You May All Go to Hell, and I Will Go to . . . Wisconsin?
I read your story about “the newest Texans” [“The New Golden State,” December 2021], and I guess you could say I’ve gone the other way. My wife and I left Texas this past year, after the previous forty in residence. Nothing would bring us back. If that makes us outliers, isn’t that a very Texan thing to be? As longtime Austinites, we had enough of the faux–Los Angeles or faux–Bay Area status. Cost of housing? Cost of living? In Austin, those are through the roof, and the salaries don’t keep up. If the power grid—still unaddressed by our deficient and corrupt state leadership—had completely collapsed in February, we would have died. We had enough of the traffic, the heat, the bugs, the pretensions, the fascistic government, and so much else. Call us refugees.
Kevin Hendryx, Middleton, Wisconsin
Energy Traitors
I do love Texas Monthly, but this month you were putting lipstick on a pig. For an article that purports to offer a “fair accounting” of Enron’s implosion [“In Praise of . . . Enron?,” December 2021], you left out some important numbers: the thousands of Enron jobs that evaporated overnight. You also failed to mention that storied public accounting firm Arthur Andersen basically went out of business as a direct consequence of Enron, creating more job losses. Some of my business school classmates at the University of Texas lost those jobs early in their careers. These personal losses deserved at least a cursory mention in your “accounting” of the Enron debacle, particularly given your story’s focus on the later career successes of those who once worked there.
Todd Piccus, Venice, California
The lessons learned at Enron don’t amount to much accountability. Few were prosecuted, and others involved just moved on to more-lucrative positions, while thousands of workers lost their life savings. Is the guy who went to prison for ethical violations the best to teach ethics? Ironic or redeeming? Maybe he is the most experienced to advise on the tricks of the trade.
Ruth Torres, Dallas
Prickly Pair
I loved your article “A $3,000 Tumbleweed?!” [December 2021] and that such a Texas icon is now a thing! In the late fifties, as my mother was driving me and my siblings back to Dallas after a visit with family in far West Texas, she got the notion that she wanted a tumbleweed for a Christmas tree. She pulled over and grabbed a giant one. When we got home, she sprayed it silver and hung it with baubles and lights. But not before I had to suffer a nine-hour drive sitting next to that huge, scratchy, prickly symbol of my state.
Barbara Barnett, Austin
All the Boxes
Your story on Candace Mossler was an absolutely sensational one [“The Notorious Mrs. Mossler,” December 2021]. They say there’s a checklist of ten items to be included for a truly lurid tale. This story achieved nine of them in rather rapid fashion, but I was becoming disappointed that the tenth box had gone unchecked. Then, finally: penile implants!
Chris Wilson, Dallas
