April 2005 Issue

On the Road Again—Piney Woods

North from Lufkin to Nacogdoches, east to San Augustine, southwest to Zavalla, west to Diboll, and north to Lufkin.

By Charlie Llewellin

On the Road Again—Panhandle

South from Amarillo to Tulia, east to Turkey, west to Silverton, and north, through Palo Duro Canyon, to Amarillo.

By S. C. Gwynne

On the Road Again—Hill Country

West from Dripping Springs to Johnson City, south to Blanco, southeast to Fischer, east to Wimberley, and north to Dripping Springs.

By Suzy Banks

Feature

Panhandle Cope’s Coney Island, CanyonAt Cope’s, the lunch counter with swivel stools will make you nostalgic for the fifties. All-American eats include chicken-fried steak, one-third-pound burgers, barbecue, grilled steaks, and, of course, hot dogs. On Saturdays, chow down on fried catfish and shrimp. 2201 Fourth Avenue, 806-655-1184. Lunch and dinner

By Patricia Sharpe

On the Road Again—Big Bend

South from Alpine to Study Butte, west to Presidio, north to Marfa, and east to Alpine.

By Michael Hall

True Crime

Unholy Act

No one in McAllen saw Irene Garza leave Sacred Heart that night in 1960. The next morning, her car was still parked down the street from the church. She never came home.

By Pamela Colloff

Sports

Safe at Home

Yes, I am one of those parents, the sort who takes his perfectly contented ten-year-old out of a relaxed neighborhood softball league and propels her into the hypercompetitive world of youth tournament sports. But you know what? It’s what Maisie wanted.

By S. C. Gwynne

Truth, Justice, and the (Un)American Way

Everyone expected Clark Kent Ervin to parlay his loyal Bush Republicanism into big things in Washington. Which is why his sudden exit from the Department of Homeland Security was so surprising.

By Robert Draper

Columns

Sarah Bird

Sibling Ribaldry

Developing my twisted sense of humor was a family affair.

By Sarah Bird

Texas History

Making Up Is Hard to Do

How the cosmetically challenged among us manage to save face.

By Anne Dingus

Dissing Darwin

Why Texas could lose the biotech revolution—and end up, once again, an economic also-ran.

By Michael Ennis

Behind the Lines

Disaster!

The House botches school finance.

By Paul Burka

The Buck Stops Nowhere

Is the Texan who oversaw Abu Ghraib a hero, a villain, or both?

By Karen Olsson

Reporter

Encyclopedia Texanica

Texas Myth #321

Bluebonnet burglars, beware?

By Anne Dingus

As Told To

Band of Mothers

Cool rockin’ mommy.

By Christopher Keyes

I Inject, Your Honor

The Panhandle DA known statewide for his zeal in busting drug dealers and abusers turns out to have been an addict. Prosecutor, heal thyself.

By Skip Hollandsworth

Book Review

A Slight Trick of the Mind

Texas-raised MITCH CULLIN has taken a lion-in-winter approach to the Sherlock Holmes myth, portraying the legendary sleuth as a beekeeping retiree drifting into the mists of forgetfulness on his Sussex Downs estate in A SLIGHT TRICK OF THE MIND (Nan A. Talese/Doubleday). And he’s done so in an elegantly entertaining

By Mike Shea

Book Review

Towelhead

Thirteen-year-old Jasira’s sexual explorations are the truest gauge of her emotional state in ALICIA ERIAN’S brassy novel TOWELHEAD (Simon & Schuster). She is variously transported when she discovers the Big O, confused and hurt by a predatory neighbor, and finally satisfied by her first real boyfriend in this no-holds-barred fiction

By Mike Shea

Book Review

Dishing

“We ate our way through the Eisenhower recession, the Cuban missile crisis, Vietnam,” and a smorgasbord of other tragedies, says New York Post gossip maven LIZ SMITH of her ready-for-prime- rib social circle in DISHING (Simon & Schuster). This sassy memoir-with-occasional-recipe is the Fort Worth native’s lip-smacking tribute to her

By Mike Shea

Music Review

Black Sheep Boy

Two talented guys, Will Sheff and Jonathan Meiburg, meet in Austin when Meiburg joins Sheff’s band, OKKERVIL RIVER. To display Meiburg’s songwriting talents, they form a second group, Shearwater. Now both top the list of the city’s best young bands. But while Shearwater, with Meiburg’s crystalline vocals, sounds dynamic and

By Jeff McCord

Music Review

The Complete Mercury Recordings

THE COMPLETE MERCURY RECORDINGS (Hip-O), from DOUG SAHM AND THE SIR DOUGLAS QUINTET, is a five-CD godsend that rescues many long-out-of-print albums and rarities from obscurity. Recorded just after Sahm’s initial Texas success, when he bolted for the more hospitable San Francisco, the six albums and one EP in this

By Jeff McCord

Music Review

Hotwalker

Subtitled Charles Bukowski and a Ballad for Gone America, HOTWALKER (HighTone), from El Paso singer-songwriter TOM RUSSELL, is not an album of songs but rather an ambitious, historical audio collage of music and spoken word that pines for the heady days of Jack Kerouac, Dave Van Ronk, Woody Guthrie, Lenny

By Jeff McCord

Web

Miles and Miles of Texas

Writer-at-large Suzy Banks, executive editor S.C. Gwynne, senior editor Michael Hall, and new-media director Charlie Llewellin talk about hitting the road for this month’s cover story.

Web Exclusive

Case Not Closed

Senior editor Pamela Colloff on the murder of McAllen beauty queen Irene Garza and confronting the longtime suspect, John Feit.

Pat's Pick

Jaden’s

Jaden’s formula for success involves equal parts style and sustenance. Totally of the moment, this new Dallas restaurant sports the obligatory slick fifties motifs set off by exposed ductwork and oversized hanging lamp shades. Some nice original art—like the sinuous copper-wire-and-stainless-steel sculpture near the entrance—adds to the equation. As for

By Patricia Sharpe

Recipe

Lump Crab Scallion Cakes

Recipe from Chef James Pitzer, Jaden’s, Dallas

By Texas Monthly

Web Exclusive

Cover Boy

Photographer Dan Winters on red Saabs, old pickups, and Thomas Haden Church.

Pat's Pick

Liquid Assets

The Sipping NewsGive these splashy spring cocktails a spin.THE KISSDragonfly, Hotel ZaZa, Dallas Layers are fashionable in cocktails too. 2 ounces Stolichnaya Razberi vodka 1 ounce fresh lemon juice 1 ounce simple syrup (2 parts sugar briefly boiled in 1 part water and then cooled) 1 ounce Chambord

By Patricia Sharpe

Books That Cook

A review of The Low-Fat, Low-Carb Southwest Cookbook.

By Patricia McConnico

Happy Trails

After just one visit, I fell in love with Wimberley. No wonder—the Hill Country hamlet is full of antiques stores, good food, and art studios.

By Christan Thomas

Web Exclusive

Homeland Job Insecurity

Former Texas Monthly senior editor Robert Draper on writing about his high school nemesis, Clark Kent Ervin, the former inspector general of homeland security.

Texas History 101

The oldest drive in Texas didn’t have any tolls, passing lanes, or shoulders. In fact it wasn’t much of a road at all. The Chisholm and Goodnight-Loving trails were the superhighways of the legendary nineteenth century cattle industry—the pinnacle of a true Texas drive.

Texas Tidbits

If you ever plan to motor West, in West Texas that is, there’s only one highway that’s the best.