THE TEXAS BSERVERL A Journal of Free Voices December 30, 1977 500 john henry faulk o ronnie dugger o molly ivins o c handler davidson o jim h ightower o ralph yarborou gh o Jan Jarboe on maur y maverick 0 ben sargen t o mary alice davis 0 year's end Vol. 69, Austin Well, here's no. 25. Eleven months and 24 issues ago, we promised "a new start for an old magazine" and began The Texas inveighing in particular against the ugly (though often unno- ticed) shape of things on the corporate horizon. Not this time, OBSERVER though. We've chosen to downplay the storms, sorrows and ©The Texas Observer Publishing Co., 1977. seductions of the world for this issue, and to avert our gaze ever Ronnie Dugger, Publisher so slightly from the doings of the corporate right wing of Texas. At year's end, for the rash hell of it, we've asked several of the Vol. 69, No. 25 December 30, 1977 magazine's contributors to carry on as they see fit. Incorporating the State Observer and the East Texas Demo- Publisher Dugger, happily domiciled in his native San crat, which in turn incorporated the Austin Forum-Advocate. Antonio after an absence of some years, pretty much approves EDITOR Jim Hightower of what he sees and feels in the state's second largest city. The MANAGING EDITOR Lawrence Walsh first in his series of letters from San Antonio begins on page 4. ASSOCIATE EDITOR Laura Richardson Ben Sargent and Mary Alice Davis pay a '77 tribute to the EDITOR AT LARGE Ronnie Dugger nick and rack of human folly (Texas branch) on pages 6 and 7. "Rhyming out the old year" may do some violence to Mother ASSISTANT EDITORS: Colin Hunter, Linda Rocawich, Goose, but it's suitable for framing. Susan Reid STAFF ASSISTANTS: Vicki Vaughan, Margaret Watson, Bob Sin- Molly Ivins, back in the Observer for the second time since dermann, Kathy Tally, Debi Pomeroy, Teresa Acosta, Eric Hartman, leaving Austin in search of a wider audience as a New York Tim Mahoney, Cathy Stevens, Debbie Wormser, Margot Beutler, Times reporter, writes from Denver to explain "Why Leah Miller, Connie Larson Coloradans hate Texans." See page 8. CONTRIBUTORS: Kaye Northcott, Jo Clifton, Dave McNeely, Don Gardner, Warren Burnett, Rod Davis, Steve Russell, Paul Sweeney, Ralph Yarborough thinks 1977 was "the year of the women" Marshall Breger, Jack Hopper, Stanley Walker, Joe Frantz, Ray and says as much in his piece on page 13, but he takes the Reece, Laura Eisenhour, Dan Hubig, Ben Sargent, Berke Breathed, trouble to remind us that feminism didn't start the day before Eje Wray, Luther Sperberg, Roy Hamric, Thomas D. Bleich, Mark Stinson, Ave Bonar, Jeff Danziger, Lois Rankin, Maury Maverick Jr., yesterday, not even in Texas. Bruce Cory, John Henry Faulk, Chandler Davidson, Molly Ivins, Jeane Dixon turned down our end-of-the-year invitation to Ralph Yarborough write for us, but John Henry Faulk took up the slack. A tran- A journal of free voices script of a recent chat with certain heavenly bodies (conducted We will serve no group or party but will hew hard to the from his back porch) takes the form of a letter from truth as we find it and the right as we see it. We are dedicated Madisonville and appears on page 15. to the whole truth, to human values above all interests, to the In "The cover girl state" (page 18), Chandler Davidson has rights of humankind as the foundation of democracy; we will himself a little sport with the image of Texas served up recently take orders from none but our own conscience, and ne,r,er will by four mass-circulation magazines, most notably Newsweek in . we overlook or misrepresent the truth to serve the interests of its Dec. 12 number. the powerful or cater to the ignoble in the human spirit. Finally, on page 20, we have the results of Hightower's The editor has exclusive control over the editorial policies sequestration with several of the book-length accounts of the and contents of the Observer. None of the other people who president-making politics of 1976. His split ballot takes up our are associated with the enterprise shares this responsibility Books column. with him. Writers are responsible for their own work, but not for anything they have not themselves written, and in publishing them the editor does not necessarily imply that he Looking back agrees with them because this is a journal of free voices. After a year of Observer life, with all the expectations, triumphs, flops and near misses that we've had, a bit of stock- taking would seem to be in order. Neither Hightower nor I is BUSINESS STAFF: Cliff Olofson, Alice Embree, Ricky Cruz well-suited for the job, however. Besides, regular readers won't Published by Texas Observer Publishing Co., biweekly except for a three-week inter- want or need an in-house critique of our work. Indeed, many val between issues twice a year, in January and July; 25 issues per ysar. Second-class have already written to let us know what they think of the tack postage paid at Austin, Texas. Publication no. 541300. we've taken. Some claim the Observer is the swellest thing Single copy (current or back issue) 50V prepaid. One year, $12; two years, $22; three years, $30. Foreign, except APO/FPO, $1 additional per year. Airmail, bulk orders, and theie ever was. Others, apparently allergic to the kind of eco- group rates on request. nomic analysis we favor, have written to say that the Observer Microfilmed by Microfilming Corporation of America, 21 Harristown Road, Glen bores them spitless. The greatest number, however, tell us they Rqck, N.J. 07452. just plain like what we're up to, and that's enough to keep us at Editorial and Business Offices: The Texas,Observer it. In our Jan. 20 issue, the first of the new year, publisher 600 West 7th Street Ronnie Dugger will assess the gains and losses made by his Austin, Texas 78701 journal of free voices in 1977. Included will be a sobering report on the publication's financial condition. 04100. '":1' 512-477-0746 Whatever our successes, they are attributable to the energies no. 25 and talents of a remarkable collection of of people who have wandered through these offices, some to leave a journalistic gem or two and move on, others to stay on, laboring spiritedly at an array of sometimes thankless tasks. It's a high- wire act we're putting on here at 7th and Nueces. The few of us who are Observer full-timers are so frightfully in debt to the writers, artists, researchers, typists and envelope-stuffers who are the magazine's salvation that we've resorted to bread-and-circuses gestures to keep our many underpaid colleagues happy, on hand, and hard at work. (The careful reader will note that beer was served at the recent bash that spawned the staff photo we proudly reproduce on this page.) When our ship comes in—when the Observer is on an independent financial footing and able to leave off with fundraising—we'll try to do right by the men and women who have, in more than a few cases, made extraordinary personal sacrifices to remain on the staff. Onward Come January, Texans will have an important and interesting political year ahead of them, and the Observer will be out doing what it has always done best—parsing the prose and probity of would-be governors, senators and jerk- water caesars. We will, of course, also continue our focus on Texas' economic powers. Thanks to the generous support of the Field Foundation and the Fund for Investigative Journalism, we'll soon publish issue-length reports by John Davidson and Ray Reece on, respectively, the economic prospects of Happy New Year from the Observer. farmworkers in Hidalgo County (and Texas property tax system and the qual- New York on Larry L. King's play- their need for collective bargaining ity of health care in the state. Readers of wright debut—Xing's musical, "The rights) and the rush by the major oil volume 70 will be treated to many more Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" corporations to dominate the solar personal essays and the fruits of a opened off-off-Broadway this fall, and energy field and sell us a monopolized deliberate effort on the part of the editors Fain took in the show for us. Walker sun. We expect that by late spring, our to celebrate what's right about Texas. recalls—as only he could—the Chicken own Investigators Reporters Fund will In some important respects, our next Ranch, the LaGrange bordello that was have bankrolled ambitious studies of the issue will come close to being the sort of King's inspiration for "Whorehouse," magazine we think Texas needs and the now ignominiously removed to Dallas one we want to produce every two where it is in business as singles-bar- Vacationing weeks. Our cover subject will be Federal cum-restaurant. District Judge William Wayne Justice All right, then. We wanted to let our The Observer is on Vacation. and the nine-year fight he's fought for the readers know where we've been of late, Editors and staff are taking their Bill of Rights from his Tyler courtroom. where we propose to go, and something semiannual one-week break. The In the back of the book, we'll run related about just who "we" are.