Texas Monthly June 2020

ALL 143 WILLIE NELSON ALBUMS, RANKED Late last summer, we set out to study, scrutinize, and sort every Willie Nelson album—from the not-so-terrible-at-all to the truly magical—and write each of them up as an eighty-seventh birthday present to the Red Headed Stranger. The result: more than 30,000 words’ worth of sharp observations, shrewd judgments, and dubious jokes. TIM DUNN IS AGAINST THE NANNY STATE EXCEPT WHEN IT MIGHT HELP HIS OIL BUSINESS Midland oil executive Tim Dunn—who founded the conservative organization Empower Texans—has long promoted a libertarian vision of government. That fierce individualism, Andrew Wheat writes, seemed to disappear when Dunn asked the Texas Railroad Commission to consider capping oil production in the state in order to prop up prices. I VISITED AS TATE PARK THIS WEEK. HERE’S WHAT I FOUND. After Texas announced it…

Ata time when Texans are hungrier than ever for news, the pandemic economy has struck news outlets hard. Since mid-March, hundreds of publications, including dozens in Texas, have announced layoffs, furloughs, and pay cuts. More than fifty have suspended print publication, and some have gone out of business entirely. At Texas Monthly, we’ve been fortunate. Ad revenue is down, but not as sharply as at most other publications. We’ve had to postpone some of our live events but have converted a couple into video series, such as our “Bedtime Stories,” which have attracted more than 375,000 video views. Our paid print subscriptions are growing. So is traffic on our website, where in March we set a new record of three million visitors. We hope to attract even more now that we’ve…

“THE DEMOCRATS SHOULD TAKE A HARD LOOK AT WHERE THEY ARE AND WHERE THEY’RE HEADING IF THEY EVER HOPE TO WIN BACK OLD YELLOW DOGS TURNED RED.” Dead Wrong I want to tell you how disappointed I was with R. G. Ratcliffe’s so-called “In Memoriam” to Clayton Willliams [“King of Crude,” April 2020]. I saw Ann Richards on South Padre Island before her election and told her to “give ’em hell,” to which she spryly replied, “I will.” But I don’t think even she would have appreciated the “dance on his grave” treatment of Ratcliffe’s story. Ratcliffe was there to hear the crude joke. Now he is part of the story. Write a book, not a memoriam. CHRIS BOSWELL, HARLINGEN Yes, [Williams] was a buffoon. Ann Richards was the obvious choice [for governor] back…

Under the thin cover of an early-morning mist on a ranch not far from the South Texas coast, documentary filmmaker Ben Masters settles a worn felt cowboy hat on his head and cinches up a backpack full of gear. After he reminds his small team gathered on the side of a gravel road to move quietly, they duck into the bristling scrub, coyotes yipping in the distance. “Let’s do it! Let’s go find some ocelots!” he shout-whispers. ¶ Thirty-one-year-old Masters is best known for his award-winning 2019 documentary The River and the Wall, which explored the potential impact of a border wall on the region’s terrain, wildlife, and residents. To make the film, he and four fellow adventurers traveled the 1,200 miles of the Texas-Mexico border, from El Paso to…

A restaurant cookbook is so much more than a collection of recipes. It’s a portrait of a community hub, of specific cuisines and cultures, and of the people whose life’s work is feeding others. It also makes for great escapism, especially during the pandemic, allowing the reader to visit a favorite spot even if its dining room is still closed. Here are some excellent Texas cookbooks, from a Tex-Mex legend to a ranch steakhouse and beyond. And although you’ll have to do the dishes after dinner, you just might pick up a professional trick or two. Community Love Chef Chris Shepherd’s first cookbook is the James Beard Award winner’s tribute to the diversity of Houston’s food scene. Cook Like a Local: Flavors That Can Change How You Cook and See the World…

Because it was involved in so much of the state’s early history, San Augustine calls itself the Main Street of the Texas Republic. Platted in 1833 deep in what is now called the Piney Woods, the town was once a busy stop on El Camino Real de los Tejas, an early trail network that linked Mexico with Louisiana. During the nineteenth century, streams of American settlers passed through the area, or even put down roots. Although the town’s population has dwindled over time from a peak of 2,930 in 1980 to about 1,900 today, tourists still stop by to admire the historic churches and handsome Greek Revival homes. With its brick storefronts and hand-painted signs, San Augustine’s charming commercial district, centered around the 1927 limestone courthouse, seems to have been…