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Ancestral Austin: Means-Khabele Part 2
A family of activists Bertha and James Means went on to have five children, 13 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. He died in 2008. The couple got involved in Democratic Party politics and voter...
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Ancestral Austin: Means-Khabele Part 3
The grandson with a vision Khotso Khabele, executive director of the school that bears his family’s name, inherited his mother’s and grandmother’s quiet but firm resolve. Born in Eku, Nigeria, he...
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Austin's Mexico through the eyes of Ben Sifuentes
Two annual social events reward guests fascinated with Austin’s past. One luncheon benefits Preservation Austin, the other the Austin History Center. During its recent midday gathering at the Driskill...
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CASA Texas luncheon at the Sheraton
The first thing I learned at the CASA Texas luncheon on Monday: The statewide group advocates for children in the foster care system while guiding the local groups of court-appointed special advocates...
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Peeking into Camp Mabry's military past
Zipping — or crawling — along MoPac, one catches glimpses of low, white buildings, open fields and old military equipment at Camp Mabry. Yet deep inside the headquarters for the Texas Military Forces...
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The Brain Candy Collective
After graduation, what do you do with all the kids who actually adored school, cherished its rituals and neatly archived their lecture notes and graded essays? Induct them into the Brain Candy...
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Profile: Austin-to-LA-to-Austin photographer David Heisler
Two days after he graduated from college, David Heisler drove 1,630 miles for 22 straight hours fueled by six Red Bulls. The graduate of what is now Texas State University-San Marcos — who raced to Los...
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Mad Winter Soiree at Scottish Rite
The Scottish Rite Theater never looked so swanky. Black lounge decor transformed the 1870s German social hall into the setting for a 1960s cocktail party. Dressy folks mingled, nibbled, sipped and...
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Austin Social Calendar for 2013
Some of 2012’s social delights will not be repeated. Richard and Laetitia Garriott de Cayeux will not revisit their epic End of the World Party with its Mayan temple and hours of participatory revelry...
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What happened to the lost town of Duval?
Remnants of Austin’s rural past pop up everywhere. Walkers know the signs: Larger than usual lots, bigger trees, structures predating all the others in the area. The most visible vestige of that past...
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Profile: Lawyer Pete Schenkkan
Gray-suited Pete Schenkkan doesn’t look like a philosopher or a poet. Given his brushed-back hair and studied smile, he appears just right for his actual job: A lawyer who deals in the area of...
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Merry Merry Martini Mixer for Equality Texas
The push during this legislative session, I learned at the Merry Merry Martini Mixer for Equality Texas, will be behind anti-discrimination bills in the areas of jobs and insurance. Good places to...
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Dell Children's Gala 2013 at the Austin Convention Center
To borrow a metaphor from sports, Dell Children’s could run a tutorial on how to stage a gala. Let’s start with the decor. The hospital’s Armando Zambrano, lighting designer Ilios and projections...
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The Mystery of the Bargsley Family Plot
This mystery begins in a graveyard. Amid a grove of junipers in an Austin park sits a family plot guarded by a high mesh fence. Four legible stones stand among the rubble. Three of the same family...
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Real Magazine: Old West Austin & Clarksville Profile
This neighborhood profile came out in REAL magazine last week. The inveterate walker soon discovers that Old West Austin is a wonderland of nooks, crannies, alleys, backstreets, side streets, dead ends...
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Profile: Zane Wilemon of CTC International
In 1999, a spiritual crisis smacked Zane Wilemon where he lived. “I had this intense impulse to decide what I believed in,” Wilemon, now 35, says. “I went through a lot of internal wrestling.” He...
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Vuka and David Heisler Open Houses
Two social spaces opened officially this week. Moya Khabele and John Mulvany at Vuka, an events venue Vuka is a surprisingly vast events venue owned by Brian Schoenbaum and managed by Moya Khabele of...
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Memorial: Michael Pungello
The pictures got me. There he was again: dark hair, thick brows, strong nose, full lips, bronze features. Michael Pungello had changed so much during his last brutal bout with cancer. Yet during his...
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Three stabs at ecstasy
When done right, football, opera and carnival offer excesses of spectacle, emotion, pleasure and beauty. The three forms slammed together this weekend in Austin with uneven results. Paul Fischer and...
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Wine, Women and Song
Wine: A tasting at Austin Wine Merchant staged by the Freestyle Language Center turned talky. The group, headed by Elizabeth Mack, encourages fluency through activities like dinners, movies and museum...
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