March 2007 Issue

On the Cover

The Test of Time

George W. Bush says he doesn’t have time to think about his legacy, but the rest of us have no such trouble. We asked some of the smartest people we could think of—prize-winning historians, presidential scholars, White House vets—to predict how 43 will be judged and to suggest what, if anything, he can still do about it.

Features


Feature

Family Values

It may surprise you to learn that gay couples in Texas are more likely to have children than those in most other states, or that San Antonio is a gay parenting mecca, with a higher percentage of gay households with children than any other U.S. city. So why are gay

The Songs Remain the Same

And for these 8 one-hit wonders, including Balde Silva, of Toby Beau, that’s a good thing: Thanks to wildly successful singles they released many years ago, what might have otherwise been forgettable careers are anything but.

Columns


Reporter


Music Review

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Sly Stone

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Sly StoneEven in the insane creativity of 1967’s Summer of Love, they were peerless: Sly (Sylvester Stewart) and his multiracial, multigendered Family Stone band electrified the world, rolling everything from doo-wop to acid rock into upbeat soul. Yet by 1974, the group was in splinters, and

Music Review

Heartbreaker’s Hall of Fame

What’s improv comedy got to do with country music? Not much, it turns out, which is why when SUNNY SWEENEY sang in a few skits as an aspiring comedian in New York, her fellow actors—walloped by her voice—sent her packing back to Texas. She had learned guitar only a few

Music Review

In My Element

Houston’s ROBERT GLASPER is a formidable piano talent with a penchant for lush harmony and mainstream jazz uncommon for a player in his twenties. Were that the whole story, you might lump him into the Wynton Marsalis tradition: fastidiously devoted to jazz history and short on innovation. Yet Glasper has

Book Review

When the Light Goes

Be thankful LARRY MCMURTRY decided his Thalia trilogy deserved a fourth book, because WHEN THE LIGHT GOES is an essential (though not to say concluding) chapter in the Duane Moore saga. Duane, introduced as a callow teen in The Last Picture Show but now a big-deal oilman in his tiny

Book Review

To Live’s to Fly: The Ballad of the Late, Great Townes Van Zandt

JOHN KRUTH clearly intends to revere his subject’s memory in TO LIVE’S TO FLY: THE BALLAD OF THE LATE, GREAT TOWNES VAN ZANDT, a biography of the difficult, beautiful mess that was Van Zandt before his 1997 death at age 52. But while Kruth admirably focuses on the singer-songwriter’s music—he’s

Author Interview

Steven Saylor

The Austin novelist famous for his Roma Sub Rosa series of historical mysteries delivers his magnum opus, Roma, this month. The engrossing tale tracks Rome from its origins as a stop on a salt trade route through the story of Antonius and Cleopatra. Was it inevitable that your series would

Topic A

At Ease

Four years later, even more of our heroes have fallen in Iraq.

Artist Interview

Booker T. Jones

Known for his magic in the Stax Records studio in the sixties, the Tennessee keyboardist—whose career comprises performances with not only his group, the MGs, but also such artists as Neil Young and Willie Nelson—is a special guest at this month’s South by Southwest Music Festival, in Austin. What’s your

Web


Recipe

Blackberry Blue-Corn Muffins

2 cups flour 1 cup blue (or yellow) cornmeal 1/2 cup light brown sugar 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt (low-fat is fine, but do not use nonfat) 1/3 cup corn oil 3 tablespoons pure maple

Recipe

Canyon Granola

Adapted from Cowgirl Cuisine: Rustic Recipes and Cogirl Adventures From a Texas Ranch, by Paula Disbrowe.1 cup pure maple syrup (not maple-flavored)1/2 cup dark brown sugar1/3 cup canola oil3/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt1 tablespoon vanilla extract4 cups old-fashioned oats (not instant)4 ounces (about 1 cup) pecan halves2 ounces (about

Books That Cook

Books That Cook

WHAT TO EAT? It’s a good problem to have, actually. And in Texas, there are so many options, from barbecue and Mexican food to Southern dishes and Asian cuisine. Luckily, the folks at Quail Ridge Press have done us a favor by putting myriad recipes at our fingertips in the

Web Exclusive

Go Team

Executive editor S. C. Gwynne on writing about the comeback of the Nocona Athletic Goods Company.

Web Exclusive

Still the One

Senior editor Michael Hall on talking to musicians and using the phrase “one-hit wonder.”

Web Exclusive

History Lesson

Senior editor Katy Vine talks about tracking down survivors of the New London school explosion and listening to their stories about that fateful day.

Contributors

March 2007 Contributors

Roberto Parada“I’m a huge Gilbert Stuart fan,” says Roberto Parada, the Virginia-based artist who created the cover image for a story about the legacy of George W. Bush (“The Test of Time,”). “I saw his retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art about two years ago, and I

Recipe

Cowgirl Migas

This recipe is one of several included in the Texas Monthly article From Husks Till Dawn by Patricia Sharpe, [March 2007]3 corn tortillas 6 egg whites plus 2 whole eggs (or 8 eggs)kosher or sea salt to tastefreshly ground black pepper to tastehot sauce such as Tabasco or Cholula

Recipe

Horse Trader Salsa

This recipe is one of several included in the Texas Monthly article From Husks Till Dawn by Patricia Sharpe, [March 2007]20 ounces fresh jalapeños and/or serranos, unseeded1 large tomato, chopped1 medium onion, chopped3 to 4 thyme sprigs1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt, or more to tastePlace ingredients in a

Recipe

Salsa Verde

This recipe is one of several included in the Texas Monthly article From Husks Till Dawn by Patricia Sharpe, [March 2007]2 pounds tomatillos (about 14 medium), husked 1 large onion, coarsely chopped 2 to 4 garlic cloves (as desired) 2 to 3 serrano chiles (or 2 to 4 jalapeños)

Recipe

Quick Pear-Rosemary Preserves

This recipe is one of several included in the Texas Monthly article From Husks Till Dawn by Patricia Sharpe, [March 2007]3 medium pears (about 1 1/2 pounds)juice of 1 medium lemon1/4 cup honey1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary1 teaspoon brandy or pear liqueur (optional)pinch of kosher or

Recipe

Pear-Rosemary Bread With Pine Nuts

This recipe is one of several included in the Texas Monthly article From Husks Till Dawn by Patricia Sharpe, [March 2007]2 cups flour1 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal2 teaspoons baking soda1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature,

Pat's Pick

Lamberts Downtown Barbecue

AUSTIN IS A CITY WHOSE schizophrenic self-image is suspended between its laid-back, small-town, beer-swilling past and its high-speed, big-city, wine-sipping present. That gap can be hard to bridge, and restaurants that open here tend to go for one side or the other. But when chefs and business partners Lou Lambert

Miscellany


Editor's Letter

Legacies

ONLY A HIGHER POWER with a truly perverse streak would have deposited the Decider and the Derider in the same social circle—Houston’s close-knit private-school world—as teenagers. As the latter told me in an interview several years ago, the former “hung out with friends of mine and dated some girls I

Around the State

Around the State

JORDAN’S PICKAFI Dallas International Film FestivalDallas SO THAT BIG-BUDGET DALLAS movie may not actually be filmed anywhere near Dallas. But frankly, who cares? The city can now claim a new image booster: the inaugural AFI Dallas International Film Festival. With a goal to screen 150 features and shorts over eleven

Roar of the Crowd

Cheney Reaction

THREE WORDS ABOUT your January 2007 cover: incredibly bad taste.PATRICIA DUBOSE MCDANIELWichita FallsPLEASE TELL ME what is the significance of an isolated accident that occurred on a private outing among friends. This was a cheap shot (no pun intended).ALTON TEWWhitesboroVICE PRESIDENT Dick Cheney is by no means on my

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