Email Author Lisa Gray

2001 Stories by Lisa Gray

• Roger Cooper

  published September 20, 2001

  Every now and then, without much hope, a wine drinker drifts into Bert Wheeler's. It's a liquor store, not a wine boutique, and you expect the guy... More >>

• Larry Perdido

  published September 20, 2001

  "My mom, bless her heart, was an awful cook," drawls Larry Perdido. His parents emigrated from the Philippines to Houston in the '50s, and his... More >>

• The Transgender Menace Next Door

  published June 28, 2001

  Phyllis Randolph Frye pronounces the phrase "voy dyer," just like every other trial lawyer in Texas. Voir dire means jury selection, and... More >>

• Playing Hardball

  published June 7, 2001

  At first, the photo looks dull. On a stage stands a gaggle of men in suits, plus somebody's wife. Big deal, you think. But the longer you look,... More >>

• A Time to Remember

  published May 17, 2001

  Nobody believes Sandi Wisenberg when she says she's from Texas. She is a liberal, a writer and -- perhaps most relevant -- a Jew. New York, they... More >>

• The Weed Eater

  published May 10, 2001

  A few years ago, in a magazine called Wilderness Way, T.R. Zimmermann gave this recipe for june bugs: Roast them in hot ash until they pop;... More >>

• Child's Play

  published May 3, 2001

  "Now," announces Carolyn Franklin, "everyone is going to be silent." She says this with complete authority, and no wonder. She is a director... More >>

• About Time

  published April 26, 2001

  As a kid in Houston, in the early '60s, Terrell James liked to lie in the grass and watch the sky. Sometimes she did it alone. Sometimes a bored... More >>

• Immodest Proposals

  published April 19, 2001

  TO: The Honorable Mayor Lee P. Brown FROM: Lisa Gray RE: World-Class Cojones Lee, you already know... More >>

• Secrets of a Vanguard Parent

  published April 12, 2001

  As March gave way to April, Dixie Hopkins fretted about the mail. Where was that letter from the school district? What would happen to... More >>

• Tension and Release

  published March 29, 2001

  Mark Bradford is 35, but he dresses and sounds like a teenage snowboarder. He talks slow, even for someone born in Louisiana, and half of his... More >>

• Welcome to His Nightmare

  published March 22, 2001

  "Generation Landslide" [4:31] (A. Cooper/M. Bruce/D. Dunaway/N. Smith/G. Buxton) When Dan Tuttle was ten, his brother... More >>

• Set in Stone

  published March 1, 2001

  The squirrel statues clutch Texas A&M flags in their chubby paws: a two-rodent honor guard saluting a fallen Aggie animal lover. Giant acorns... More >>

• Death and the Salesmen

  published February 22, 2001

  New stuff is dull. Factory-fresh, perfect and perfectly boring. But every piece of salvage tells a story. Sometimes it's a disaster story:... More >>

• Caveat Vendor

  published February 8, 2001

  I drop my first $5 token into the Art-o-mat, pull one of the yellowed knobs, and ker-chunk: My selection hits the bottom of the machine. My... More >>

• Goodnight, Miss Moonlight

  published February 1, 2001

  Miss Moonlight's memo(rial): Around 500 people showed up for Maxine Mesinger's funeral. They were the gossip columnist's subjects,... More >>

• Rough Cut

  published January 25, 2001

  Jason Morrow's cadaver was a woman, around 80 years old, who died of lung cancer. Jason was surprised that the dissection began with her anterior... More >>

• Down in the Valley

  published January 18, 2001

  Kathleen Cambor grew up in Pittsburgh, and she thought that everyone who grew up there knew about the Johnstown flood. A century before, Johnstown... More >>

• Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

  published January 4, 2001

  Ben stops nursing. "Soda," he says, patting my breast. He grins, devilish and pleased with himself. "Noooo," I say. "Milk. Mommy's... More >>