
June 1982 Issue

Features


His Name Was Forrest Bess
He was wildly eccentric, he lived in a shanty on the Gulf, he subsisted as a bait fisherman, he had bizarre notions of eternal life. He may have been the best artist Texas has ever produced.
Texas Primer: The Horny Toad
It’s everybody’s favorite reptile, and it’s disappearing from Texas.
Growing Up Fast
Every parent with a teenage kid knows the fears: drinking, drugs, and rebellion. For the Cartwrights, those fears all came true.
Columns
Hands Across The Ocean
British playwright Alan Ayckbourn dropped in on his American cousins at Houston’s Alley Theatre and directed the U.S. premiere of his latest and most innovative work.
Twelve-Pack To Go
A dozen new releases by everyone from the late, legendary Janis Joplin to rising star Rodney Crowell to perennial favorite Waylon Jennings.
The Bishop Drops A Bomb
When an Amarillo bishop decried the nearby H-bomb plant, he wooed the press, alienated the city, and picked on his parishioners.
Cool Blue And Dangerous
Diva is about opera, punks, and philosophy. Oh, and young love. And bootlegging, too. Then there’s the chase scene.... The British film The Long Good Friday is a bloody good deception of the underworld. Cat people is a dog.
The Proving Ground
Probation gives criminals a chance to show society that they can stay straight. Probation officers like Jan Purdom believe the system works.
Mustard Seeds
Ninety-four per cent of Americans believe in God. That and other gleanings from recent polls reveal that the nation’s faith is stronger than ever.
Reporter
Texas Monthly Reporter
The secret of making money; the cutest vandals you ever saw; the lowdown on high tech; the little trains that couldn’t; the champ with shear magic.
Miscellany
State Secrets
Detroit attacks Houston; UT defends agains the NCAA; Texas loses 59 parks to Reaganomics; voter apathy—who cares?