwriter got to Texas as soon as he could—and spent the next five decades changing the lives of seemingly everyone he met.
Arts & Entertainment
March 25, 2020
Remembering Terrence McNally, a Theater Heavyweight in Texas and Beyond
The visionary playwright, who grew up in South Texas, passed away this week from coronavirus-related complications.
Music
March 21, 2020
Kenny Rogers Was a Texas Country Singer Through and Through
The Houston icon, who passed away yesterday, sang a lot of other music too.
By Michael Hall![Michael Hall's Profile Photo]()
Politics & Policy
February 16, 2020
Midland Oilman Clayton Williams (1931-2020): Winner in Business, Not in Politics
The colorful mogul lost the 1990 gubernatorial election after making a joke about rape and admitting to not paying some income taxes.
Art
December 28, 2019
An Appreciation: Bob “Daddy-O” Wade, Whose Art and Spirit Were as Big as Texas
The 76-year-old artist died just past midnight on Christmas Eve at his home in Austin.
Texas History
October 30, 2019
A Final Toast to the Quirkiest Little Dive Bar in the Piney Woods
Ray Gene, proprietor of Longview’s singular It’ll Do Tavern, passed away last weekend.
By Wes Ferguson![Wes Ferguson's Profile Photo]()
Music
October 3, 2019
Remembering the Rio Grande Valley Punk Scene Veteran Eric Fly
He was the sort of local icon that lives at the heart of every enduring, tight-knit music scene.
By Dan Solomon![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Business
September 11, 2019
Remembering T. Boone Pickens, the “Aw-Shucks” Billionaire
The Dallas oilman and corporate raider's long, complicated history as an aw-shucks billionaire.
Music
September 11, 2019
Daniel Johnston Will Live on in Ways Few Artists Get To
The artist’s iconic ”Jeremiah” frog mural in Austin is seemingly indestructible, and so is his musical legacy.
By Dan Solomon![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Libations
August 7, 2019
Bunny Becker, 1940–2019: Saying Goodbye to a Grand Dame of Texas Wine
From the Hill Country to the High Plains, the Texas wine industry remembers the woman known for her generous spirit and sharp palate.
Arts & Entertainment
July 26, 2019
How Katherine Owens Transformed Dallas Theater
The prolific avant-garde director, who died earlier this week, was an unparalleled innovator on North Texas stages.
News
July 12, 2019
The Last Boy Scout
Long before Texans had heard of “no pass, no play,” and before free trade was a major political issue, H. Ross Perot entered my life as a super-patriot who believed perseverance was the key to success.
Business
July 9, 2019
H. Ross Perot (1930-2019) Was a Larger-Than-Life Texan
The eccentric Texan billionaire and former two-time independent presidential candidate leaves an outsized legacy.
By Dan Solomon![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Personal Essay
June 28, 2019
Farewell to the “Rambling Boy,” Lonn Taylor
The Fort Davis historian and raconteur knew and loved Texas and its people like no one else.
Books
June 25, 2019
Remembering Don Graham, the Demanding Critic Who Helped Put Texas Literature on the Map
The UT professor and longtime ’Texas Monthly’ contributor died on Saturday at the age of 79 after a stroke.
By Jeff Salamon![Jeff Salamon's Profile Photo]()
News & Politics
June 21, 2019
A Eulogy for Alan Peppard, the Arbiter of Dallas Society
Peppard was the last of his breed, covering with panache the feuds and foibles of his city’s bold-faced names.
Arts & Entertainment
January 5, 2019
Al Reinert, Who Chronicled Houston’s Space Age in Magazines and Film, Passes Away at 71
For the Renaissance man—a baseball player, a features writer, and an award-winning documentary filmmaker—the sky posed no limit.
News & Politics
January 4, 2019
How Herb Kelleher Made the World a Whole Lot Smaller
The Southwest Airlines cofounder was a pioneering entrepreneur who changed the way we travel. He was also a world-class wit, a bon vivant, and a not-so-closet intellectual.
Texas History
November 30, 2018
President George H. W. Bush Dies at 94
The 41st president's death comes less than eight months after that of his wife, Barbara.
News & Politics
May 24, 2017
“Racehorse” Haynes, 1927–2017
Remembering an unlikely, but legendary, criminal defense attorney.
Music
January 19, 2016
RIP, Paul Ray
The host of the beloved radio show "Twine Time" on KUTX in Austin died Friday at 73.
By Michael Hall![Michael Hall's Profile Photo]()