September 1983 Issue

Texas, a Long, Long, Long, Long, Time Ago

When armadillos weighed three tons and the long horns were on dinosaurs.

Passing the Bucks

Football recruiting makes the NCAA see red, but SMU sees orange.

Johnson & Johnson

In a glass-and-steel world of Houston skyscrapers, there was nothing like an art deco obelisk or a pink Gothic cathedral until architect Philip Johnson.

Panorama Camera

With their 350-degree camera, photographers recorded Houston in the early 1900’s. Half a century later two young photographers found the camera the same but Houston vastly changed.

Texas Primer: Caprock

Across the Panhandle stretches a thin red line that divides doughty plains dwellers from Texas’ lesser changed.

Catcher of the Awry

Frederick Barthelme’s Moon Deluxe is a collection of cockeyed tales about stucco camels, supermarket sec and other modern curiosities. In Short Circuit Michael Mewshaw finds fault with the nasty world of professional tennis. The urban vignettes of Laura Furman’s Watch Time Fly range from skillful to so-so.

Behind the Lines

The burning cactus.

A Chamber of Music

Jim Cartwright has a classic case of obsession-he owns thousands of records. Under Sung Kwak the Austin Symphony has gone from mediocre to memorable.

Love in the Slammer

Sometimes women fall in love with men behind bars, but once the bars disappear, the love itself may become the prison.

History’s Nebbish

The tale of schlemiels schlemiel, Zelig is as funny, endearing, and slight as Woody Allen himself. Staying Alive is suicidal. The quick Grey Fox jumps nimbly the pitfalls of making a western.

Squeaky Wheels

Independent oilmen are still for free enterprise, but these days they also expect a little favoritism from Uncle Sam.

Blues at His Fingertips

Bluesman Stevie Ray Vaughan showcases his powerhouse guitar on a nationally released record. Also on new LPs are fellow Texans, from country king George Jones to Austin cutups the Big Boys.

Texas Monthly Reporter

Texas highways show their age; Houston punks show their colors; foster parents show they care; A&M shows its macaws; cattle ranchers show their breeding.

Touts

This one’s a real sleeper.

Puzzle

Roar of the Crowd

State Secrets

It’s Post time in the race to take over Houston’s morning newspaper, and here are the odds; Doctor Death takes a holiday in Dallas; a bank merger causes frowns at Fulbright & Jaworski; does Jim Mattox have a future?