Down With History 

I have been reading Texas Monthly since I was a young’un at my granny and gramps’ home in Hurst. There have been many iterations of TM and, in my opinion, a few missteps over the years. That being said, my favorite features (as a longtime subscriber now living in California) are the crime and history pieces. The John Jenkins story [“The Legend of John Holmes Jenkins,” March 2020] was particularly enjoyable, and I thank you for your commitment to keeping Texas history alive. The story captures so much of our outsized Texan character by chronicling his twisted life. My granny and gramps would be well pleased.
David Rogerson, San Pablo, California 

Judge Dread

Your article on [Harris County Judge] Lina Hidalgo [“Lina Hidalgo’s Year of Living Dangerously,” March 2020] highlights the result of our gutless politicians allowing immigration, especially illegal, over the past forty years. Her typical left-wing policies of wasting millions in knee-jerk actions were also reflected by her pushing through something dear to Democrats: trying to get a tax increase passed and taking money out of the more efficient private sector and putting funds and people more in control of government. I do agree with her on the need for more mass transit.
Charles Poland, Lufkin

Win Column

I recently received the issue wherein you explain “Texas leaguer” [The Texanist, March 2020]. I have just finished reading The Wipers Times, a collection from a famous, faintly seditious newspaper published for the British Expeditionary Force in Belgium and France from 1916 to 1918. The title, by the way, comes from British soldiers’ mispronunciation of the Belgian town Ypres. 

The November 1, 1917, edition includes a write-up of a baseball game played by the 12th Engineers (Railway) of the American Expeditionary Forces to which the Sherwood Foresters (a British Army regiment) were invited. The point of my epistle is to note that in this obscure newspaper it is reported, “No runs were made until the first half of the 7th inning, when Murphy secured a walk stole 2nd and 3rd base and scored on a Texas Leaguer to short right field by Tate, which should have been handled by 2nd baseman McOwen.” Punctuation, or the absence of it, is as in the original. It appears to have been written by an American, but to see “Texas Leaguer” so aptly used in a limited-run trench newspaper certainly caught my eye. Keep up the good work. I read [the Texanist] first when Texas Monthly arrives, just like I read the obituaries first in the Economist.
John Hoag, Lakeway

My wife and I are natives of Wichita Falls, but we were transferred to Arkansas a few years ago. We stay connected via Texas Monthly, which brings me to [the Texanist’s] ten Texas phrases in the March issue. I was embarrassed to have only recognized two: Texas toast, which we have in restaurants here, only not as tasty, and Texas toothpick. When I saw Texas Tommy, I said, ‘Oh, that’s what we call City Quail.’ Thanks for the entertaining humor.
David Harrington, Cabot, Arkansas