Fort Worth Magazine - October 2024 by fwtx

The City's Magazine

Cody J inks

The outlaw country artist, And "North Fort Worth kid," is learning, growing, and still raising hell.

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Pictured: Dustin Rodgers, GM, Triple Crown Lincoln. Stephen Gilchrist, dealer operator;

60 The Outlaw Cody Jinks

One distinguishing ethos prevails over Cody Jinks’ rise in country music circles: He did it his way, raising hell all the way.

Stephen Montoya

68 In the Midst of the Moonshot

medical hub, Fort Worth is not. But when it comes to the global war on cancer, our city plays a small but pivotal role.

Brian Kendall

The Sole of Cowtown From rugged leather to modern-day fashion statements, the rich history and craftsmanship behind boots are a journey of style, utility, and cultural evolution.

Brian Kendall and Shilo Urban

THE FORT

18 City Dweller

The other former Fort Worth Little Leaguer named Robert Ratliff.

24 Calendar

What’s happening in October? For starters, Lyle Lovett and His Large Band on the big stage in downtown.

26 Fort Worthian

Bobby Dade’s rugged gospel, bluesy, soul music parade.

30 State Lines

Goliad: pop. 1,624.

34 Cowhand Culture

The enduring allure of a close encounter in Aurora.

40 People

As a Fort Worth assistant city manager, Fernando Costa leaves a giant footprint.

46 The Reverie

Musings, commentary, and insights about the people, places, and things that make our city great.

CHOWTOWN

94 Dining

Say ciao to Fort Worth’s newest Italian eatery, Bocca Osteria Romana, and a TCU grad jettisons his marketing career to become a private chef.

To Firsts

About three weeks ago, I received a call on my office telephone. There’s nothing strange about this in and of itself, as I routinely field pitches, wrong numbers, and the occasional complaint. But this wound up being not only one of the most memorable phone calls I’ve ever taken in the office, but one of the most memorable phone conversations I’ve had in my 38 years on earth.

The conversation lifted off well enough. I believe I started with “Hi, this is Brian Kendall with Fort Worth Magazine, how can I help you?” But, upon hearing the woman’s voice on the other end of the phone, I could sense I was in for a confrontation, despite her thanking me profusely for taking the call. She then told me, flatly, that she had a bone to pick with me and proceeded to throw a string of questions my way (please be aware that the following quotes are from memory and not verbatim, but you should get my drift), beginning with, “What style guide do you use?”

“AP Style,” I responded.

“Oh, that’s shocking to me,” she said. “I’m a journalist, you see, and I can tell you that you most certainly do not use AP Style.” I love people telling me things about me. I was feeling the aggression.

Assuming her complaint was due to our occasional forays into poor grammar, misspellings, or what I like to call “our own dang style,” I explained that, although we try our darndest, we don’t always adhere to the book as strictly as other publications (I can feel our proofer cringing).

She then told me she’s never actually read a single page of our magazine or perused our website. Turns out, the source of her anger was the fact that we do not capitalize “Fort Worth” on the magazine’s nameplate. That’s right, our brand. Our brand is not in AP Style.

While there might’ve been some good ways to respond to this, I don’t think asking “Are you joking?” right off the bat was one of them.

What followed was a very impassioned lecture about my disrespect for the Associated Press and its Stylebook, my disrespect for our readers, my disrespect for the city, and, I kid you not, my disrespect for the United States of America. “Are you even for the United States?” I distinctly recall her asking.

Of course, I did politely try to explain that what she was referring to was our brand, and such artistic representations routinely break grammar and style rules. I used Starbucks and its lack of a possessive apostrophe as an example. She fired back, “Well, now I know you don’t know what you’re doing; it’s supposed to be plural because there’s more than one Starbucks!”

We agreed to disagree and ended the conversation soon after.

Before you enjoy the rest of the magazine, I did want to give a shout-out to Stephen Montoya, our digital editor whose piece on Cody Jinks marks his first cover story. For those of you who don’t know, Stephen writes the vast (and I do mean vast) majority of the magazine’s digital content. He’s an incredibly hard-working and conscientious journalist who upholds the highest of ethics. He’s probably the most well-liked guy in our office because he carries one of those dispositions you can’t help but like. Hope y’all take a gander at his story; it’s pretty dang awesome.

Brian Kendall EXECUTIVE EDITOR

ON THE COVER:

Photographed by Crystal Wise while she and writer Stephen Montoya visited Cody Jinks on his ranch, north of Decatur. Jinks sits on the back of his truck, a yellow 1976 Ford F-250, which appears in music videos and promotional materials for the outlaw country artist.

CORRECTIONS? COMMENTS? CONCERNS? Send to executive editor Brian Kendall at bkendall@fwtexas.com.

NEXT MONTH

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What is your most memorable Halloween costume?

More Cowbell!

Some of my more recent costumes are probably too edgy for print. So, I’m dipping into my days as a juvenile. If you can be Batman, be Batman.

I’m cheating since this wasn’t my costume, but my son and I decorated a box together with construction paper to look like a Rubik’s Cube last minute before his school costume pageant.

Oogie

but my favorite was the Bride of Frankenstein. That was my real hair!

owner/publisher hal a. brown

president mike waldum

EDITORIAL

executive editor brian kendall

contributing editor john henry

digital editor stephen montoya

contributing writers malcolm mayhew, michael h. price, charlotte settle, shilo urban

copy editor sharon casseday

ART

creative director craig sylva

senior art director spray gleaves

advertising art director jonathon won

ADVERTISING

advertising account supervisors gina burns-wigginton x150

marion c. knight x135

account executive tammy denapoli x141

account executive kenidy herring x157

account executive jim houston x158

territory manager, fort worth inc. rita hale x133

senior production manager michelle mcghee x116

MARKETING

director of digital robby kyser director of marketing grace behr events and promotions director victoria albrecht

project manager kaitlyn lisenby

CORPORATE

chief financial officer charles newton

founding publisher mark hulme

main line 817.560.6111

subscriptions 817.766.5550 fwmagsubscriptions@omeda.com

Halloween 1980, at Del Mar College, when I was nine-months pregnant, I gave a lecture to my business class dressed as a large orange pumpkin. No one else on campus dressed up.

One year, a friend and I handmade costumes that looked like a Corn Flakes box, and we were “Children of the Corn.” I’m dating myself by that reference, I’m sure.

I was the Denorex man in high school (wayyy old commercial).

Sea Cliff Elementary School Halloween parade, first grade. Forty years later, and the Care Bears are still haunting the Halloween scene!

DIGITAL EDITION:

The virtual editions of both current and previous issues are available on our website. Flip through the pages to read more about the great city of Fort Worth by visiting fwtx.com.

FortWorthMagazine(ISSN 1536-8939) is published monthly by Panther City Media Group, LP, 6777 Camp Bowie Blvd., Suite 130, Fort Worth, TX 76116. Periodicals Postage Paid at Fort Worth, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send change of address notices and undeliverable copies to Panther City Media Group, PO Box 213, Lincolnshire, IL 60069. Volume 27, Number 10, October 2024. Basic

Subscription price: $21.95 per year. Single copy price: $4.99

Boogie was a classic,

Ebby Halliday Real Estate, LLC dba Williams Trew Real Estate

COVID-19 and the Winter Storm

Our magazine doesn’t typically focus on breaking news and news cycles in the way news outlets do, given our longer publication cycles and evergreen and trendbased content.

Our press deadlines are typically weeks in advance of the magazine appearing on newsstands or in your mailbox.

However, there is a time for everything.

Twice in the past 25 years, prevailing current events that had taken a firm grip on life in Fort Worth caused us to reverse course on editorial plans. As a result, we were forced to pivot and reposition content to address the pressing news while adding our unique perspective and commentary on the goings-on.

As the city’s magazine after all, it is our job to report on what’s happening in the city, and with that responsibility comes the need to, at times, improvise.

However, those events and circumstances were not the only reasons we made the decisions to detour.

The first, not surprisingly, was the COVID-19 pandemic. We fear even mentioning it out of concern it might trigger nightmares.

We had planned a cover story in May 2020 on “Our City’s Growing Pains,” a long-form narrative designed to take a deep dive into how Fort Worth was handling its growing pains and recent influx of new residents. As our reporter began to dig, he one day raised a red flag.

“No one wants to talk about city

planning and population booms when there’s a pandemic on the horizon.”

Then, as we all remember, the storm of the pandemic appeared with all its dangers and potholes. There wasn’t only the physical and emotional health of the populace to think about. There were livelihoods at stake.

We decided then on a COVID-19 issue. The topic was specifically how Fort Worth citizens were persevering.

Our goal was striking a balance. Certainly, it was gloomy, but there were some very good stories to tell, too. Namely, the city’s resilience in the face of crisis.

Almost one year later, we were faced with yet another crisis: the blasted Uri, the once-in-a-century winter storm that locked us all in place — make that solitary confinement — while snow, ice, and single-digit temperatures did a number on our psyches, our pipes, and the notorious electric grid, which, along with Ted Cruz’s Mexico jaunt, was as popular as the weather.

But there’s much more to this story of detouring. There were actually two crises, this figurative bob-and-weave trip down Interstate 35.

We had actually already sent the March magazine to press on a Friday, mere days before the arrival of our friend Uri.

The cover story featured a new transformative local nonprofit, The Big Good. The faces of the nonprofit were Leon Bridges, Gary Patterson, and Chris Harrison. Harrison, you probably recall, was the well-known host of “The Bachelor.” Literally hours after we had sent the magazine to the printer, Harrison was entangled in controversy after defending a “Bachelor” contestant who was facing intense scrutiny for attending an antebellum-themed fraternity party while in college.

The scandal immediately compromised both Harrison’s standing with the show and the nonprofit.

We pulled it back.

Uri pulled in a few days later, giving us new content and a new cover. Somebody was watching over us.

And now — channeling Paul Harvey — you know the rest of the story.

photo

Crystal Wise

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THE FORT

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW AND THE THINGS YOU NEED TO DO

STATE LINES

Mission Esperitu Santo at the Goliad State Park.

by Stephen Montoya

The Tale of Two Robert Ratliffs

These two Robert Ratliffs have eerily similar life stories.

You Gotta Believe” opened in theaters Aug. 30, including a world premiere in Fort Worth, with red carpet, Hollywood stars, and all that.

It tells the story of Robert Ratliff, whose father’s battle with cancer was the catalyst for the movie detailing the 2002 Westside Little League All-Stars’ run to the Little League World Series.

The team rallied behind Bobby Ratliff, a coach on that team, and used his personal crusade against terminal illness as inspiration for its run to Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Bobby Ratliff lost his battle to melanoma only six months later when Robert was approaching his teen years.

The story of the Westside Little League team has become part of the city’s lore.

Unknown to many is the other Robert Ratliff, this one an east-sider, who lived a tale eerily similar to the Ratliffs’ but 33 years prior.

This Robert Ratliff’s father was also his son’s Little League coach. And this Robert Ratliff’s father, C.A. Ratliff, also died prematurely when his oldest son was just 11 years old after a milestone Little League game.

Robert Aaron Ratliff played baseball for the Handley-Meadowbrook Little League team known as the Senators in the mid-to-late 1960s. In 1969, this Ratliff played for his league’s all-star team. The Handley-Meadowbrook allstars were “one and done,” as Ratliff remembers it.

Nonetheless, it was a major milestone for Ratliff personally and for the team and his father, Clarence Aaron Ratliff, better known as “C.A.,” who took over coaching duties for the Senators in 1967.

Mere days after the Senators’ AllStar Game in 1969, C.A., who was known to have heart problems, suffered a heart attack and died at age 46. Bobby Ratliff was age 50 when he died

after the Little League World Series in 2002.

“It’s been at least three decades since I’ve been back here,” Robert Ratliff says as he surveys what is left of Handley Field on the east side of Loop 820.

As Ratliff, now 66, walks the field, he glances over at the visitor’s bench, the last place he remembers seeing his dad in action as a coach.

“My dad wanted to use everybody on the team to achieve success,” he says.

Ratliff called me after reading our article on the Westside Robert Ratliff, who gave us a firsthand account of what happened to him and his team in 2002.

“When I read that article, tears came to my eyes,” Ratliff says while trying on his old Little League cap. “I was thinking, golly, how bizarre that here you have 55 years apart [between 1969 and the new movie] a guy with the same name, same situation.”

C.A. stood about 5-foot-5 and was a mild-mannered man who loved to coach baseball. Originally from Coleman, Alabama, C.A. served in World War II as a U.S. Marine and participated in the six-month battle for Guadalcanal.

After the war C.A. married Reba Laverne Ratliff, a registered nurse whom he met before being shipped off to war.

What really sticks out in Ratliff’s memory, though, is his father’s time on the baseball diamond.

Fifty-five years later, Handley Field still exists, only now as an adult softball field. Gone is the large scoreboard and backstop concession stand. The practice fields that once surrounded the field are also gone, taken over by the Handley Meadowbrook Community Center. What does remain, though, are the memories of a team and the bond of a father and son.

“I played baseball one more year out here after my dad died, and I just wasn’t into it,” Ratliff says. “It just wasn’t the same after he was gone.”

FortWorth MagazineStaff

Up, Up and Away

There was a distinctive purple on the SpaceX Polaris Dawn flight. by

SpaceX Polaris Dawn’s groundbreaking all-civilian mission launched on an early Tuesday morning in September from Kennedy Space Center. Hours later, it had already made history by reaching an altitude of 870 miles, the highest orbit around Earth ever achieved, surpassing the record set during NASA’s early Apollo missions.

The four-person crew also conducted the first-ever private spacewalk on the third day of its five-day mission.

Among those on the flight was

mission specialist Anna Menon, TCU Class of 2008.

Menon and crew are on the first of the planned three missions, funded by billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, which are set to examine the effects of space flight, test communication devices, monitor health impacts in space, and conduct a spacewalk.

For Menon, the mission is the realization of a dream she’s had since she was very young.

“Growing up in Houston, I went

on a field trip to NASA in the fourth grade, and that’s when my dream to be an astronaut began, but I never thought it would happen,” Menon told TCU 360. “I’ve had a lifelong love of exploration — of other cultures and fields of study. This will be a rare and different exploration, one that I plan to share with my kids, family, and colleagues.”

In addition to Menon, the Polaris Dawn crew consisted of Isaacman, Sarah Gillis, and Scott Poteet. The four civilian astronauts are set to orbit three times higher than the orbit of the International Space Station, launched in November 1998.

Isaacman said the crew will be testing out some brand-new space suits, as well as a new star link communications system.

Menon read excerpts of the book she helped co-create, Kisses From Space, to some very lucky children while in space.

Menon earned a bachelor’s in math and Spanish at TCU, followed by a master’s in biomedical engineering at Duke. She eventually went to work as a biomedical flight controller for NASA’s International Space Station, a spot that allowed her to become a NASA astronaut candidate.

In 2018, she joined SpaceX where she most recently served as lead space operations engineer, managing the development of crew operations. She also served as mission director and crew communicator in mission control.

Also, along for the ride was a TCU sesquicentennial patch in honor of Menon’s alma mater.

“TCU gave me such a strong foundation, so, I want to take a small piece of it with me,” she said in a 2023 interview. “TCU showed me the world and opened my eyes to a new way of life, I got to study abroad in Spain and learned new ways to better communicate with one field of study, and I learned problem-solving and perseverance with the other.”

by FortWorth MagazineStaff

Playing Big-Time Ball

TCU football is off to a good start in more ways than one.

TCU’s football season got off to a positive start. The Horned Frogs’ 2-0 start was preceded by news that the program’s new 20,000-squarefoot football facility, scheduled opening in July, has a name.

The Harrison Family Football Performance Center is being named in honor of Mike and Brenda Harrison of Midland, according to a press release.

“We are proud to support the health and wellness of our TCU studentathletes,” Mike and Brenda Harrison say. “This capital project will empower them to excel at the highest levels of competition within the Big 12 Conference and beyond. The cutting-edge facilities ensure that TCU Athletics remain a leader in collegiate sports on a national scale.”

The new facility will include a dedicated space and a new weight room for the football program, technology centers, conference rooms, and a branded track. The Harrison Family Football Performance Center will connect the Sam Baugh Indoor Practice Facility and the Morris Practice Fields.

“The new Performance Center will be a game-changer for our athletic programs,” says Victor J. Boschini Jr., TCU chancellor. “The Harrisons have been

longtime supporters of TCU.

The Harrisons’ ties to TCU date to 1932, when Mike’s father, Dr. W.O. Harrison, graduated with the first of three degrees. Mike is Class of 1964. Nine other relatives, including two of his and Brenda’s four children, Michael Harrison Jr. and Christina Pittman — Classes of 1991 and ’94 — are also Horned Frogs graduates.

The Harrisons are the owners of Anderson Ranches in Midland. Brenda Harrison is a former speech pathologist who worked in the Pecos school district before retiring.

In 2019, the Harrisons made a $10 million gift to establish The Brenda and Mike Harrison Endowed Scholarship Program. The endowed scholarship fund provides permanent need- and merit-based financial aid to students from middle-income families.

In recognition of the Harrisons’ generosity to TCU, the school also named its new administration building “The Harrison” in 2020.

Earlier this year, TCU also broke ground on the 10,000-square-foot Simpson Family Restoration and Wellness Center in recognition of the legacy gift made by the Bob R. Simpson family.

Around Cowtown in 8 Seconds

A smattering of things you might’ve missed

1. Changing Places: The National Juneteenth Museum shifts its planned location in the Historic Southside to the site of the Southside Community Center after facing challenges with acquiring the original land.

2. Direct Route to Fun: Trinity Metro’s new Orange Line will shuttle visitors between two of Fort Worth’s most popular destinations: Downtown and the Stockyards.

3. Report Cards: The Fort Worth school district slides a grade, to C-rated in 2023-24, from its last official rating in 2022. The cause: more rigorous state standardized testing and other changes to the Texas Education Agency’s scoring metrics, the district says.

4. Mayor’s Full-Court Press: The report on the schools comes just two weeks after Mattie Parker goes before the school board demanding a gradeA upgrade at the school district.

5. UTA Droning On: So to speak. The school is expanding its research and innovation capabilities by building a $2.3 million outdoor netted drone facility in Fort Worth, designed to support the university-industry-government-community ecosystem focused on autonomous and intelligent urban mobility systems.

6. Reaching New Heights: A new two-story squadron operations facility and simulator facility, set to be complete in the fall, at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth will support the delivery of fifth-generation fighters to the 301st Fighter Wing, the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command’s first stand-alone F-35 wing. Officials call it a “significant milestone in the modernization of the” Reserve Command.

7. Moving Along: The proposed Dallas-to-Fort Worth high-speed route that would connect to the would-be Dallas-to-Houston line is progressing with preliminary engineering and environmental documentation work by the Regional Transportation Council.

8. A Time for Everything: Aledo, the state’s topranked team in Class 5A Division I, falls to Denton Ryan in the season opener, 35-30, snapping the Bearcats’ 30-game win streak, which included back-to-back state titles.

October

1-6

‘Company’

A Broadway revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical about commitment and singlehood comes to Bass Hall. The revival, which took home five Tonys in 2022, updates the story with a few modern twists, including a gender swap of the original cast.

Bass Performance Hall basshall.com

11-Nov. 3

‘The Amazing, Fabulous, and Spectacular Untruths of Juan Garcia’

A witty comedy that revolves around a man named Juan, who returns to his hometown of Oaxaca, Mexico, only to lie about his journey to the big city. Let’s just say his lies catch up with him.

Amphibian Stage amphibianstage.com

11 Experience Hendrix

A veritable who’s who of the electric guitar — Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Zakk Wylde, Eric Johnson — will pay homage to the legendary six-string slinger Jimi Hendrix for a rollicking showcase of his work.

Will Rogers Auditorium dickiesarena.com

12

The Great Western Festival

A festival curated by every “Yellowstone” fan’s favorite artist, Ryan Bingham, celebrates all that’s great about the West: bull riding, bull fighting, mutton busting, and country music. The lineup includes Bingham, Tanya Tucker, Shane Smith and the Saints, and a whole lot more.

Dickies Arena dickiesarena.com

19 ArtsGoggle

For the 21st time, the Near Southside’s premier art festival will take over the mile-long Magnolia Avenue, where hundreds of art, food, and knickknack vendors — along with a few stages for local musicians — will set up shop. Magnolia Avenue artsgoggle.org

20 Gold Over America Tour

The U.S. women’s gymnastics team, which includes North Texan Simone Biles, will show off all the splits, somersaults, handsprings, and handstands that led to the team capturing the overall gold as well as nine individual medals at the Paris Olympics.

Dickies Arena dickiesarena.com

22 His Large Band

Every year for the better part of the last two decades, Lyle Lovett has performed at Bass Hall. And, like clockwork, the four-time Grammy winner and writer of “If I Had a Boat” will make his annual return to the city’s marquee theater. Bass Performance Hall basshall.com

27 Kirk Franklin

The Fort Worth-based, Grammy-winning gospel singer stops by his hometown arena for the second year in a row. He’ll be joined by other big-name gospel artists Yolanda Adams, Marvin Sapp, Clark Sisters, and Fred Hammond.

Dickies Arena dickiesarena.com

29-Nov. 3

‘Beetlejuice’

The iconic 1988 Tim Burton film of the same name gets the Broadway treatment in this familyfriendly rendition of a teenage girl who meets a recently deceased couple and a demon who has a thing for stripes. Bass Performance Hall basshall.com

Oct. 17

Sierra Hull

A prodigy, of sorts, Sierra Hull made her Grand Ole Opry debut at age 10, her first Carnegie Hall appearance at age 12, and signed her first record contract at 13. Now 28, the Tennessee-bred mandolinist is touring in support of her fifth studio album, 25Trips. Tulips | tulips.com

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Bobby Dade

Musician

By Tommy Cummings Photo by Darah Hubbard

Bobby Dade is adaptable.

As a musician with a broad genre range, that trait serves him well. The soft-spoken, 39-year-old journeyman artist brings his rugged gospel, bluesy soul sound to gigs at diverse venues across North Texas.

Consequently, he encounters diverse audiences, which fits his wheelhouse.

As mentioned, Dade can adapt.

“I’ve always liked [performing] live ... the interpretation of my art,” he says. “The raw performance is always the best to display your art and show your true expression. I’ve always leaned toward that.”

Performing live, “I have the freedom to bend the rules,” he says. “You can shake up your genre. Whether it’s performing in front of an allBlack or all-white crowd or mixed, I’ve always liked to adapt the performance to whatever the audience is.

“It opens up a conversation.”

That approach — performing gospel music live — stems from his upbringing in churches in and around Fort Worth.

“There’s just something about hearing that live performance,” he says. “It’s a different dynamic. It’s something about growing up in gospel or church. I’ve always evolved from that, that spiritual or electric environment.”

Dade had significant musical influences from his family. His mother was a keyboardist who taught him how to play the piano. At around 8 or 9 years old, he picked up the drums.

“Growing up, we were all singers, vocalists, or musicians,” he says of his sisters and other close family members. “We were taught to try something and not be afraid.”

As an adult, Dade still seeks to expand his instrumental prowess, which includes piano, acoustic guitar, and whatever else he can get his hands on.

In his online bio, Dade said his performances evoke the likes of Otis

Redding, Al Green, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye. He calls his art “eclectic feel-good music.”

Dade lists a significant mentor in his musical journey — Grammy Award-winner Leon Bridges of Fort Worth.

Last month, Dade says Bridges invited him to join him at a pop-up performance at The Boiled Owl Tavern, a Tex-Mex restaurant in Fort Worth where Bridges worked.

“I’ve created a friendship with him,” Dade says. “We’ve kept up with each other. He’s always downto-earth. He’s always been there, as far as a friend, whether supporting a show or everyone once in a while — knowing how busy he is — inviting me out to play. That was a really great honor.”

Dade calls himself “local known but with a kind of back-but-never-left kind of vibe.”

He’s back to producing more music, just to “revamp and revise,” maybe spend additional time recording original work.

“I’m going to get focused back on just working on some original music that I’ve had on the back burner for a while.”

BY THE WAY....

Check the listings on his Facebook page. He’ll score gigs at grand openings, weddings, weekly residencies, or formal ceremonies.

Top 5 Favorite Albums

1. TheCarnivalby Wyclef Jean

2. SongintheKeyofLifeby Stevie Wonder

3. TheAnthologyby Curtis Mayfield

4. Legendby Bob Marley

5. Thrillerby Michael Jackson

1. Recording session. 2. With Jake Paleschic, Abraham Alexander, and Leon Bridges. 3. At Embargo, from Dade’s early days of performing in Fort Worth. 4.

“On my road to keep Fort Worth funky.” 5. With Leon Bridges at Boiled Owl. “Overjoyed to share a friendship with such an amazing artist.” 6. Dade’s love for music runs from reggae to rock to funk to pop. 7. Bill Withers, whom Dade calls his “most identifiable artist.”

When you work here, you grow here.

We collaborate across specialties and skillsets

We value every voice

We make time and space for learning

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Be part of the magic.

by Shilo Urban

Goliad, Texas

Population: 1,624

You probably remember Goliad, but did you know it was the birthplace of cattle ranching in Texas? Spanish priests at Goliad’s Mission Espíritu Santo were the first to gather up wild cattle for large-scale beef production, expanding from 4,000 head in 1758 to over 40,000 within a few decades. In 1779, the first cattle drive out of Texas departed Goliad for New Orleans to feed Spanish soldiers battling

the British there during the American Revolution.

But we remember Goliad for a different war of independence, the Texas Revolution. Time for a vote: You’re a Texian soldier fighting against Santa Anna’s tyrannical regime with 400 of your fellow revolutionaries, and you’re surrounded by the Mexican Army. You’re outnumbered three to one and trapped

without water in the middle of the open prairie. Dozens of your friends are already wounded including your leader, Colonel Fannin. It’s a battle you can’t win. Do you vote to surrender? Or do you vote to try and escape — and leave the wounded men to their fates?

The Texians took a vote: Surrender it was. Believing they’d be protected as prisoners of war and paroled to the United States, the soldiers were confined inside the imposing Spanish fortress of Presidio La Bahía. On March 27, 1836, they were marched out at sunrise and shot. The death toll at the Goliad Massacre was twice that at the Alamo, and the battle cry “Remember Goliad!” helped unify the resistance and propel the Texians to victory.

Both the mission and presidio still stand in Goliad, each beautifully restored and powerfully evocative of early Spanish settlement in the New World. Built in 1749 to establish Spanish supremacy and convert the indigenous Aranama people, Presidio La Bahía squats on a hill above the San Antonio River. Despite formidable bastions and three-foot-thick walls, the fortress was besieged and changed hands many times throughout history. Stroll through the museum in the soldiers’ quarters and visit the ancient chapel where mass has been held almost every week since 1779 — and where the first Texas Declaration of Independence was signed. Look up on your way out to see the earliest flag of Texas independence flying in the breeze, the “Bloody Arm” flag with its burly severed arm grasping a

Presidio La Bahia

blood-dripping sword.

Behind the presidio, you can pay your respects at Fannin Memorial Monument, hallowed ground where the Goliad Massacre victims are buried. It’s also the beginning of the paved Angel of Goliad Hike and Bike Trail, which runs 2.5 miles to the town center and passes through Goliad State Park and Historic Site. Nestled in a scenic crook of the San Antonio River, its star attraction is Mission Espíritu Santo. The Spanish mission’s whitewashed walls gleam against the blue Texas sky. It’s a dramatic, romantic place of refuge whose sacred feel is enhanced by rural environs.

Continue the trail into town to reach the historic town square and its striking Second Empire-style courthouse from 1894. On the north lawn, there’s a hanging tree where capital sentences were carried out in swift style. From Wild West justice and Texian rebels to Spanish priests and Aranama natives, Goliad’s rich history reveals itself at every turn. Before there was Texas, before there was Mexico, there was Goliad.

Explore Goliad

Savor: Blue Quail Deli is known for its award-winning cream of jalapeño soup. But the paninis on asiago cheese bread are just as delicious, especially when you dip them in the soup. A few doors down is Deborah’s Kitchen Table, the go-to joint for chicken-fried steak and scratch-made country cooking. Save room for a slice of coconut pie. Drop into Dwell for craft coffees and trendy eats like avocado toast with goat cheese and pistachios. You’ll also find several Mexican restaurants around town; Wanda’s may be a hole-in-the-wall but gets the highest marks for homestyle Tex-Mex, fresh salsa, and friendly service from the owners.

Shop: You can spend the better part of an afternoon doodling in and out of boutiques around the courthouse square. Pick up pretty potted succulents at The Garden’s Path nursery and browse rare pistols and antique rifles at The Best Little Gun Shop in Texas. Need a new sage bundle or a Tibetan singing bowl? Shop for them at The Soul Emporium, along with other metaphysical supplies like crystals and candles. Every second Saturday, the courthouse lawn hosts Market Days with open-air vendors selling a little bit of everything: Bundt cakes, handmade crafts, kettle corn, and wooden furniture.

Enjoy: In addition to Mission Espíritu Santo, Goliad State Park is also home to a floating dock for fishing and a landing site for the 6-mile Goliad Paddling Trail. You can look for wildlife on looping nature paths and explore exhibits about El Camino Real, the historic Spanish “King’s Road” that ran right through Goliad. The nearby Zaragoza Birthplace State Historic Site honors the Mexican general whose army defeated the French at the Battle of Puebla, a spectacular upset now widely celebrated as Cinco de Mayo each year. History buffs may want to tour the ruins of Mission Rosario and Fannin Battleground State Historic Site, both outside of town, or visit on March 27 for the annual Goliad Massacre Reenactment.

Snooze: Sleep inside a National Historic Landmark when you book the officer’s quarters at the Presidio La Bahía, a surprisingly comfortable four-room apartment with rough stone walls, heavy wooden doors, and a crackling fireplace. Overnight guests have the fort’s capacious inner courtyard all to themselves. With no TV or Wi-Fi, it’s quite the atmospheric experience. But you may not want to read the guestbook until morning, because it’s filled with tales of “ghostly” encounters and other strange bumps in the night. There are also a couple of ranch/river homes to rent on Airbnb and Vrbo, campsites at Goliad State Park, and a Best Western. Otherwise, head over to Victoria (26 miles away) for a larger selection of short-term rentals.

How to Get There: Drive south on Interstate 35. Just before Georgetown (about 18 miles past Salado), take Exit 265 for TX-130 S, the loop around Austin. Stay on TX-130 S for about 60 miles, following signs for TX-130 S/ Lockhart/San Antonio, until Exit 470 for US-183. Exit to US-183 S and continue for 98 miles to arrive in Goliad. The trip is about 315 miles and takes around five hours with no stops or traffic.

Historic Center of Goliad

Mission in Goliad State Park

Goliad courthouse

Michael H. Price

Close Encounter of the Aurora Kind

Over 125 years ago, a spaceman crash-landed, died, and was buried in Aurora, just a hop and a skip from Fort Worth. And, yes, the story fascinates to this day.

When a back-country mystery of the 19th century attracts modern-day attention from two exploitation-film producers, a bestselling conspiracy researcher, credentialed journalists, and an avant-garde playwright — in addition to a predictable onslaught of UFO-chasing zealots — then you can bet your Buck Rogers’ jet-propelled rocket pack that it is a case to be reckoned with.

Mysterious, I reckon. Mysterious enough, anyhow, that the incident still inspires flights of imagination from journalists and fabulists, usually

likening the matter to an outer space scare of 1947 at Roswell, New Mexico. The Aurora Cemetery, located in Wise County, northwest of Fort Worth, remains a focus of such interest, whether as a burial site for a spacealien aviator or as a legendary humbug.

The Dallas Morning News triggered the interest in 1897 with a report that “according to locals,” a flying vessel had crashed two days prior on a farm near Aurora. The situation was called fatal to the pilot, who or which was described as “not of this world.” A cer-

emonial burial at the Aurora Cemetery came complete with gravestone. The marker seems to have gone missing in times more recent.

The nearest approximation of surviving evidence is a Texas Historical Commission marker outside the cemetery. The vessel was reported to have struck a windmill on the property of Judge J.S. Proctor at around 6 a.m. on April 17, 1897. The speculation of an alien origin came from an Army Signal Service officer named T.J. Weems from Fort Worth.

I learned as a child of the Aurora episode. My father, the Texas-New Mexico industrialist John A. Price, had been summoned to Roswell in 1947 to examine metallic fragments from that crash-landing. The military had hoped that he might identify a source of the shards, whether earthly or otherworldly.

Dad found the fragments unlike any metal he had encountered in his line of construction and mechanical engineering. “Looks like you boys have got another Aurora on your hands,” he told the brass, summoning memories of a fabled mystery from before his time. He would recall an engraved surface, like runic symbols, and a texture that varied from rigidity to malleability, along with a luminous aspect. At length, Dad would clam up altogether — no doubt leery of the 1950s paranoid atmosphere of military-industrial complexity.

The Aurora legend of two generations earlier has many variations and contradictions, but a constant element holds that wreckage was crammed into a well beneath the damaged windmill. Complications arose during the 1940s when Brawley Oates, who had purchased the Proctor property, hauled debris from the well and then found himself besieged with an extreme case of arthritis — presumably caused by contaminated water. Oates abandoned the well and sealed it.

Then in 1980, Time magazine complicated matters with an assertion of a hoax in an interview with Etta Pegues, an 86-year-old resident of Aurora. She

claimed that S.E. Haydon, the reporter whose byline had graced the 1897 Morning News story, had “[written] it as a joke ... to bring interest to Aurora. The railroad bypassed us, and the town was dying.”

Pegues also told Time that Judge Proctor had never operated a windmill. A televised “UFO Hunters” episode would refute that claim, having unearthed a water-pump base around the well. The argument persisted into 2020, when a “Monster Talk” podcast episode maintained that the well was of 20th-century origin — not the type designed for a windmill.

The Time report proved an inspiration to Louisiana-based filmmaker Jim McCullough, who commissioned a screenplay called “The Aurora Encounter” — a title calculated to suggest Stephen Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” — and produced the picture during the early 1980s, enlisting the Fort Worth violinist/composer Carroll Hubbard to develop an evocative score.

And “The Aurora Encounter” (released in 1986) treats an alien visitation as a literal occurrence, imagining a benevolent presence confronted by distrustful authorities. No pretense of documentary fact is suggested. McCullough erred on the side of exploitation by casting a remarkable child, Mickey Hays of Gregg County, as the spaceman. Hays (1972-1992) experienced a genetic syndrome called progeria, which caused him to appear as if 80 years old at the age of 10. In an interview on behalf of the film, Hays told me the role was “my dream-cometrue — to star in a Hollywood movie.” Never mind that McCullough Productions was as far off-Hollywood as filmmaking comes.

Another low-budget filmmaker, Al Adamson, investigated the Aurora scene from a more nearly documentary angle for “Beyond This Earth,” in 1993, enlisting Arlington filmmaker Tom Rainone and me as production assistants. Location shooting near the Aurora Cemetery involved representatives of the Mutual UFO Network

(alias MUFON), whose Texas chief, aviation writer Bill Case of the Dallas Times Herald, had conducted an Aurora investigation in 1973. Adamson, the director responsible for such drive-in movie shockers of the 1960s as “Horror of the Blood Monsters” and “Blood of Ghastly Horror,” had drawn the new inspiration from an Aurora-related satire by the comedy troupe known as Firesign Theatre.

In 1998, KDFW-TV aired a lengthy report about the Aurora incident, with former Star-Telegram reporter Jim Marrs, of Wise County. Marrs (1943-2017) had long since become a bestselling author, dealing in political and economic conspiracies and general-purpose weirdness. Here, Marrs stated a case for extraterrestrial conclusions. KDFW narrator Richard Ray hewed more to the notion of a legend.

Marrs, in 1997, already had declared something akin to the proverbial last word on Aurora, with a bestselling whopper of a book called Alien Agenda, from HarperCollins Publishers. Publishers Weekly, the trade journal, challenged the book’s emphasis on “dubious phenomena” and railed against Marrs’ lack of “rigorous analysis” but termed Alien Agenda “the most entertaining and complete overview of flying saucers...”

Yes, and Jim Marrs was first to arrive in 2007 when playwright Johnny Simons and I premiered an experimental stage production, “Aurora Ephemerala,” at the Simons family’s Hip Pocket Theatre, north of Fort Worth. Marrs donated $1,000 worth of Alien Agenda hardcover copies to the box office. Simons’ script would imagine a landing with the survival

of a benevolent spaceman, who bonds with the friendlier locals and develops an appetite for down-home cooking. My accompanying orchestral score combined eerie science-fictional melodies with comically playful passages, geared to Simons’ narrative tone of melancholy humor.

Two years before the Hip Pocket production, a broadcast of “UFO Files” had revisited the Mutual UFO Network investigation of 1973 while presenting purported witnesses, old-timers from Aurora, who told of how their parents had explored the 1897 crash site. Here, too, MUFON uncovered a grave marker that appeared to show a flying object. The cemetery’s stewards denied permission to exhume the site.

Further exploration in 2008, in a “UFO Hunters” television documentary, allowed for an examination of that mysterious well. The water therein was reported to contain concentrations of aluminum, and the remains of a windmill were unearthed nearby. A radar scan of an unmarked grave from the 1890s turned up nothing conclusive.

Nothing conclusive, that is, except the perpetual fascination of an unsolvable quandary. “Seekers after mystery haunt strange places,” as the Texas-bred historian George E. Turner once wrote, paraphrasing author H.P. Lovecraft. Turner added: “The cattle country has spawned its share of mysteries... Some have been solved, so far as possible, but others must remain enigmatic.”

Hence Aurora, Texas, and the enduring forbidden allure of its spaceman legend.

A young Sandra Day O’Connor

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by John Henry

Architect of Change

Fernando Costa’s legacy is his hand in helping design today and tomorrow in Fort Worth.

Sitting in a common area on the 20th floor of Fort Worth’s new high-rise City Hall, Fernando Costa ponders his forthcoming retirement. He is asked if he and his wife plan to stay in Fort Worth.

Oh, yes, he says. Affirmed by a second yes, and a third for good measure.

“Oh, yes, yes, yes,” Costa says. “Fort Worth is an exceptional community. We are very fond of it. This is home now. I know a lot of folks like to retire to remote locations, but Fort Worth has so much going for it that I don’t see any reason that folks wouldn’t want to stay.

“I don’t know where we would go that would be better.”

Costa has been a steady hand of integrity, calm, and wisdom in Fort Worth’s city manager’s office the past 26 years. His fingerprints are all over many of the city’s biggest projects and advancements in the past quarter-century.

He is a big reason why Fort Worth is a great place to live. He is a big reason why tens of thousands every year are choosing Fort Worth to live, work, and play.

He is, jokes Mayor Mattie Parker, the professor emeritus of the city.

Costa’s last day with the city as an assistant city manager was Sept. 30. He won’t soon be forgotten.

“Fernando’s dedication and leadership have left an indelible mark on our city,” says City Manager David Cooke, who is retiring, too, though not until February. “His legacy will continue to positively influence Fort Worth’s future.”

In his role as director of planning, Costa has been instrumental in shaping the city’s development policies and practices, setting a foundation for sustainable urban growth. His expertise in comprehensive planning and historic preservation has been pivotal in maintaining the city’s unique character while fostering this city of the modern West.

“Fernando Costa has been so much more than a city employee, department head, or assistant city manager in our organization,” Parker says. “Fernando is a true leader in Fort Worth, and he should be extremely proud of his countless accomplishments and the way he has shaped our city.

“We could always count on Fernando to provide a steady presence of wisdom and leadership when we need it most. I am continually thankful for his friendship and guidance over the years. There is no doubt Fernando will be missed.”

Costa joined the city as director of planning in 1998. He became an assistant city manager in 2008. At the time of his retirement, he oversaw three departments — Diversity & Inclusion, Neighborhood Services, and the Water Department.

He has played a crucial role in a number of high-profile projects, including the Trinity River Vision, which will transform the waterfront into a vibrant area for residents and visitors.

“I think the overall revitalization of our central city has been a source of satisfaction,” Costa says. “And it started before my time. There are so many places that are on the verge of transforming.”

He points out the window, looking down at Panther Island. Right now, all you see is vacant underdeveloped land and bridges that, he readily agrees, don’t make much sense with no water to bridge. But, in time, water will span the viaducts,

Photos by

Brian Kendall

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and mixed-use development will emerge from the ground.

“We’ll all benefit from that development,” he assures his listeners on this day.

Construction workers in the southeast of downtown are steadily working on the construction of the groundbreaking Texas A&M-Fort Worth. Farther southeast, the much-anticipated Evans and Rosedale project has new life with the naming of a new developer.

Farther north is the revitalized Stockyards, which is now killing it as a source of tax revenue. Today, upwards of nine million visitors a year go down there to shop and play hard.

It wasn’t without hardship getting there. The Fort Worth Heritage Development Co. initially rolled out conceptual designs that gave the impression of recreating Disney World in Fort Worth. “We wanted nothing to do with that,” he says.

Costa credits local architect Michael Bennett’s work on Mule Alley for getting what was needed in the Stockyard redevelopment.

“They pulled off something that is very difficult to do. That is to turn a historic place into something but still essentially unchanged in respect to its character. It’s a totally new place, but it looks like it belongs there.”

Costa was born in Cuba in 1953. The family moved to the U.S. in 1961 after the revolution and Castro’s seizing power. He was raised in North Miami, Florida.

“We were able to take one of the last commercial airline flights out of island in 1961,” he says.

He went to school in Atlanta at Georgia Tech to study civil engineering and city planning.

“I’ve always enjoyed cities,” Costa says.

He served as an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and worked for the Middle Georgia Area Planning and Development Commission for 11 years as director of planning before moving back to Atlanta to take the same position with the city of Atlanta.

While there he helped city leaders to use the 1996 Olympic Games and a federal empowerment zone designation as catalysts for revitalizing Atlanta’s central business district and surrounding lower-income neighborhoods.

“I had a front row seat on the kinds of decisions that could propel that kind of progress,” Costa says. “And I was most impressed by the leadership of two mayors whom I was blessed to serve: Andrew Young, who was a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and who, more than anybody else, was instrumental in bringing the Olympics to Atlanta.

“He had an undaunted belief that Atlanta could be better than it was, to revitalize the central city of Atlanta, particularly the neighbors around the Olympic Venues.”

The other was Maynard Jackson, the first African American mayor of a major southern city. “He had an extraordinary mind and a certain quality that would enable him to fill any room that he entered. He just had that kind of presence. Yet, at the same time, he was very human and down-to-earth.”

“I learned a lot from those two leaders in particular, and I wanted to bring some of those lessons to Fort Worth.”

As it concerns diversity and inclusion, Costa notes four events during his tenure that he terms “pivotal.” Costa played leadership roles in each of them, always offering a presence of wise counsel amid the turmoil.

John Henry and Fernando Costa

The first was the closing of the Ripley Arnold public housing complex downtown in the earliest years of the 2000s. RadioShack bought the property for a new corporate headquarters. The transaction, though, would cause the displacement of the Ripley Arnold’s low-income and mostly Black residents.

That precipitated a placement plan for the residents into mixed-income multifamily developments, including Stonegate apartments in southwest Fort Worth.

“Once the word got out, there was an unbelievable level of antagonism unleashed,” Costa says, reminding us of the matter that turned ugly.

Overflow City Hall and townhall meetings followed, many there to state their emphatic opposition to moving Ripley Arnold residents into their neighborhood. The climatic event occurred, Costa remembers, at First United Methodist Church.

A young developer of affordable housing gave the game-changing remarks.

Says Costa: “He talked about how he grew up on the wrong side of the tracks. He always wanted to become a developer of housing that would be affordable to families like his so they wouldn’t be perceived to be different. He wanted to be part of the community like everybody else. He gave such a remarkable talk that afterward you could hear a pin drop. The moderator turned to the next speaker, who was leading the opposition for the Stonegate neighborhood, and he said, ‘I have nothing to say.’ That event led to the City Council passing, and the Housing Authority board adopting, resolutions in support of integrating affordable housing to neighborhoods, which has driven a lot of our work ever since then.”

The raid on the Rainbow Lounge in 2009 led to a task force and recommendations impacting the LGBTQ community, almost all of which were adopted by the City Council or by the city manager.

Lastly, the arrest of Jacqueline Craig and the fatal police shooting of Atatiana Jefferson three years later, in 2019, led to more progress. Out of both of those painful episodes came light.

“For most of the country and even parts of the world, people focus on the George Floyd incident as the start of serious talks around racial justice, but that started in Fort Worth earlier. The arrest of Jacqueline Craig in 2016 was really the spark.”

A task force on race and culture was assembled in 2017.

“I don’t think the council imagined it really being highly consequential. But the task force itself on its own initiative saw that the folks who were coming to these public meetings had so much to say about inequality in Fort Worth that they really needed to broaden their mission, not just have some meetings to hear from people, but actually to examine the aspects of life in Fort Worth on which there were significant disparities in how folks enjoyed our quality of life.”

Costa, 71, is stepping away after 50 years in city planning and development.

His family, which now includes a bunch of grandchildren, want his time.

“I’d say that’s the main reason,” he says. “They put up with lots of evenings with me not being around, even weekends and so forth. They’ve been after me for some time. So, I think this is a good time. If I’m going to turn the page, this is a good time.”

He says he plans to remain active in the community. The city has no plans to hire a replacement. Those shoes simply can’t be filled.

by John Henry

A Profile in Courage: Charles Culberson

Iwas introduced to Charles Culberson probably some 25 years ago while taking a walk through Oakwood Cemetery on the North Side.

If you’re in search for a place to get in touch with history, specifically Fort Worth history, Oakwood Cemetery is a great place for a connection. Among those making Oakwood their last stops are Burk Burnett, John Peter Smith, K.M. Van Zandt, Horace Carswell, and William McDonald. Just to name a few.

So, too, did antagonists of lore Luke Short and Jim Courtright, ironically together in perpetuity, Courtright, of course, arriving first with a few holes in his shroud.

There also is Charles Culberson, one of the state’s most eminent public figures of his day, onetime state attorney general — he won the Democratic nomination at the convention in Fort Worth — and twice elected governor on his way to a nearly 25-year career in the U.S. Senate.

He’s buried in the Harrison family plot, interred there after his death in 1925. Culberson and Sallie Harrison were wed in 1882. The Harrisons are still alive and well in Fort Worth.

I think about Culberson, mostly forgotten by history, during every election season.

“He looked the very picture of a man who had the utmost confidence in himself and who possessed the capacity to accomplish things — something worthwhile,” wrote James William Madden, a onetime Culberson aide, and author of the very friendly biography Charles Allen Culberson: His Life, Character and Public Service.

“I was so impressed with the man’s appearance and his strong personality that I could not help but mark him as one of the ‘coming men’ of Texas.”

I became intrigued by Culberson’s 30-year career in public life because of his role, as governor, in making boxing illegal in Texas in 1895. The governor wanted to stop a heavyweight championship fight in Dallas between “Gentleman Jim” Corbett and challenger Bob Fitzsimmons. The governor, like many of his constituents at the time, considered boxing to be barbaric.

Culberson was elected by the Texas Legislature to the U.S. Senate in 1899, 1905, and 1911. He won a fourth term by popular vote in 1916 under the Constitution’s 17th Amendment.

Culberson’s most consequential work was done in the U.S. Senate. As a member of the Lodge Committee, he investigated war crimes allegations in America’s fight against insurgents in the Philippine Islands after the Spanish-American War (think Iraq, 100 years later). A few years later, in 1903, the anti-imperialist delivered a speech on America’s moral obligations in dealing in international diplomacy. He also served as chair of the Judiciary Committee, and, for a spell, minority leader.

His is the seat today filled by Ted Cruz. Culberson’s permanent elected successors included Tom Connally, Price Daniel, Ralph Yarborough, Lloyd Bentsen, and Kay Bailey Hutchison.

“If Texas had been a doubtful state politically,” wrote Edward M. House, a backroom political kingmaker who was instrumental in Culberson’s rise to state and finally national office,

“Culberson easily might have been the Democratic Party’s nominee for president. And a great president he would have made. The powers of that office are so far-reaching, so embracing, that Culberson with his rare ability would have achieved imperishable fame.”

Any ambition he might have had was undone by alcoholism, which rendered him completely incapable at times.

No doubt under House’s urging, Culberson introduced New Jersey Gov. Woodrow Wilson to an audience of 10,000 at the State Fair in Dallas in 1911. It was a seminal event in House’s campaign to deliver Texas to Wilson at the Baltimore Convention. House went on to become Wilson’s closest White House adviser. Culberson would later become an ally in Wilson’s failed bid to secure ratification of the Treaty of Versailles.

Culberson made a bid for a fifth term in 1922. He lost in a three-way primary race involving James Ferguson and Earle Mayfield. His declining health undoubtedly hurt him. He had been in sickly condition for several years, his toxic relationship with the bottle said to be the chief cause.

However, a missive outlining his opposition to the Ku Klux Klan, then in its “zenith,” likely did him in. Culberson’s record on race relations was imperfect, but his letter to a friend likely warrants Culberson a place among the honorable mentions of politics’ profiles in courage.

“If not curbed, [the KKK] will usurp the functions of the state and be destructive of government itself. It will indeed overthrow our AngloSaxon civilization in its relation to government. Steps should be taken, therefore, at once to arrest its progress and finally to destroy it.”

Wrote House: “No scandal ever touched him. … In the years to come the student and statesman will linger with pride and pleasure over those pages of history which treat of the unsullied record of Charles A. Culberson.”

Join us for food, friends and fun as we raise funds to further improve the academic success of our students and meet the needs of our researchers and community for the next 100 years.

Learn More 817.257.6109 library.tcu.edu/fundraiser

DAVID DIKE FINE ART 28TH ANNUAL

David Dike Fine Art will host the 28th Annual Texas Art Auction on Saturday, October 26 at the gallery in Alpha Plaza. The sale will be a live auction and will showcase over 400 lots of Texas Art ranging from early and traditional to contemporary works. Highlights include works by Julian Onderdonk, Everett Spruce, Sedrick Huckaby and David Everett. Over 35 works will be offered from the Heartland Insurance Collection.

This exciting sale will be conducted live by auctioneer, Jason Brooks TXS 16216. There will be In-Person Bidding, Live Online Bidding, Phone, and Absentee Bidding. Visit daviddike. com for details or call us.

Auction Date: Saturday, October 26Bidding to begin at 10:30 am, CST

Preview: October 7 – October 25 Mon - Fri: 10 AM - 5 PM

Auction & Preview Location:

David Dike Fine Art 4887 Alpha Rd., Suite 210 Farmers Branch, TX 75244 214-720-4044 info@daviddike.com daviddike.com

TEXAS ART AUCTION

George Grammer (Am. 1928-2019), Night Grid (Handley Electric Plant), 1951, oil on canvas 18 x 24, signed lower right: Grammer, estimate: $15,000 - $25,000

THE SOLE OF COWTOWN

How cowboy boots, Fort Worth’s footwear of choice, took over the world. And where to get you a pair.

by Shilo Urban and Brian Kendall

Photography by Darah Hubbard

The Comeback Kicks

We’re just gonna come out and say it, cowboy boots are the world’s most iconic footwear.

More recognizable than Holland’s wooden clogs, more relatable than Dorothy’s ruby red slippers, and more historically relevant than Air Jordans (apologies, Ben Affleck), the cowboy boot is a first-ballot Hall of Famer in the world of garments and duds. Its silhouette is a global symbol, and not just of Texas, but of America — and the enduring mythos of the cowboy embedded in the human spirit.

Yet, the world outside of Fort Worth abandoned the cowboy boot circa some time after “Urban Cowboy” — the film that had relaunched the cowboy aesthetic into a fad that would eventually go the way

of disco. For a 30-year spell, those who rocked boots, Stetsons, and pearl snaps were placed in one of two categories: fan of the kitsch or Texan.

But, this year, with the world’s biggest pop stars going country and biggest influencer dating a cowboy, VOGUE announced, unironically, that the Wild West was having a moment and its biggest breakout star was the cowboy boot. Of course, we of Fort Worth had quite the head start. To us, there was no comeback — the cowboy boot was right here the whole time; they just had to look in the direction of Cowtown.

And our bet: The world’s most iconic footwear is here to stay.

Taller, Tougher, Pointier: A Short History of Cowboy Boots

While Texas might be the cowboy boot capital of the world, the origins of our favorite footwear come from, well, just about everywhere else.

By Shilo Urban

Photo by Darah Hubard

As Alexander Graham Bell is to the telephone and Thomas Edison is to the lightbulb, the world is to the cowboy boot That’s right, no single individual can take credit for the invention of this fancy yet functional piece of footwear. It was created collectively, a combination of influences from multiple eras and cultures that brought forth a boot for the cattle trail, the ranch, the dance floor — and the ages.

Mullet boots and wooden heels

Humankind’s earliest boots consisted of separate soles and uppers lashed together up the leg. Spanish cave art from 15,000 years ago depicts a man and woman wearing boots; his are animal hide, and hers are fur. Ancient Greeks donned buskins, mullet-inspired half-boots with boot in the back and open-toed gladiator sandal in front. Romans showed their status by the height of their boots, and Inuit crafted waterproof kamiks from sealskins (with jaunty dog hair decor).

Riding boots required sturdiness and tall shafts, and many equestrian cultures invented unique designs, particularly in Central Asia. Scythians wore untanned leather boots with the fur facing in (the first Uggs) and Genghis Khan conquered half the planet in red leather boots with wooden heels. Riding boots slowly infiltrated Europe, where they birthed three styles that later evolved into cowboy boots.

From golden tassels to silver spurs

First up: Hessian boots, which came to America in 1776 with German merce-

naries (Hessians) fighting for England. When Washington crossed the Delaware River for his game-changing surprise attack, his troops defeated Hessian forces. Washington’s victory was all the more spectacular because of the Hessians’ ferocious reputation — and perhaps because of their impressive knee-high boots. With a medium-high heel and tapered toe, the Hessian boot had a curved collar (top) that peaked in front and sported a golden braid and tassel. In Billy the Kid’s famous 1879 portrait, he’s wearing Hessians — alas, with no trim or tassel.

Hessian boots worked well for riding, but England’s 1st Duke of Wellington thought he could improve them. In 1817, he asked his shoemaker to lower the shaft, straighten the collar, and chop off the flashy trim. He lowered the heel and widened the toe, and the new Wellington style soon spread like wildfire among soldiers and gentlemen alike. Finally, Mexican vaqueros had footwear developed from Spanish riding boots, often with silver spurs, tooled leather, and tall, calf-hugging shafts.

When cattle drives began in 1867, Hessians, Wellingtons, and vaquero-style boots were all floating around the American frontier. Many men were ex-soldiers who just wore their military boots from the Civil War. But the cattle trail presented challenging new conditions, so cowboys started asking shoemakers for a different kind of boot.

These boots aren’t made for walkin’

The first cowboy boots were created either in Texas or Kansas. With no real evidence,

we’ll never know for sure, so let’s just say Texas. Drawing on cowboys’ input, shoemakers constructed novel footgear designed for long days on horseback in a rough and rugged environment. Tall, thick leather shafts prevented stirrups and saddle straps from chafing, pinching, and bruising the cowboy’s calves and ankles. They protected his legs from brambles and thorns while riding and from rattlesnakes on the ground. High boots were less likely to fill with mud and water during creek and river crossings, and their scalloped collars were easier to pull on. Even that pretty exterior stitching served to keep the shaft upright.

But the most important parts of the boot weren’t about comfort — they were about life and death. The trail presented countless perils: drowning, stampedes, lightning, Indian attacks, and exposure. But out of a million ways for cowboys to die in the West, being thrown off a horse and dragged was the most common. Cowboys frequently rode young, unpredictable horses and did arduous work on tough terrain. If a rider was unseated and caught his foot in the stirrup, the unfamiliar sensation could prompt the horse to panic and bolt. Bad news all around, but cowboy boots gave you a fighting chance. Their high, angled heels helped anchor the rider’s feet in the stirrups and stop his legs from slipping through them if he fell. If the cowboy’s foot did get stuck, his body weight would (hopefully) pull him out of the boot thanks to its loose-fitting shaft. Tapered toes and smooth, treadless soles also allowed for easier dismounting and mounting.

Bootmakers on the Chisholm Trail

started catering to cowboys. H.J. “Big Daddy Joe” Justin was one of the first, opening for business in 1879 just south of the Red River. Justin pioneered decorative stitching on the shaft, and his sons would later move the company to Fort Worth. Lucchese, Tony Lama, and Little’s came next. Cowboys preferred custom boots when they could afford them, often with embellishments like cut-out Texas stars and red tops à la Genghis Khan. By 1890, some boot ads already touted their “unique, showy appearance.”

Bring on the bling

As cattle drives ended and Western vaudeville shows began, the practical, nononsense cowboy boot slowly evolved into a fashion statement. Hollywood churned out romanticized Western films from the 1930s to ’60s, and cowboy boots became fancier and fancier with brighter colors, intricate inlays, and elaborate sewn-on designs. Very narrow, pointed toes overtook the earlier rounded style, and cowboy boots went mainstream, from city streets to suburban schools — no horse required.

After a resurgence in the 1980s with the movie “Urban Cowboy” and the TV show “Dallas,” cowboy boots have risen again in our post-pandemic era. Beyonce, Louis Vuitton, and Elon Musk are all wearing the boot that won the West. Cowhide leather is still the favorite, or you can choose ostrich, buffalo, snake, stingray, eel, elk, lizard, alligator, and even kangaroo. Pink rhinestones and glitter? Why not? Add some fringe on there, too — and a few conchos and tassels to boot (sorry).

Named the official state footwear of Texas in 2007, cowboy boots are earnestly loved and endlessly reinvented. The smooth, slippery soles that once slid out of stirrups are now adept at two-stepping and scootin’ on the dance floor; the stacked heels well-suited for stomping at the rodeo. And, yes, they’re still perfect for a spin in the saddle. Cowboy boots might pinch and rub at first, but they’ll always make you walk a little taller and stand a little prouder. From tasseled tops to pointy toes and exotic hand-tooled leather, trends will come and they will go — but cowboy boots are forever.

The Bootmaker

Steven Parker says he can make the most comfortable pair of boots you’ve ever worn. So, what’s his secret?

By Brian Kendall

by Darah Hubard

About three times a month, a local band will pop into Morris Boot Co. and play a few tunes for a small listening party. And, as the band plays, this will be only the second most interesting thing going on in the store. Because whatever Steven Parker’s doing, likely replacing a heel cap for one of the bandmembers who brought his boots with him, will undoubtedly be more captivating.

And this is no knock on the unnamed band — Morris Boot Co. regularly invites local musicians to record songs in their space (check out their Instagram). It’s just when someone is that devoted and excellent at whatever it is they do, one can’t help but be interested. And when that thing happens to be boot making, it’s flat-out absorbing. Of course, Parker’s disarming and friendly disposition might play a part, too. He’s a people person.

“I love interacting with people,” Parker says. “That’s the best thing about boot making, intermingling with people, finding their story, getting to know them.”

For a bootmaker, Parker looks the part. He sports Billy Gibbonslike facial hair, bifocals, and a cowboy hat that rarely comes off. One can hardly call the craft bygone — bootmaking might even be increasing in popularity as a stable vocation — but Parker does look like he could’ve been sewing patterns into cowhide while herding cattle on the Chisholm Trail.

He looks like he was born to do this. And he admits that the profession was long an itch he needed to scratch.

“I always liked something about building boots. I was always fascinated with them, and I’ve always owned several pair,” Parker says. “I ignored [the desire to do boot making full time] for years. I did framing, painting houses, yard work, building fences.”

Parker was born and raised in Fort Worth.

“I grew up working in the Stockyards down in North Main when it was an old auction barn,” Parker says. “That’s where I worked most of my life right there. That’s where I started doing leather work.”

One day, a guy named David Kelly happened to walk by Steven as he was tooling some leather.

“He told me, ‘Man, you’re pretty good with your hands. You ever thought about making boots?’ And I’ve never looked back.”

Parker would then go with Kelly to XIT Ranch in the Texas Panhandle, where Kelly taught Steven everything he needed to know about building boots. An apprenticeship, of sorts.

After returning to Fort Worth, Parker eventually started working

for what he calls “this other big boot company.” It was then that he met John Morris, a student at TCU with a mutual admiration for quality custom boots. “He would come in there and work for free just to learn how to make boots,” Parker says. “He loved boots, and when you talk to him, he’d get animated like I do.”

Once the boot company Parker had been working for left town, he’d approach Morris with an idea. “I told him, ‘Man, let’s make some boots.’ So, here we are.”

Parker’s been making boots at Morris Boot Co. for 14 years and arrives at the shop most mornings at around 5 a.m. The deal he’s worked out with Morris sees Parker handling the bootmaking and Morris the business side of things.

They work out of a quaint shop in the shadow of Dickies Arena, its outdoor sign slightly obscured by telephone poles. It’s not hard to miss, but that hasn’t stopped them from attracting new business. No doubt through word of mouth. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better boot in Fort Worth, which Steven chalks up to his obsession with minute details.

Whatever the reasons, which there are likely many, he’s made a lot of happy boot owners.

“It’s incredible to see their faces when they put their boots on for the first time,” Parker says. “Sometimes I have to adjust my hat brim ‘cause it gives me the big head. I love watching people be happy.”

Photo

Western Expression

Sporting custom cowboy boots is akin to having a work of art on your feet. And it’s a work of art that’s equal parts bootmaker and boot wearer. If you’ve got a creative itch that needs some scratching, have fun mixing and matching below to fashion a boot that speaks to you.

The Endless Possibilities

A custom boot comes with more options than an F-150.

Leathers: One leather for shaft (typically cowhide) and one for vamp (see below)

Toe: Square, LW, hog nose cutback, medium round, big round, 3/8 cutback

Heel: 2” heel (straight), 3” heel (slant), 4” or 5” heel (riding)

Pulls: Ear pulls or pull holes

Stitching color: There are usually six to eight rows of stitches, and you can pick a different color for each row.

Edge dressing: Can be natural, medium brown, chocolate, or black.

Sole: Crepe sole or leather sole with sole saver

Sewing pattern: Anything you think will look good on a boot — the shaft is your canvas.

Hide and Seek What’s the leather that suits your wallet, work, and lifestyle?

American alligator: The softest, most supple, and most expensive leather from which to make cowboy boots. $$$$$, dress

Bull hide: A tough, durable, and relatively inexpensive leather that’s ideal for you workhorses. $, dress and work

Caiman: Entry-level gator and croc leather that’s stiffer than American alligator due to bony scales. $$$, dress

Cape buffalo: Not typically stretched as much as cowhide or bull hide, resulting in a thicker, stronger leather. $$, dress and work

Elephant:* A durable leather that, thanks to strict regulations, is guaranteed to come from an elephant that died of natural causes. $$, dress and work

Giraffe: A fairly stiff leather with a topographical pattern that is ideal for hard work and long use. $$, dress

Nile crocodile: In the gator and croc world, Nile crocodile is the midrange option, being a little softer than Caiman. $$$$, dress

Ostrich: Known for its quill follicles that cause a distinct dimpled pattern, ostrich is a popular option for fancier occasions. $$, dress

Ostrich leg: A small skin known for its distinct pattern, which provides a scaly racing stripe through the center of the vamp. $, dress

Smooth ostrich: Coming from the side of the ostrich hide, this leather lacks the distinct quill markings but grants equal durability and comfort. $, dress

Stingray: One of the toughest, most durable leathers with an eye-catching granular pattern to boot. $, dress

Suede pig: While a very thin leather, pig is dense and not a fragile fabric, making for

a great all-around boot. $, dress and work

*Don’t polish or apply cream to elephant leather. Instead, wash them with glycerin soap.

3 Tips to Make Boots Last Forever

According to Steven Parker

“Your boots will dry out just sitting in the closet. Every couple months, you need to cream them. Except for exotic leathers. Don’t worry about those.

“Replace your heel cap, the rubber on your heel, when it’s worn off to the point of being close to the leather.”

“Replace your sole when it gets soft, and you start seeing the strings around the bottom edges.”

The Art of Construction at Morris Boot Co.

There are 224 steps to making a handmade pair of cowboy boots. Yes, sir, that’s enough to fill a whole dang textbook. It’s no wonder a pair of these kicks takes six months to complete. Fortunately, with the help of Steven Parker at Morris Boot Co., we were able to whittle everything down to eight essential steps.

By Brian Kendall

Photography by Darah Hubard

1. Measuring

The first and most crucial step. According to Parker, “If you don’t get it right, it ain’t gonna fit.” Includes seven measurements of the foot and two of the calf.

2. Pattern-making and cutting material

Using measurements, draw panels that that will become shaft (top) and vamp (material over foot) on cardboard and cut out. Create sewing pattern on shaft. “This is where you show the customer’s personality,” Parker says. Transfer cardboard cutouts to materials.

3. Sewing material, pattern, and inlays

Glue the shaft panel on the inlays and sew together. Sew customer-designed pattern on glued panels. According to Parker, the most time-consuming step of cowboy boot construction is pattern sewing.

4. Construction of the boot and putting all panels together

Sew vamp panels to shaft panels and side seam. Sew ear pulls on at this point, as well.

5. Building of the last (foot)

Taking the foot measurements and the preferred toe style, use the appropriate last, which is essentially a wooden foot, and sand it so to become tailored to the wearer’s foot.

6. Wrapping and welting

Wrap vamp around and put an insole on the last and cut the channel, then sand down where toe box meets inside liner. Sew the welt around toe for added layer of water resistance.

7. Shank, bottom, sole, and heels

Take nails, big nails, and bend them to the curvature of the instep. The nails are important because they serve as rebar and give the boot body. According to Parker, “If you don’t have [nails in your instep], your boot will collapse.” Add and shape bottom, sole, and heel.

8. Finish work

Fine-tuning and the final touches. “I call this the wow factor,” Parker says. “If they see little things wrong with it, that’s the only thing they’re gonna see.” Last thing: Put in shaft shaper and hit it with stretching compound (50/50 rubbing alcohol and water). This will take all wrinkles out and form it to the shaft shaper.

Where to Get Your Kicks

A good pair of boots should last you forever, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have options. Whether it’s your first or your 15th pair, you can’t go wrong with these bootmakers.

City Boots

The quintessential cowgirl boot. With long uppers, feminine stitching patterns, and the occasional heart-shaped cutout, we’d bet the house there isn’t a better boot for a girls’ night out. Whether in the Stockyards or Times Square, these versatile kicks can hang in any city at any time of day or night. And their offerings continue to expand as they enter the Houston and Austin markets.

Known for: The cowgirl boot 3612 W. Vickery Blvd. cityboots.com

Justin Boots

Justin has been in the boots game long enough to be an early adopter of decorative stitching, using the technique to stiffen the leather of the boot’s upper. Justin was based in Gainesville at the time and moved to Fort Worth in 1925. Though the company was sold to Berkshire Hathaway in 2000, and its manufacturing is in El Paso, Justin remains headquartered in Cowtown.

Known for: Sponsoring the PBR 717 W. Vickery Blvd. justinboots.com

M.L. Leddy’s

When M.L. Leddy’s celebrated its 100th birthday in 2021, Texas Highways published an article that described the custom bootmaker as the “Rolls Royce of boots.” While you are ponying up for expertly crafted footwear, few bootmakers are as iconic and as much a status symbol as M.L. Leddy’s. And they’ve earned that distinction.

Known for: Being the “Rolls Royce of boots” 2455 N. Main St. leddys.com

Morris Boot Co.*

Located across the street from Dickies Arena on Montgomery Street, Morris Boot Co. is one of two custom boot shops within a couple hundred yards of one another. Morris can make about any boot you want, so don’t be shy about your ideas. The tiny shop is known for the friendliness of its employees, top-notch craftsmanship, and attention to detail, we doubt they’ve ever had a sour customer experience.

Known for: Attention to detail 2006 Montgomery St.

Old Gringo

While the brand was established in 2000, Old Gringo didn’t move permanently to Fort Worth until 2021, when it opened its shop in the Stockyards. Their boots, considered fashion forward, have a distinct style and exist in the space between horse people and motorcycle people. Not a bad space to occupy, and their products are of high quality.

Known for: Fashion-forward design 140 E. Exchange Ave. oldgringoboots.com

R Watson

Hopping from Nocona to Lucchese to Justin Boots — eventually becoming president of the latter — it’s safe to say Randy Watson knows a thing or two about boots. Watson’s decision to put his name on the brand means more than a simple seal of approval. It’s been around five years, and its reputation as a solid bootmaker continues to grow.

Known for: Comfort 10803 FM 1902 rwatsonboots.com

Ramblin Trails Custom Boots*

The other Montgomery Street custom boot shop, Ramblin Trails also carries a wide range of stock boots in different leathers, dyes, and stitching patterns. These kicks begin at the reasonable price of $595, and everything is made in-house. On the custom side, their devotion to tailoring the boot to the buyer’s feet echoes their neighbors at Morris Boot Co.

Known for: A tailor fit 2009 Montgomery St. ramblintrailscustomboots.com

Rod Patrick*

Few boots, just based on aesthetics alone, look as well-crafted as a boot from Rod Patrick. Just take a gander at the storefront, where they have an impressive collection of boots that range in styles, colors, leathers, and more. The bootmaker also offers custom design in case you don’t find anything in the showroom to your liking — or you just want some custom boots.

2900 West Sixth St. rodpatrickboots.com

*Made in Fort Worth

Boots Required

These places and events don’t really require one to wear boots; we just don’t want anybody to feel out of place.

• Billy Bob’s Texas

• Cowtown Coliseum

• Benbrook Stables

• The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo

• NCHA World Finals

• PBR World Finals

Cody Jinks The Outlaw

The staunchly independent country music artist is learning, growing, and still raising hell.

By Stephen Montoya

Photos by Crystal Wise

It’s a rare occurrence to see Cody Jinks without his tried-and-true black hat — as much a staple of his wardrobe as a pair of sunglasses for Roy Orbison — but sans hat is how he shows up to greet me at the gates of his sprawling North Texas ranch. Don’t worry, his beard exceeds 12 inches, his knuckles are tattooed, and he’s wearing a lot of black. I got the right country star. But on this day, Jinks isn’t in, what he calls, “rockstar mode.” No, he’s in full-on homebody mode. Jinks is doing what any husband and father would do on their day off: taking it easy.

Despite Jinks’ current devil-may-care, to-hell-with-a-hat disposition, the Haltom City native is in the middle of a nationwide tour in support of his latest album, Change the Game. In two nights, he’ll be taking the stage and getting in “rockstar mode” at Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas — a show I’m excited to attend — so he’s taking advantage of a few days at the homestead before heading back on the road. And without cheering crowds, fog machines, a mic by his lips or a guitar in his hands, the hat comes off and the guard goes down. Or, at least, I hope.

Jinks is a man of few words. According to his friends and bandmates, he only speaks when he feels the need. And when that feeling suddenly emerges, he delivers his thoughts with a surprising amount of candor — no mincing occurs. But this bluntness also comes with a healthy serving of North Texas manners. Since our initial greeting, he’s been kind, patient, and charming. This despite my crashing in on him during his downtime between gigs.

Truth be told, my meeting with him is a stroke of luck. Earlier this year, Jinks parted ways with his longtime manager and took on those duties himself — about the most outlaw thing an outlaw country music artist can do. Thus, Jinks is now in charge of, well, everything, including dealing with persistent and inquisitive reporters like me. While he isn’t sporting a hat at the moment, metaphorically, he’s wearing many.

When I say Jinks lives on a ranch, I don’t mean he lives on a few fenced-in acres that grants little noise from neighbors. No, I’m talking acreage in the triple digits complete with horses, a pond, and a few ranch dogs to boot. One of them, Jinks refers to as a “big ol’ ranch dog” and recommends I not touch him unless I “wanna have that stink on [me] the rest of the day.”

To get around this giant plot of land requires riding around in a four-seat, all-terrain vehicle on impromptu dirt roads. And that’s precisely what we do.

During the drive, Jinks begins talking about his music career the way Tony Romo talks football.

“I’ve been doing [the music thing] 25 years, and I’m having so much fun right now,” Jinks says. “I’ve learned how to enjoy it. I guess the years of touring have given me an appreciation for it. I don’t have to [tour] 200 days a year like I used to, but that’s how we built what we’ve built. We wouldn’t be where we are unless we stayed out [on the road] as long as we did.”

Jinks’ first foray into the music scene was as the lead singer of a

Fort Worth-based thrash-metal band. For those unfamiliar with the subgenre, a quick Google image search might shed some light. At the time, Jinks was in a band called Unchecked Aggression, a name that could double for his attitude toward what he calls the “mainstream country music machine.”

While, yes, Jinks would eventually go country, he’d refuse to bid adieu to certain thrash metal sensibilities (e.g., a rejection of the establishment). And this rejection has come in the form of remaining untethered to record labels, record deals, or recording contracts. To put it in country music terms, Jinks is outlaw country in the truest sense of the subgenre. Spearheaded by the likes of Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson in the 1970s, the outlaw country movement fought for and won their creative freedom from the influence of the Nashville establishment.

Whether purposeful or not, Jinks is one of modern country’s biggest adherents to this movement. From the get-go, he’s been giving the proverbial middle finger to the conventionality and remained staunchly independent.

And, as an independent artist, he’s done what the industry once thought impossible: earning two Certified Gold Singles for “Loud and Heavy” and “Hippies and Cowboys” in 2020. Just a few months later, Jinks went platinum for sales and streaming equivalents of 1 million units, which made him the first independent country artist to do so in the modern era. In August, he was given a plaque from the Pandora streaming platform for achieving over 2 billion streams. That’s billion with a b.

There’s a bit of sweet irony in “Hippies and Cowboys” achieving platinum status. It’s a tune from his 2010 album, Less Wise (rereleased as Less Wise Modified in 2017) and recorded before one would say Jinks “found his sound.” It’s a biographical song that perfectly encapsulates his refusal to compromise or kowtow to media, magnates, or industry professionals.

“I never ask for anyone to say they like my sound / I’ve never been a part of any musical scene / I ain’t just talking Nashville, if you know what I mean / They don’t write about me in their magazines.”

“I have had labels talk to me before, but I’ve never wanted to be told how and what I can and cannot do,” Jinks says. “I’ve always been proud of being an independent artist. How I’ve conducted myself and how we’ve conducted this country band has very much been in the DIY attitude of, say, a punk or a metal band. I do everything with the diehard aggressiveness of a metal band that feels like they’re going to take over the world. I mean, the ferocity is still there, and that comes from my years of playing that kind of music and really having to be more of a DIY kind.”

He eventually gives in a little bit, telling me he’ll “never say never,” but he’s just “never been offered the right record deal.” Four words immediately come to mind: When hell freezes over.

But if Jinks were to sign a record deal, who would the ideal record executive be? Who would respect an artist’s independence while fostering growth? Perhaps even being a role model, of sorts. Why himself, of course. Though he’s shunned the traditional way of being a recording artist, Jinks launched his own record label, Late August Records, in 2021. But don’t worry, it’s no RCA or Capitol or Sony or any other big-name label that dictates to its artists or signs off on cover art. As Jinks puts it, and as is Late August Records’

motto, they’re “a record company for misfits.”

“I didn’t want to be on the road as much, but I still have to work,” Jinks says of starting the label. “I work constantly. I love to work. As hard as this business is, I love what I do, and I love helping other artists. So, being on the road less enables me to dive into a different part of the business that I’m really trying to learn more about. And I’m loving it.”

In April, the label announced the signing of Josh Morningstar, a frequent collaborator of Jinks’. “I write a lot of songs with [Josh]. He wrote ‘Must Be the Whiskey,’ and he wrote the title track ‘Change the Game’ with me, and he’s about to drop a new record.”

When the ideal home doesn’t exist, build one your damn self.

Meredith Cody Jinks was born to Steve and Gayla Jinks on a particularly hot late August (remember the name of his record label?) afternoon in 1980. While Gayla was pregnant with Cody, Steve worked two jobs, pouring concrete during the day and spending nights working in the meat freezers at the Kroger distribution center. Jinks says his father did this so Jinks’ mother didn’t have to work while pregnant.

Though he grew up in Haltom City, Jinks refers to himself as a

North Fort Worth kid and even has “FWTX” tattooed on his knuckles, leaving no doubt he takes pride in place. Regardless, in the very nearby suburb of Haltom City is where Jinks would have what he describes as your typical lower-middle-class upbringing.

“We grew up like most of the kids we knew,” Jinks says. “We had what we needed and most of what we wanted but sometimes couldn’t afford to do the extra stuff.”

Eventually, the family fell on hard financial times, forcing his parents and 12-year-old sister to move to East Texas. But Jinks, then 18, would stay behind.

“I stayed where I’m from,” Jinks says. “I had my girl [who is now my wife], had a band, and I had plans to start at my local junior college. But having a job, a girlfriend, and a band, I had a lot on my plate, so the college thing had to go.”

Like his father, Jinks worked freight docks. Work he says was “hard, but it was my higher education, and I would never change a thing.” From there he’d graduate to working at a steel shearing plant, a place that taught him more than he could have imagined.

“It was hands-down the hottest — and hardest — job I have ever had,” Jinks says. “In the warehouse, it was me, one other white dude, and probably 50 or 60 Mexican dudes. I was the minority, and it was great. It was great after I proved to the other men that I could

hack it, and I earned their respect as a hard worker.”

He still gets chills thinking about the day his co-workers first invited him to eat lunch with them — for hard laborers, the ultimate sign of approval. “They sat down and ate family-style, sharing with each other. It was like a buffet of homemade Mexican food every day, and it was amazing.”

Jinks was also hard at work with his thrash metal band, Unchecked Aggression, practicing multiple times a week and playing live gigs for $50 a pop. After several years of grinding, Jinks and his bandmates parted ways during a tour that went off the rails in 2003. What followed was a year of transition, a year of figuring things out. Gone were the facial piercings and regalia of the heavy metal world. He’d trade in his electric guitars for a more unamplified sound and started writing new tunes. Whether inspired by his roots — the first song he learned to play on guitar was Lefty Frizell’s “Long Black Veil” — or an itch to try something different, every new song he wrote was a country song.

Like every bona fide North Texan, Jinks had been exposed to his fair share of country music. And, like most bona fide North Texans, he liked it. In fact, when he was younger, you’d be just as likely to see Jinks in line for a Metallica concert as you would a George Strait show. He even recalls being extremely moved when he first heard “Pancho and Lefty” at the age of 3. With this in mind, the move to country was not so jarring a transition. Country was always in his blood.

Jinks would take his new tunes on the road and self-release his first album, Collectors Item, which, no, is not on Spotify. It was around this time that Josh Thompson, the man who would become Jinks’ long-term bass player and co-producer of Change the Game, says he first heard Jinks sing at a gig in Oklahoma City. Thompson was attending college in Oklahoma at the time, but is a West Texas native, and both musicians were on the bill that night.

quick to offer him a job.

“He said, ‘Hey man, I need a bass player.’ And I said, ‘Man, I need a gig.’ And that’s kind of how it started.”

Jinks is all smiles as he shows me his pride and joy: a yellow 1976 Ford F-250 pickup, which he keeps in a garage to avoid the ranch elements and Texas sun. It’s the kind of vehicle you’d peg the man who wrote a song called “Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound” to drive, and it makes plenty of appearances in his promotional materials, including the music video for his latest single, “Outlaws and Mustangs.” And, like a good ol’ friend, he refers to it in feminine pronouns.

“This was back in ’06 when Cody had just started out,” Thompson says. “The first time I ever heard him sing, even back then, I thought, ‘Wow, this is special,’ and if I ever have the chance to play with him, I would really like to.”

Such an affinity for Jinks’ voice is understandable; it’s a strong timbre that straddles that line between tenor and baritone with hints of Merle Haggard and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Ronnie Van Zant. Not bad company.

Thompson’s band would eventually move to Fort Worth, but the group split shortly thereafter. As Thompson was now friends with the man he once hoped to someday share a stage with, Jinks was

“She’s a bit cold-natured,” he says as he gives the truck a few turns to wake her up from her slumber. After several pumps on the accelerator, a cloud of exhaust shoots from the tailpipe.

He could have a brand-new truck, one that doesn’t spit smoke from its tailpipe and has power windows and a tip-top A/C, but such luxuries don’t interest Jinks. Besides, this is his buddy.

It doesn’t take long for Jinks to shed his rugged exterior to reveal a family man through and through. In fact, our photo shoot with him, which is why we’re at his ranch, revolved around his daughter’s soccer practice. Like a tried-andtrue soccer dad, Jinks explained the practice was of high importance on his schedule for the day.

More than a country artist or a staunchly independent rebel rouser, Jinks is a family man with his two kids and a wife, Rebecca, whom he’s been with for over 25 years. For a man I earlier labeled independent, he places an awful lot of importance on family. Perhaps this is the sole way the word “independent” does not apply to Jinks.

And his family extends to his bandmates and many of the artists with whom he collaborates. He counts the likes of Nikki Lane, Paul Cauthen, Tennessee Jet, Wared Davis, and Whitey Morgan among them. Once you earn Cody’s trust, and earn one must, you’re in like Flynn.

And no one knows this better than Joshua Thompson.

Jinks’ bass player since 2008, Thompson would slowly expand his role in the band. Having Jinks’ confidence, Thompson would produce or co-produce seven straight of the outlaw country artist’s albums beginning with 2015’s Adobe Sessions

“Adobe Sessions was my first dip into the world of producing,” Thompson says. “I never meant to be a producer. It just kind of happened with Cody. I knew we’d been together for so long, I kind

of knew what he wanted before he almost knew sometimes. And so, I found myself really enjoying the process of recording and the detail that goes into recording, and so he kind of just let me take the lead on that.”

Thompson and Jinks’ relationship has always been organic without any preconceived producing plans, and their mutual understanding of one another’s creative preferences makes the music-making process seamless.

“There’s a lot of times where I’m asking, ‘Hey dude, what songs are we going to record?’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, I’ll let you know when we get there.’ But we have this thing, where I kind of know where he’s going to go with his songs before he even gets there.”

Theirs is the kind of kinship and symbiosis that developed over time. And for bandmates who travel from gig to gig crammed in a Dodge pickup pulling a single-axle trailer packed to the hilt with precious musical instruments, it’s a bond earned through experiencing the same type of misery.

“We paid our dues,” Thompson says. “I mean Cody and I were sleeping in the same bed for 10 years before anybody knew who we were.”

They’re in the trenches together. And for members of Cody Jinks’ crew, these trenches are even more daunting. An ambitious outlaw,

Jinks wasn’t satisfied sticking to regional shows or exclusively playing cities off major interstates. If there was a venue in the far reaches of a northern state, Jinks and the boys would play it in the middle of February if they had to.

According to Thompson, Jinks not caring where he went on the map is what put him on the map.

“That’s just one small way that we changed the game. We went places that no one else would go, and that’s how we built [our following], especially that Midwest following. Yeah, we’d go up there in the winter months, who cares? Yeah, something might get snowed out, but if you don’t try, you’re never going to get there.”

It’s nearly 9 p.m. when Jinks takes the stage at Dos Equis Pavilion. As he bursts through a set of saloon doors to a cheering crowd, I see it’s not the same man I met two days prior. Donning his signature black felt hat, chrome rimmed sunglasses, and a black tee to go along with his black jeans, he’s in full “rockstar mode.”

Rain begins to fall almost as if on command as Jinks and his band play “Holy Water,” a song that highlights the dangers and despair of alcohol. “I been wandering like a fool too blind to see / Maybe it ain’t the bottle that I need / I need a shot of holy water.”

The song was released in 2018, but it was only a year ago when Jinks quietly decided to sober up. In fact, in a coincidence that seems almost by design, the epiphany came in late August. A rebirth.

“I just decided I had drank enough, man. I drank it all. I really did,” Jinks says. “I woke up one day, and I just looked at my wife, and I said, ‘I’m done.’ I was drunk for 24 years, so it was time to put that down.”

After all, country music and drinking go together like mashed potatoes and gravy. Whether it’s beer or whiskey, alcohol — both its rollicking social side effects and its negative personal ones — is a common subject in country songs. And Jinks was always happy to lean in. Kicking off his show by walking through saloon doors was by design — it’s classic country.

“Music was the first thing that I ever did or ever heard or ever experienced that gave me a high,” Jinks says. “And what a lot of touring musicians find is that the high we get on stage is unmatched. But, oftentimes, you fall into the trap of wanting to continue that high when you walk off the stage. So, what do you do? You drink and sometimes you do drugs or whatever it is. But we have addictive personalities.”

Contributing to his sobriety was Jinks’ recent decision to start managing himself. He was now directly in charge of 30 people and, with a year-long tour looming, as Jinks puts it, he “needed to be really, really with it.” Such responsibility becomes far more burdensome under the influence of whiskey.

“It’s interesting going through a lot of firsts [while not having anything to drink],” Jinks says. “From playing your first show to taking your first airplane ride to going to your first concert as a spectator. Hey, we’re learning. We’re growing.”

It’s a lot healthier that way.”

For the new album, Jinks partnered with the Grammy-winning Hewitt, whose resume includes Red Hot Chili Peppers and Little Big Town. He also previously worked with Jinks on Jinks’ 2016 album I’m Not the Devil. Hewitt would share production duties on Change the Game with Joshua Thompson.

“I have a different approach where I like to get people in the room together and learn what everybody’s strength is,” Hewitt says. “And once we found that in each other, we just kept rolling. I think we recorded 25 songs for the record and then chose the best 12 that seemed the most appropriate for the statement he wanted to make and the face he wanted to present in this collection of songs.”

The result is the most reflective and varied album Jinks has released to date. It manages to convey middle-age contemplation while keeping your pulse up. And his use of string arrangements and surprise, and wonderful, Faith No More cover signals some outside-the-box approaches.

“At the end of the day, making a record with him involved a lot of trust,” Hewitt says. “Cody and I think the results speak for themselves.”

Though Jinks has been relatively quiet about to “being on the wagon, his sudden abstention from alcohol came during the recording of his new album, Change the Game, and no doubt influenced the final product. Hell, the opening track is called “Sober Thing.”

“I think he sort of went [to becoming sober] over the course of doing the record,” Ryan Hewitt, co-producer of Change the Game says. “And, honestly, I did the same. I think it brought a lot of focus and clarity to the record. There was no longer the distraction of going out and getting f****d up or somebody not showing up to their greatest ability. And when the leader is showing that purpose in his life, then I think it’s up to everyone else to follow suit, not necessarily by being sober, but by being respectful and showing up in a new and elevated way.”

Still experiencing a high from making music, Jinks admits the sobriety made him immerse himself even more in the craft. “I just had to make a decision to go back to my first drug, and that’s music.

Cody and I have one last chat over the phone, a quick catch-up to fill in any holes.

I can’t help but wonder about his going so long, 25 years now, rejecting the influence of the establishment. Going whole hog into country with his moral compass couldn’t have always paid the bills. I ask if there was ever a time, maybe even a specific moment, when he realized it was all worth it? That sticking by his guns paid off?

“I was 37,” he says. “We had gotten our first tour bus. I was actually able to sign for a house and a car, something I wasn’t able to do the first 13 years of mine and Rebecca’s marriage. She was the breadwinner back then.

“While I was out on the road on that tour bus in 2017 is when it hit me. That’s when I realized, ‘Hey, we did it. We’re here. We’re on a bus.’”

That same year is when Jinks and his wife bought their ranch, his favorite place to be. It is a working ranch, but Jinks doesn’t want anyone to have the impression that he’s “riding horses around separating cattle and whatnot. I hire people to do that.

“So, my job is to come home and piddle. I’ll go fishing or just drive and enjoy my kids, my wife, and my life. And I’m excited to come home. And I’m also excited to get back on the road. I’ve worked a long time to try to find a sense of balance, and I feel like I’m at least closer to that now than I ever have been.”

Yeah, it was all worth it.

In the MIDS T of the MOONSHOT

FORT WORTH'S ROLE IN THE WAR ON CANCER

BY BRIAN KENDALL ILLUSTRATIONS BY LAUREN DEITZER

Two days before Christmas in 1971, President Richard Nixon signed into law the National Cancer Act. For the first time ever, the United States had declared war on a disease. The enemy, cancer, was now the second leading cause of death in the U.S. and had killed over 330,000 Americans in 1970, more than all the Americans who lost their lives in World War II. “As a result of signing this bill, the Congress is totally committed to provide the funds that are necessary, whatever is necessary, for the conquest of cancer,” Nixon said in his address. He envisioned conquering the disease by the nation’s bicentennial.

While cancer became the deadliest enemy our nation had ever faced, those on the frontline wouldn’t be wearing helmets and carrying rifles but, rather, they’d be in lab coats and operating microscopes. The NCA devoted funds to basic cancer research, not care or prevention, as scientists believed a cure was possible if they studied the disease’s molecular basis. Appropriations for the National Cancer Institute increased threefold and ignited an explosion of research dedicated to understanding, curing, and preventing cancer.

But, as the years passed, the rate of cancer incidences continued to climb. Were we suddenly at risk of losing the war? By the 1970s, there was a great deal

of disillusionment with the war, and a former FDA director went so far as to compare the war on cancer to Vietnam.

One of the issues, argued Dr. Robin W. Scheffler of MIT, is that the NCA “focused on heroic methods of treatment rather than the more prosaic activities involved in prevention and early detection.” The government mistakenly thought this as a Manhattan Project — the creation of an atom bomb that would defeat the enemy. But this enemy now remains undefeated.

Despite not reaching its lofty ambitions, the NCA laid the groundwork and provided the infrastructure necessary to conduct cancer research that would save lives. It also established the NCI’s Cancer Centers, clinical trials, and data collec-

tion systems.

Forty-five years later, then vicepresident Joe Biden reinforced the U.S. government’s commitment to defeating cancer by launching a program to accelerate scientific discovery in cancer research. The initiative was later revived with a version 2.0 when Biden was elected president. Unlike Nixon, the objectives were more realistic: “to reduce the death rate from cancer by at least 50% over the next 25 years; to improve the experience of people and their families living with and surviving cancer; and, by doing this and more, end cancer as we know it today.”

The Biden administration named this initiative the “Cancer Moonshot”

in reference to President John F. Kennedy’s proclamation that the United States “should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth.” Kennedy gave this speech only three weeks after Alan Shepard became the first American to travel into space.

So, if our nation can go from the Mercury program, in which we seemingly shot men up into space via a tin can and sticks of dynamite, to landing on the moon in eight years, surely, we can achieve Biden’s objectives.

But, like the literal moonshot, it’s going to take an all-hands-on-deck approach. And that includes Fort Worth.

While Fort Worth isn’t considered a medical hub, it does have the medical infrastructure, the medical minds, and the natural tenacity to play a role, even if small, in this decades-long war. And, indeed, the city is stepping up. From researching new cancer therapies to conducting clinical trials to doing our part in increasing early detection and promoting prevention, we have a lot of war stories in this city.

Mercury / The Research Carley Rutledge was 15 when she was diagnosed with advanced stage Ewing sarcoma, a type of aggressive bone cancer. Carley’s mother, Laura, like any good parent with a knack for research and an interest in medicine,

started looking into this rare type of cancer and seeking treatment options for her daughter. And she discovered something, well, frustrating — a fundamental flaw in cancer research and treatment.

“It was shocking to me,” says Laura, who serves as the executive director of Rutledge Cancer Foundation. “I would read this scientist over here is doing this and so is this scientist over there. They were literally working in silos.”

The creation of a cancer drug is a long and arduous process. What begins as an idea, a modicum of a thought formed by a flash of genius, goes through years of research, development, and testing. An indefinite number of trials followed by an indefinite number of errors all occur in test tubes within a lab before a potential treatment is even ready for preclinical tests on animals. Once the scientists can prove safety and efficacy during this phase, they’ll submit an Investigative New Drug application to the FDA for the drug’s approval to reach its big trial — the one on humans, aka the clinical stage.

This is no industry for the impatient. To even get to the clinical trial phase is a process that takes a lot of years, a lot of people, and a lot of money. These scientists aren’t working on plastic petri dishes in their homes, after all. And grants, while being doled out more liberally thanks to increased funding for the

National Institute of Health, won’t cover everything. So, additional funding is a must.

But, as Laura experienced, if you have all of these brilliant doctors and scientists discovering and developing — going through everything just listed — without speaking or sharing their results with one another, the inefficiency can feel defeating.

“That’s why we created the Rutledge Cancer Foundation,” Laura says. “To break down these silos. To move these exciting things faster.”

Through time, energy, and money, RCF is currently sponsoring four separate cancer treatments that have the potential to make it to clinical trials.

If creating cancer drugs was the same as creating a movie, far from an apt comparison, this writer is fully aware, Laura would be its producer. While scientists are in the field, she’s looking at everything from the 30,000-foot view. She seeks funding, connects the right person to the right person, promotes collaboration, and creates the infrastructure that would lead to the drug’s success.

“Scientists have these great ideas, but they do not have the knowledge, or the bandwidth to get [a drug] licensed and manufactured. For a clinical trial, you have to have a whole business model around it to do well.”

Without such a foundation and scaffolding in place on which to build, a brilliant idea could be doomed for failure.

“A lot of times they’ll go down rabbit trails and get a ton of money, and they’re well-intentioned , but they don’t know how to budget, they don’t know how to advance things to the next step. It’s called the Valley of Death.”

Easy to wonder how many promising drugs simply died because its creator lacked the aptitude for business. It’s akin to Alexander Fleming being unable to afford a petri dish — something potentially world-shaking never fully realized because of factors that are seemingly trivial.

For Laura and her family, their purpose was also personal. While they advocate for research in all cancers,

they were more specifically seeking answers and treatment for sarcoma, the rare pediatric cancer that Carley had. An unfortunate truth in the world of research and clinical trials is that there’s not a whole lot of heat and light being put on cancers that don’t affect a whole swath of people. These diseases, which includes sarcoma, are called orphan diseases.

The culprit of the lack of attention such diseases receive feels like a 101 course in economics. If you invest in research and clinical trials and ultimately create a drug that so few people use, there’s little financial reward. It’s supply and demand in the world of medicine. And, as children aren’t affected by cancer as much as other age groups, many pediatric cancers fall into the orphan category. Thus, treatments for such diseases lag behind the likes of breast cancer, colon cancer, and brain tumors. This despite laws previously passed, like the Orphan Drug Act of 1983, which incentivized research into orphan drugs.

“I’m trying to say, ‘Hey, can we put sarcoma at the front of the line?’” Laura says. “There’s no doubt research needs to continue for other cancers, but there are some that are deadlier and desperately in need of new treatment. And that’s my advocacy.”

In spite of the obstacles, after she relapsed in 2012, Carley was able to participate in a clinical trial that targeted Ewing sarcoma that successfully put her in remission for eight years. “You’ll sign anything to try to get a new therapy, to try something new,” Laura says about her 16-year-old daughter participating in the clinical trial.

Carley’s cancer would return in 2020, taking her life at the age of 27. But RCF continues its advocacy in her name. Of the four advancements in cancer treatment that RCF is currently sponsoring, there is one that has Laura particularly excited.

In 2012, Laura was introduced to Dr. Andras Lacko, a researcher at University of North Texas Health Science Center (it should be noted that UNT Health Science Center is Fort Worth-based, and Dr. Riyaz

Basha is doing phenomenal work in the field of oncology), who was working on a delivery system for toxic drugs using lipids, fatty compounds naturally found in the body, to attack cancer cells.

“It’s a simple concept,” Rutledge says. “The lipid acts as a trojan horse. Your body thinks it’s cholesterol, food for your cells.” But it’s actually a cancer-fighting nanoparticle. “And this particular nanoparticle is attracted to many different types of cancer cells.” A magnet to the malignant, you could say.

It’s targeted therapy, the opposite of chemotherapy. “We call chemo ‘carpet bombing,’” Laura says. “This is a ‘smart bomb.’”

According to Dr. Chelsee Greer, an oncologist at Cook Children’s Medical Center, “One of the biggest differences in the adult world versus the kid world is that adults started pushing to be more precise and targeted in their therapy. For kids, standard care is still chemotherapy. It’s toxic. But kids tolerate it, and we know it works.

“So, I feel like we’re years behind trying to narrow the toxicities.” And, since data shows that curbing toxicity improves outcomes, investing in targeted therapies for children is a game changer.

“You’ll hear the word nanoparticle as a buzzword,” Laura says. “You’ll hear it all over the cancer world, and there’s a million different kinds of them. Most of them are synthetic products that are foreign to your body. The cool thing about ours is that it’s a cholesterol lipid. Your body thinks it’s cholesterol.”

Getting this lipid nanoparticle to the next stages, Laura has teamed with Qana Therapeutics, an Austin-based lab that specializes in targeted delivery technologies. Much work remains before the therapy will be primed for clinical trials, which Laura estimates will take two to five years, but they’re on the right track. And, because the delivery system targets sarcoma, an orphan disease, it will move more quickly through the rigorous FDA process.

Reflecting on this potential success, Laura says, “There’s a lot of passionate people and families that will do anything to change this landscape, and it needs to be changed. So, the passion is out there, and you have to be nimble and smart and frugal because you don’t have the millions of dollars that some of these other projects and pharmaceuticals are willing to invest.”

Gemini / The Trial Over a decade ago, a discovery happened in a lab in Vancouver. A biotech company that was the result of a recent merger found a technology that forms drugs optimized for intratumoral delivery. In other words, certain solid tumors have long presented difficulty for oncologists. While advancements did grant doctors the ability to inject therapeutics directly in a, let’s say, hard-to-reach tumor, the solution-based drugs — because something needs to be dissolved to enter through the body — would just leak out of the tumor. The tumor, in essence, wasn’t absorbing the drug.

The discovery in Vancouver, which is currently in clinical trials, finds a way around this seemingly impenetrable roadblock.

“We found this particle engineering technology that forms these really interesting drugs that are optimized for intratumoral delivery,” Marc Iacobucci, managing director of NanOlogy, says.

What the technology does sounds groundbreaking and … kind of complex. Iacobucci, who’s been working with this technology since its discovery, tried desperately — but ultimately in vain — to explain it to me in layman’s terms, but I’m afraid I was never able to wrap my brain around it enough to dive into its specifics with confidence.

A few years after the discovery, Fort Worth-based DFB acquired the company

that initially developed the technology and formed NanOlogy in 2015. They office off Hulen Street.

The drug has now completed seven clinical trials in six different solid tumors, and the company is now positioning itself to enter phase three clinical trials in lung and pancreatic cancer. Phase three is the final phase before the company can apply for a New Drug Application, which is a request for approval to market the drug. The FDA will then review the clinical trial results to ensure the drug is safe and effective.

“What we are trying to do is to generate clinical proof of concept across a number of solid tumors to demonstrate three things,” Iacobucci says. “First and foremost is to prove safety. So, is it safe? Is it tolerated by subjects?”

Iacobucci says they’ve treated 175 patients across seven clinical trials, and they’ve recorded no drug-related adverse effects.

“And that’s unheard of with cancer

drugs because cancer drugs are limited by their toxicity,” Iacobucci continues. By their nature, cancer drugs push drugs to their limit until they become toxic. Thus, we’ve come to expect severe side effects with any cancer treatment. The fact that they’ve had none is certainly eye-opening.

“Now we go to: ‘Can we make it?’ And, yes, we can make it.” NanOlogy, Iacobucci explains, is already a GMP — an FDA acronym for good manufacturing practices — a necessary distinction if anyone wants to scale their production. Most investigational drugs are at a pilot scale of manufacturing and far from possessing the ability to scale commercially. “We are way ahead of the game when it comes to production of the drug.”

Next is efficacy. Is the drug effective?

“All of our trials to date have been what are called single-arm trials,” Iacobucci says. “They have not been randomized clinical trials.”

Randomized clinical trials use a control group to compare the therapy in clinical trials to the current standard of care. It does this by randomly giving some patients in the control group the drug in clinical trials and others the standard care and compares them. Iacobucci explains that most drugs in the early phases of clinical trials use single-arm trials to “tease out signs of efficacy.” Right now, there’s no comparator, but that doesn’t mean Iacobucci can’t see its successes.

“I would argue we’ve helped in the survival of patients. We’ve helped in the long-term remission of patients. We’ve helped increase the quality of life of patients in our study.”

Ultimately, with its cutting-edge technology, NanOlogy feels it brings a lot of value to the war on cancer and could become a life-saving therapy for thousands. In the meantime, they’re preparing for the next clinical phase and actively pursuing additional funding and identifying a strategic partner to assist in further development.

Apollo / The Launch The biggest weapon in the war on cancer, humanity’s bombers, so to speak, has always been something

less sexy than “finding a cure.” It rarely, if ever, makes any headlines.

Early detection has saved tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of lives every year. In 2021, it’s estimated that over 260,000 people in the United States were diagnosed with cancer via screening. And, of those, the five-year prognosis has a 90+% survival rate. However, that 260,000 number represents only 14% of the 1.9 million people diagnosed with cancer that year.

Unfortunately, barriers still exist — geography, language, economic status, cultural attitudes, and lack of insurance — that prevent people from getting screened for common cancers. And there’s a push to break down these barriers, meet people where they are, and earn a level of trust. Fort Worth’s Moncrief Cancer Institute is the poster child for such a push.

“We did about 14,000 screenings last year,” says Dr. Keith Argenbright, director of the Moncrief Cancer Institute. “It’s important to understand that we’re providing a huge number of screenings all to people who wouldn’t otherwise afford it.”

Moncrief Cancer Institute is a nonprofit early detection and support center that’s been operating for 14 years. Its services include screening programs, educational sessions, preventative care in the form of customized nutritional and fitness programs, and emotional and clinical support. As Argenbright succinctly put it, “The space we occupy is early detection in the underserved and the rurally isolated.”

While their home base is right here in Fort Worth, their enormous geographic footprint means they’re also in nearly 100,000 square miles of the state.

“We go all the way up to Red River and all the way over to the Louisiana border, and as far down as Austin and all the way past Wichita Falls,” Argenbright says.

That’s about one-third of the state of Texas, and their mobile screening unit, an oncology office on wheels, covers every mile of it. And, as they do in town and country, the Institute screens for five specific cancers, including breast cancer,

Treating Breast Cancer While Protecting the Heart

Texas Center for Proton Therapy is at the forefront of radiation therapy that reduces cardiac risks

IN BREAST CANCER TREATMENT, radiation oncologists increasingly aim to protect the heart from unnecessary radiation, and Dallas/Ft. Worth-based Texas Center for Proton Therapy finds its high-end technology well positioned for the trend.

The move toward avoiding exposing cardiac tissue to radiation is an evolution in care that can make a significant difference in women’s heart health later in life, explains Jared Sturgeon, M.D., Ph.D., a radiation oncologist at Texas Center for Proton Therapy. “Excess radiation can damage several critical areas of the heart, which can lead to a higher risk of coronary artery disease, including myocardial infarction and heart failure,” he says.

With the most advanced proton therapy in the state, the Center provides an excellent option for protecting women’s hearts, Dr. Sturgeon says. “Our technology is especially suited to concentrating treatment on the target tissue and avoiding the heart and lungs,” he says. “Proton therapy uses a focused beam only a few millimeters wide to precisely ‘paint’ the target with therapeutic proton radiation, minimizing damage to healthy surrounding tissue.”

In fact, proton therapy consistently demonstrates the lowest average dose to the heart in treatments of the breast, the chest wall and nearby lymph nodes, according to a major study by University of Oxford researchers published in the November 2015 International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics.

Advanced targeting technology is also crucial for avoiding needless irradiation of the heart at Texas Center for Proton Therapy. “With its pinpoint accuracy, our proton beam treats tumors layer by layer, in three dimensions,” Dr. Sturgeon says. “With our advanced technology, we can also ensure that the proton beam doesn’t exit the body through tissue that shouldn’t be exposed to radiation.”

Additionally, the Center’s cone-beam CT image guidance system provides clinicians a three-dimensional view of a patient’s anatomy, allowing them to develop a tailored approach. Using the CT imaging scans, the Center’s physicists, dosimetrists (who calculate radiation doses) and radiation oncologists program the proton beam equipment to deliver the optimal dose to each target tissue, even if it’s irregularly shaped.

While the field of oncology continues shaving down cardiac risks related to breast cancer treatment, Texas Center for Proton Therapy plans to keep getting the most out of its considerable technology and expertise. “We’re dedicated to providing our patients the best possible treatment for their immediate needs and for years to come,” Dr. Sturgeon says.

Thursday, November 14, 2024 •

HONORING

Mike Hernandez iii

CEO, D&M LEASING

The Distinguished Citizen Award dinner honors Individuals who share Scouting’s belief in leadership, Determination, and values. HONOREES have contributed significantly to the growth and vitality of our community. It also provides critical financial support TO longhorn council Scouting programs across 23 counties in north and Central Texas.

Dan.Busby@Scouting.org 817-231-8507 LONGHORNCOUNCIL.ORG/DCAD

MIKE HERNANDEZ III

FOCUS Health Care Professionals

The partnership between you and your doctor is one of the most vital pairings for a happy and fit lifestyle. In matters of health, you should never settle. Selecting the right practitioner can make all the difference. To aid in choosing the perfect person for your medical needs, a few local physicians have purchased space to tell you more about themselves, their practices, and how partnering with them will improve your quality of life.

The information in this section is provided by the advertisers and has not been independently verified by Fort Worth Magazine.

Accent On You

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Y. Anthony Nakamura, M.D., P.A.

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Joan Katz Cancer Resource Center

MEDICAL SPECIALTY: Oncology. EDUCATION/CERTIFICATIONS:

The team members of the Joan Katz Cancer Resource Center have more than 100 combined years of caring for patients. Many of our staff have oncology specific certifications. AWARDS/ HONORS: Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center – Fort Worth awards and honors include 2024 U.S. News & World Report rankings: No. 11 in Texas and No. 3 in the Dallas-Fort Worth, recognized as Best Regional Hospitals in Dallas-Fort Worth and high performing in Colon Cancer and Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma; Newsweek’s America’s Best-in-State Hospitals; Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade A Spring 2024; Joint Commission Certified Supportive Palliative Care (SPC). INNOVATIONS: We are committed

to innovative research and education. Patients have access to the latest research, clinical trials, and technology, including a new groundbreaking project called the Texas Immuno-Oncology Biorepository (TIOB), a research facility that collects, catalogs, and stores sample of biological materials in an effort to improve our understanding of cancer. UNIQUE PATIENT CARE: The Joan Katz Cancer Resource Center provides hope for all who hear the words: “You have cancer.” Our Center focuses on a holistic approach of healing with dedicated navigators who guide patients from the point of diagnosis into survivorship. Our program combines educational resources and support opportunities, such as support groups, exercise groups, art therapy, music therapy, genetic

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Joan Katz Cancer Resource Center 1400 Eighth Ave., Fort Worth 76104 817.922.2223

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Carson Hearing Care

SPECIALTY: A full-service hearing health care company with a special touch. PATIENT CARE: We have been serving the Fort Worth community for nearly 12 years and provide the most exceptional and comprehensive patient care. We only use the very best state-of-the-art technology, and we are constantly being trained on these new technologies. WHAT SETS US APART: Care, attention, and lifelong relationships set us apart. We hear so often how our office feels like one big “happy

family”— it’s because we are! INNOVATIONS: Our team is always trained in the latest technological advances that will improve the quality of our patients’ lives. Our focus is on the best solutions for hearing loss, tinnitus management, hearing protection, and ear wax removal. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: We are committed to serving and giving back to the Fort Worth community. We’ve supported Bass Hall, Jewel Charity, Saving Hope Animal Rescue, Susan G. Koman, and the American Heart Association, to name

a few. We also have recently formed our own nonprofit to serve those in need of hearing help, Carson Hearing Cares. MOTTO: Be a better part of someone’s day and make good things happen for other people. PICTURED: (left to right) Aimee Plummer, Melinda Brostad, Dr. Caroline Adams, Dr. Robin Carson, Dr. Addison Wilson, Jan Hurn, Janice Carrell; (seated) Dr. Lydia Zarras and Danna Presbaugh.

Carson Hearing Care 5104 Camp Bowie Blvd. Fort Worth 76107 817.737.4327

rcarson@carsonhearing.com carsonhearing.com

The Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Institute

SPECIALTY: Orthopedic Surgery; Sports Medicine; Minimally Invasive Arthroscopic Surgery of the Shoulder, Hip, Knee, Foot and Ankle; Shoulder, Hip and Knee Replacements. AWARDS: Top Docs Awards for more than a decade. AFFILIATIONS: Baylor

Surgicare Fort Worth, Mansfield; Park Hill Surgery Center; Baylor Surgical Hospital Fort Worth; Texas Health Downtown Fort Worth, Southwest, Clearfork, Cleburne, Mansfield; Texas Health Joint Replacement Center; Texas Health Orthopedic & Spine Center Willow Park; Methodist Hospital Mansfield, Midlothian;

Medical City Hospital Fort Worth, Argyle, Decatur. GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS: State-of-the-art care including robotic-assisted hip and knee replacements; reverse total shoulder replacement technique. INNOVATIONS: Orthopedics

Today, a walk-in clinic for same-day treatment of orthopedic injuries, provides convenient, expert care on-site at OSMI Fort Worth. Physical therapy at Fort Worth and Willow Park delivers expert rehabilitation by highly experienced therapists. Adjustable depth, Hydroworx Pool with underwater treadmill for training and

rehab is available at Fort Worth. New Mansfield facility opening fall 2024. PATIENT CARE: OSMI’s philosophy is to provide professional athlete level of care to all who seek it. ADVICE: Determine your personal goals for your health care. Seek that level of care and trust until you find the physician who meets your needs and expectations. PICTURED: Robert A. Achilike, M.D.; G. Keith Gill, M.D.; Vincent J. Inglima, DPM; OSMI founder Michael H. Boothby, M.D.; William S. Polachek, M.D.; Bret D. Beavers, M.D.; Daniel B. Wagner, D.O.; Nicholas E. Martin, M.D.; G. Todd Moore, D.O.

The Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Institute 2901 Acme Brick Plaza, Fort Worth 76109 • 817.529.1900

1320 S. U.S. Hwy 287, Mansfield 76063 • 817.968.5806

1000 Medical Center Drive, Decatur 76234 • 940.626.2410

OSMIFW.com Ortho2day.com

FOCUS HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS

Breathe Better, Snoring and Sleep Solutions

Lindsey Horwedel, DDS

MEDICAL SPECIALTY: Dental Sleep Medicine and General Dentistry. EDUCATION: Bachelor of Arts, The University of Oklahoma; Doctor of Dental Surgery, Baylor College of Dentistry. AWARDS/ HONORS: Top Dentist, 2019 to 2024, Fort Worth Magazine. MEMBERSHIPS/AFFILIATIONS: American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, American Dental Association, Texas Dental Society, Fort Worth Dental Society. GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS: Hearing that my oral appliance has improved my patient’s quality of life and that they are able to sleep in the same bedroom as their spouse is truly a great reward. INNOVATIONS: Our practice takes digital impressions with a handheld scanner instead of traditional putty impressions. All of our X-rays are digital to reduce overall radiation exposure. PATIENT CARE: My first sleep apnea patient was my dad 15 years ago. I wear a mouthpiece myself to treat upper airway resistance syndrome. I understand the process from not only the provider’s perspective, but I can also relate personally to the patient’s experience. I am available to my patients at each of the appointments scheduled during the process of oral appliance therapy and am always willing to answer questions through email or phone as well. PICTURED: Dr. Lindsey Horwedel.

Breathe Better, Snoring and Sleep Solutions

6628 Hawks Creek Ave. Westworth Village 76114

817.984.1006

Fax 817.495.0113

breathebetterdds.com wvfdentistry.com

Cityview Audiology & Hearing Aids

MEDICAL SPECIALTY: Audiology, Lenire Tinnitus Treatment Device, hearing aid prescription, fitting, real ear verification of hearing aid fitting, and expert follow-up care. EDUCATION/CERTIFICATIONS: Dr. Diane Blaising - Doctor of Audiology, A.T. Still University for Health Sciences; Master of Science in Communication Disorders, University of Texas at Dallas; Certifications – American Board of Audiology, American Doctors of Audiology, American Academy of Audiology; Certified Lenire tinnitus treatment device provider. Dr. Rachel Ruiz – Doctor of Audiology, The University of Texas at Austin; Certifications – American Academy of Audiology, American Speech-LanguagePathology Clinical Certificate of Competency; Certified in The Tinnitus Management by the American Board of Audiology. WHAT SETS THEM APART: Cityview Audiology is careful to fit each patient with the hearing aid that meets their needs and uses advanced real ear measures to ensure that the programming in the hearing aid is perfect for their hearing needs. Also, Cityview Audiology is the only practice in Fort Worth that is certified to provide the FDA-approved Lenire tinnitus treatment device. HOW THEY CONTRIBUTE TO THE OVERALL WELL-BEING OF PATIENTS: Improving our patients’ quality of life is the focus of our practice. FREE ADVICE: The best thing you can do for your long-term health is to act sooner rather than later to assess your hearing ability.

Cityview Audiology & Hearing Aids

5701 Bryant Irvin Road, Ste. 202 Fort Worth 76132

817.263.1800

info@cityviewhearing.com cityviewhearing.com

SPECIALTY: Our physicians provide a wide range of services including comprehensive eye exams for children and adults. We perform advanced cataract surgery and offer a range of lens options including monofocal, toric, multifocal, extended depth of focus, and light adjustable lenses (LAL). We also perform contact lens fittings, eye muscle surgery, glaucoma care, diabetic eye exams, and dry eye treatment. The doctors provide cosmetic injections including Botox®, Kybella®, Voluma XC® and Volbella® EDUCATION: Ann Ranelle, D.O. – Saint Mary’s University, Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences, pediatric ophthalmology fellowship at Children’s Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. Tyler Moore, M.D. – The University of Texas at Austin, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Kacy Pate, O.D. – The University of Oklahoma, Northeastern State University College of Optometry. AWARDS/HONORS: Ann Ranelle –Past-president, Tarrant County Medical Society. MEMBERSHIPS: Ann Ranelle – Board-certified with American Academy of Ophthalmology and Academy of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. Tyler Moore – Board-certified with the American Board of Ophthalmology. AFFILIATIONS: Baylor Surgicare of Fort Worth, Park Hill Surgery Center, and Cook Children’s Medical Center. GREATEST PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENT: Serving the Greater Fort Worth area for over 40 years. UNIQUE PATIENT CARE: Warm, friendly, compassionate, and professional. FREE ADVICE: Be an active participant in your health care — ask questions! PICTURED: Ann Ranelle, D.O.; Tyler Moore, M.D.; Kacy Pate, O.D.

Fort Worth Eye Associates 5000 Collinwood Ave.

Fort Worth 76107

817.732.5593 ranelle.com

Dr. Mitch Conditt

Fort Worth Snoring and Sleep Center

SPECIALTY: Fort Worth Snoring and Sleep Center is limited to the treatment of snoring, sleep apnea, and TMD. EDUCATION: Baylor College of Dentistry, DDS in 1985. HONORS: Fellow with American Academy of Craniofacial Pain; Diplomate with American Board of Craniofacial Dental Sleep Medicine. MEMBERSHIPS/AFFILIATIONS: Member of Texas Dental Association, American Dental Association, American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, American Academy of Craniofacial Pain, American Academy of Orofacial Pain. GREATEST PROFESSIONAL

ACHIEVEMENT: Achieving board certification in Dental Sleep Medicine. UNIQUE PATIENT CARE: We give patients an option to treat their snoring or sleep apnea without the use of a CPAP machine and almost always without requiring patients to sleep overnight in a sleep lab. Most major health insurance policies cover the treatment. FREE ADVICE: Don’t believe snoring is just a nuisance. It is usually a sign of a potentially deadly disorder called sleep apnea. PICTURED: Dr. Mitch Conditt.

Fort Worth Snoring and Sleep Center

451 University Drive, Ste. 102

Fort Worth, Texas 76107

817.527.8500

fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com

office@fortworthsnoringandsleepcenter.com

Reinke Eye and Laser Center

Martin Reinke, M.D.

SPECIALTY: Ophthalmology: Cataract Surgery, Premium Lens Implants (Toric Lens, PanOptix, Vivity, Tecnis Symfony), Diseases of the Retina and Vitreous, Diabetic Retinopathy/Lasers, Macular Degeneration, Glaucoma Treatment.

EDUCATION: B.A., magna cum laude, Harvard University, 1986; M.D., University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, 1990; Ophthalmology Residency, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, 1995; Vitreoretinal Fellowship, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston, 1997.

CERTIFICATIONS: Board Certified, American Board of Ophthalmology. AWARDS: Physician’s Recognition Award, American Medical Association. PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS: American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, Texas Ophthalmological Association, Texas Medical Association, Tarrant County Medical Society. AFFILIATIONS: Baylor Scott & White Surgical Hospital Las Colinas, Baylor Scott & White-Irving, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, Texas Health Surgery Center Arlington. PATIENT CARE: A commitment to excellence in eye care is enhanced by our outstanding, caring staff. Dr. Reinke is a uniquely talented surgeon who personally provides all preoperative and postoperative care.

Reinke Eye and Laser Center

1310 N. White Chapel Blvd. | Southlake, Texas 76092 817.310.6080 | Fax 817.310.6014 1916 Central Drive | Bedford, Texas 76021 817.283.6607 | Fax 817.283.2674

7433 Las Colinas Blvd. | Irving, Texas 75063 972.556.1915 | Fax 972.556.1877

reinke.southlake@gmail.com dfwlasercataract.com

LOCAL EATS AND RESTAURANT NEWS

DINING

Housemade pastas and a chill vibe are on the menu at Bocca Osteria Romana, a new Italian restaurant on South Main owned by Texan Alessandro Salvatore and his family.

by Malcolm Mayhew

Photos by Richard Rodriguez

A Taste of Italy

Bocca Osteria Romana, a new family-owned Italian restaurant on South Main, focuses on authentic, scratchmade food, not flash.

I’ve never been to Italy, but for years, I’ve been in an intimate relationship with its younger sibling, New York’s Little Italy, an area I visit every time I go to New York, which is usually once or twice a year.

Though the area is very touristy

these days, there still exists a certain kind of Italian restaurant there that I’ve grown to love, and that many others have, too. These are small, intimate, unflashy places that put a pure, uncut focus on the food. Chances

are, the chefs are more like cooks, working every day with little fanfare, and the decor and vibe are low-key and modest.

They’re the kinds of restaurants that remind me of Bocca Romana Osteria, newly opened on South Main. There’s no star chef, no big bucks decor, no see-and-be-seen vibe. It’s a small, neighborhood Italian restaurant, run by two brothers and their cousin, that offers a refreshing change of pace from many of the city’s new flash-focused restaurants; it’s also one of the best restaurants to open this year.

I first heard about Bocca while antique shopping in Dallas at a place called Lots of Furniture. The young woman who was working the counter asked me where we’re from. When I told her Fort Worth, she said her boyfriend’s family was in the process of opening an Italian restaurant there. Like I used to do easily when I was a lot younger and thinner and not so married, I got her number.

A few days later, her boyfriend was telling me about his family’s plans to take over the old Rancho Loma Vineyards space and turn it into an Italian restaurant that specialized in Rome-inspired cuisine. They wanted to emulate the restaurants they know and love in Italy, where they spent time and have family. This would be the second location, Eduardo Mariel explained, revealing they opened the original in Puerto Rico a few years before.

Three months later, the restaurant opened, and on a Wednesday night, my wife and I found ourselves marveling over their pomodoro basilico e burrata, a beautifully presented plate of spaghetti in tomato sauce, topped with a dollop of burrata cheese and fresh basil, and their freshly made gnocchi, whose flavors rotate per the kitchen’s whim. During our visit, the tiny pillowy pastas came drenched in an addicting sauce made of blue cheese and bits of pear.

As much as I loved the pastas, I’m still thinking about their focaccia bread, served straight out of the oven, and their La Stracciatella, a pretty

Pomodoro basilico e burrata at Bocca Osteria Romana

salad of peaches, heirloom tomatoes, and stracciatella cheese, a form of shredded mozzarella; we used the leftovers to dress the focaccia — a wise decision, if I do say so.

The room and vibe are very much a welcome anomaly in Fort Worth’s growing modern Italian scene, in which many of the city’s new Italian restaurants are ventures from already-established chefs or are a part of multimillion-dollar hotels, such as il Modo downtown and Farena in Arlington. No slight to those restaurants, but Bocca is a different experience, one designed to echo what it’s like to dine at a mom-and-pop eatery in Italy.

“That’s exactly what we’re going for,” co-owner and executive chef Alessandro Salvatore would tell me a few days after our meal there. “My brother and I have spent time all over the world, and the restaurants we love, the ones where we’ve eaten at time and time again, or we know people who work there, or we have family who work there, are the small places like this one that put the food first.”

The restaurant is the first stateside concept from this trio of Texas-born family members — brothers Alessandro and Alfonso Salvatore and their cousin Eduardo Mariel. The brothers own a trio of restaurants in San Juan, Puerto Rico: two locations of a Mexican restaurant called Acapulco Taaqueria Mexicana and the original location of Bocca Osteria Romana.

The three are natives of McAllen, Texas, and have lived in Mexico, Italy, and Puerto Rico, regions whose food made indelible impressions on them. Alessandro told me they toyed with the idea of opening a Mexican restaurant in their home state but decided to go with Italian, since Mex-Mex and Tex-Mex are both well covered here.

“We’ve thought about opening a restaurant in Texas for a long time,” he says. “This is where we’re from. But opening three restaurants in Puerto Rico took so much of our time, it took a while for us to wrap our heads around opening something here. But when we landed on the concept of doing

Rome-inspired cuisine, we knew we wanted it to be different from anything else around here.”

Bocca’s current menu is an abbreviated version of its Puerto Rican counterpart but will grow over time, Alessandro says. Right now, they’re starting small, offering a half-dozen housemade pastas, such as cacio e pepe, lasagna al forno, pappardelle, and a rotating risotto; the few pastas that are not housemade are imported directly from Italy, Alessandro says.

Other menu items include scottadito, or lamb chops, and saltimbocca, consisting of a chicken breast wrapped in sage and prosciutto, then marinated in wine. Alessandro says osso buco is coming, too.

Located down an alley that runs adjacent to The 4 Eleven building on South Main, Bocca has sort of an in-the-know, speakeasy vibe. “We’re letting this build word-of-mouth,” he says. “We want to be known as sort of this hidden gem type of place. That’ll allow us to get our feet wet and then hopefully word will begin to spread.”

BoccaOsteriaRomana,411S.MainSt.,Ste.104, instagram.com/boccafortworth

Bocca’s twice-baked lasagna

Beef meatballs in tomato sauce with pecorino romano cheese

Cacio e pepe

by Malcolm Mayhew

French Evolution

A once-abandoned downtown building has been brought back to life, thanks to a new lux hotel and its French cuisine-meets-Texas-cooking restaurant.

Some Fort Worthians may have thought this day would never come when the 14-story building at 811 Commerce St. would be transformed into something so elegant and attractive as the Le Méridien Fort Worth Downtown.

For nearly 20 years, the building that houses downtown’s newest hotel sat vacant, an eyesore to some, to others an intriguing relic of Fort Worth’s past. Its first five floors, now obscured by years of updates, dates to 1928 when it opened as a parking garage, one of the first in the area. Over the decades, the property grew in size, height, and importance, ultimately serving as a 230-room extension of the Hotel

Texas — the historic hotel where John F. Kennedy spent his last night and delivered his final address; it was known for its U-shaped structure, courtyard pool, and skywalk connecting it to Hotel Texas, now the Hilton Fort Worth.

The “Annex,” as it was commonly known, stood silent for years after its closure in 2006, a stark contrast to a downtown that bustled around it. The Annex was one of the few skyscrapers in the area to stay abandoned for nearly two decades.

It’s been brought back to life by Le Méridien, a Marriott brand with more than 100 hotels around the world. Opened in August, the Fort Worth location is managed by Remington Hospitality and was redeveloped by Blueprint Hospitality.

Dallas-based design firm Premier gave the property a mod-inspired makeover, decorating its 188 rooms with midcentury-style furniture, lighting, and other design elements. A rooftop bar, called ANNEX — a reference to the property’s previous life — offers panoramic views of downtown, along with small bites and comfy couches. The pool area lives again, too, still maintaining its cool, horseshoe shape. Curated art, inspired by both midcentury aesthetic and western heritage, lingers everywhere.

The property’s centerpiece is its in-house restaurant, Bouvier Brasserie, led by young Arizona native Damian Lopez, a 23-year-old chef who graduated from Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts.

As Bouvier’s executive chef, Lopez mixes one of his first loves, French cuisine, with a new one, Texas cooking. “I like to say my food has French roots with Texas soul,” he says.

While much of his training and love and understanding of food came from family and school, he says he was greatly inspired by a handful of chefs with whom he trained, including Devin Pinto, executive chef for St. Cruz at The Leo Kent, a well-regarded restaurant and hotel in Tucson. Lopez and Pinto worked together at Hacienda

Texas Cassoulet

Del Sol Guest Ranch Resort, also in Arizona.

“I’d say he was my biggest mentor,” Lopez says. “His whole culinary theme is French-driven. I learned a lot in my cooking classes, but Devin really taught me how to utilize French cooking techniques and ingredients. Most chefs have great mentors who make a big impact on their lives and he’s definitely one of mine.”

Menu items at Bouvier Brasserie include a cassoulet studded with brisket and pork belly; salmon meunière, comprised of herb-crusted salmon in a French vierge sauce; a ratatouille casserole layered with eggplant, zucchini, and fried onions; and a trio of steak dishes, including steak frites, a staple of French cuisine, that feature Wagyu X, a premium form of wagyu beef.

“It’s like next level wagyu beef,” Lopez says. “The cattle are raised on a farm here in Texas, and that farm is family-owned. That’s something that’s important to me as a chef — not just to offer Texas twists on my dishes but to actually use Texas ingredients in my dishes, whether it’s a main component or something as simple as a seasoning.”

Lopez is particularly fond of his take on pheasant, another staple of French cuisine.

“I thought about doing it chicken and waffles-style but elevated,” he says. “I didn’t really want to do waffles, though, so I came up with the idea to do French lentils as the base. That gives it more of a French twist.” The dish’s Texas influence comes from marinating the pheasant in buttermilk, then coating it in breadcrumbs, which makes it crispy like fried chicken.

Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the restaurant itself is simple, small, and quaint, with a design scheme that echoes the hotel’s midcentury vibe.

There is one component of the hotel that has yet to be repurposed or reborn: the skywalk that connects Le Méridien to the Hilton next door, as it originally did. Currently, it’s being used for storage.

“We have a lot of ideas for it,” Lopez says. “I’d love for us to use it as a speakeasy bar. Wouldn’t that be cool? You’re having a nice drink or bite to eat while you watch the cars pass below you? I think it’d be a cool vibe. They know I’d like to do it. We’ll see what happens.”

BouvierBrasserieatLeMéridienFort WorthDowntown,811CommerceSt.,marriott.com

The Chowtown Lowdown

Years ago, I wrote a story for the Star-Telegramabout the best places to eat on the east side of Fort Worth, an oftenoverlooked mecca of fantastic mom and pop restaurants. Included in the story was a tiny gas station restaurant called Tacos Cantu that served excellent Mex-Mex and Tex-Mex favorites. Unfortunately, the restaurant later closed — the story of any food writer’s life. If we dig it, it’ll close. Good news is, one of Cantu’s former managers took over and reopened the space late last year, brandishing a new name and expanded menu. Now called Taqueria Castillo, new owner Blanca Castillo’s charming little spot inside a Shell gas station is open for breakfast, lunch, and early dinner. For breakfast, go for the massive burritos stuffed with eggs, beans, cheese, and your choice of shredded beef, bacon, ham, chorizo, or sausage, all jammed into a housemade flour tortilla. The burritos are a heckuva deal, too — just $7. Chilaquiles are sometimes a breakfast special, and from time to time, they’ll make a batch of doughnuts. Lunch and early dinner options include sopes, tortas, enchiladas, and tacos in various flavors, a plateengulfing chile relleno and small mountains of nachos. There’s at least a half-dozen agua frescas, in flavors such as pineapple and horchata, and desserts such as strawberries and cream, rice pudding, and champurrado, a unique hot chocolate drink thickened with ground field corn. Hours are 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday-Saturday. 1401CooksLane, 469-353-6663.

Melt Ice Creams, the artisan ice cream shop chain founded by Fort Worthian Kari Crowe-Seher, recently closed one location and opened another. Melt’s fiveyear-old Sundance Square outpost became the latest restaurant closure to hit Sundance when it shut down in September. But soon after announcing that closure, Melt sent word that a new location had opened in Willow Park, one of several booming communities between Fort Worth and Weatherford, at 480 Shops Blvd. in a new retail and restaurant area called The District. Some of Melt’s current flavors include peach cobbler cheesecake, key lime pie, and cherry limeade sorbet. melticecreams.com

Tokyo Cafe on the west side has launched a new happy hour menu. Just $5 for seared steak nigiri with mushroom and sweet ginger soy, smoked sriracha wings, or macaroni salad with peas, carrot, yuzu, and kewpie, or all three for $13. A select number of sushi rolls are $4-$7, and those killer tok fries are just $5. There are also specials on cocktails, beer, and wine. Happy hour is 3 to 6 p.m., Monday-Friday. 5121PershingAve.,tokyocafefw.com

Guapo Tacos, the beloved gas station taqueria manned by localite Angel Fuentes, has temporarily closed, but not to worry. Fuentes is, as of press time, putting the finishing touches on his new Mexican food eatery: Los Guapos Mexican Street Food, which’ll soon open at 2708W. SeventhSt.Fuentes closed the gas station location to focus on the new spot, where he’ll serve all the dishes you know and love, like his birria tacos and surplus of vegan dishes, plus new Mexican street food-inspired items such as tortas, alambre, and huaraches. instagram.com/losguaposfw

Roasted field beets

Le Burger

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by Malcolm Mayhew

A Chef Is Born

A former TCU football player and longtime marketing guru has embarked on a new career as a private chef.

His name may not ring a bell in local culinary circles, but Gordon Ramsay sure does know the name Scott McKinnon.

McKinnon, a TCU grad and former Horned Frogs football player, was a competitor on the current season of competitive cooking television show, “MasterChef Generations,” in which the notoriously fickle Ramsay stars. Unlike a lot of the dishes that Ramsay eats on his television shows, he enjoyed the dish McKinnon prepared on “Generations,” but another judge did not, leading McKinnon to be dismissed from the competition.

Although McKinnon’s appearance on the show was shortly lived, it helped bring attention to the Southlake resident’s new career as a private chef, a career he launched in his mid-50s.

“Fifty-four feels like 24,” says the 54-year-old Houston native. “I’m finally getting to live out my passion, my dream. I don’t think about my age. I’ve got a lot of energy and passion for cooking. It’s in my blood.”

In McKinnon’s case, that’s not exactly a figure of speech. His great-grandfather, Billy McKinnon, after whom Scott is named (his first name is William, but he goes by Scott), was a well-known restauranteur who opened a string of restaurants throughout the state in the early part of the 20th century.

“He had five restaurants between Houston and Dallas from 1914 to 1930,” he says. “I still have a lot of his old menus. He owned restaurants that were fine dining — caviar service, chateaubriand-types of places. But he also owned buffet restaurants that catered to day laborers. He was astute at finding ways to serve people from all economic backgrounds.”

The city of Dallas honored Billy McKinnon by naming McKinnon Street near the Crescent Hotel after the popular restaurant owner.

Scott McKinnon’s love of food was born not necessarily out of interest but more out of necessity. As a proud Gen Xer whose parents worked long hours, McKinnon was often left home alone to fend for his own nutritional needs.

“I was your typical GenX latchkey kid,” he says. “I was heavily involved in athletics, and I’d come home to an empty house, always starving. I started figuring how to cook at an early age.”

This was life before the Internet, so he often turned to another technical staple

for cooking tips: television. “I watched a lot of Emeril Lagasse shows, a lot of early Food Network shows, just learning the basics,” he says. “It was a lot of trial and error before I got pretty good.”

Athletics, he thought, presented more life opportunities, as did sales and marketing, which he studied at TCU where he also played football.

After graduating in 1992 and marrying his college sweetheart Kimberly, he embarked on a 30-year career in the field of marketing — a career that would become vital to supporting his soon-to-be-born pair of daughters. It was hard, in other words, to pursue the dice roll of a career in the volatile food and beverage industry over marketing and sales, a field in which he found stability and success.

Cooking for his wife and daughters provided a culinary outlet, he says. McKinnon was also the first to don an apron and cook for parties and social gatherings at the family’s home.

Over the years, as his daughters grew up and started their own lives and careers, his interest once again turned to food. Friends suggested he open his own restaurant. Knowing the risks, time, and money involved in such a venture, he decided instead to launch a business as a private chef.

“There’s a lot less overhead in buying food for a few people every day than buying food for a few hundred people every day,” he says. It was a slow-go at first, but after appearing on the four episodes of this season’s “MasterChef Generations,” business has been picking up. Like, really picking up, he says.

“I’ll be the guest celebrity chef for the Dallas Cowboys’ Thanksgiving Day game,” he says. “I’m very blessed and appreciative.”

McKinnon says it’s never too late to change your career, to delve into something new.

“Be the duck you see swimming on the surface but paddling like hell under the surface,” he says. “You gotta jump in and get after it.”

ScottMcKinnoncanbereachedthroughhis website,chefscottymac.com.

GUARDADO GARDEN CENTER

For 20 years, we’ve been your trusted partner in creating lush, vibrant outdoor spaces. From the rarest blooms to the hardiest shrubs, we’ve got everything you need to make your garden flourish. Come visit us and experience the passion and expertise that have made us a community favorite for two decades.

Thank you for being a part of our journey. Here’s to many more years of growth and greenery!

“I am so grateful to have Terri Loddick and her fabulous crew at Proscapes take care of all my landscaping needs. They are the total package: landscape design, weekly maintenance, seasonal planting, trimming, fertilizing, mulching and mosquito control. They coordinate with my irrigation team, landscape lighting, tree trimming and even helped design my backyard putting green. Kelley (maintenance manager) oversees everything and is committed to making everything look beautiful. It is truly a pleasure working with them!”

Mary Bates Country Club Cir

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GREATER FORT WORTH’S CHARITY/SOCIAL EVENTS

Celebrating 25 Years of Giving Back

Philanthropy is one of the ways Fort Worth Magazine carries out its mission of celebrating Fort Worth and making it better.

During the past quarter of a century, FortWorthMagazine has partnered with more than 225 different Tarrant County nonprofits, contributing over $16 million in cash and in-kind donations.

Oct. 5

Zoo Ball

Fort Worth Zoo

Oct. 9, 10-13

Christmas in Cowtown

Oct. 18

Bras for a Cause

Multiple Cancer Foundations

River Ranch Stockyards

Oct. 19

Preview Party and Sale

The Junior League of Fort Worth

White Coat Gala

JPS Foundation

FWMSH

Will Rogers Amon G. Carter Jr. Exhibit Hall

Oct. 10

Feast in the Fort

Parenting Center

The 4 Eleven

Oct. 10

The Party in Fort Worth

Fort Worth Promotion & Development Fund

Billy Bob’s Texas

Oct. 12

A Cool Night

The WARM Place

The Legends Club at Amon G. Carter Stadium

Oct. 13

Indulge & Inspire

Paslay Foundation

Clay Pigeon

Oct. 16

Inspiring Hope Luncheon

The Salvation Army of North Texas

AT&T Stadium

Oct. 16

Public Figures, Private Artists

The Art Station

TBD

Oct. 16

65 Roses Wine & Food

Extravaganza

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

Benbrook Stables

Oct. 18

Monster Mash

The Women’s Center of Tarrant County

Fort Worth Club

Oct. 19

The RED Lab Girls Inc of Tarrant County

The Ostreum

Oct. 19

Appreciation Gala

New Day Services

Red’s Roadhouse

Oct. 22

1910 Society Luncheon

Catholic Charities FW CCFW

Oct. 23

Heroes of Hope Cancer Care Services

Ridglea Country Club

Oct. 25

Adoption Rocks

Gladney Center for Adoption

Gladney Center

Oct. 26

3rd Annual Fall Festival

Christ’s Haven for Children

Christ’s Haven

Oct. 26

Survivors in Style Cuisine for Healing

Social Space

Oct. 30

Early Childhood Investors’ Luncheon

Child Care Associates

Worthington Hotel

Oct. 30

Build Strong Lunch

Trinity Habitat for Humanity

Fort Worth Convention Center

• e Family Life Center (Arlington)

• Gene and Jerry Jones Family North Texas Youth Education Town (Arlington)

• J.E. & L.E. Mabee Social Service Center (Fort Worth)

• Northside Corps Community Center (Fort Worth)

THE JUNIOR LEAGUE OF FORT WORTH

PREMIER SPONSOR PREMIER SPONSOR PREMIER SPONSOR MEDIA PARTNER MEDIA PARTNER MEDIA PARTNER

BAR & SPIRITS SPONSOR BAR & SPIRITS SPONSOR BAR & SPIRITS SPONSOR

Central Market

Westfork Garden Market and Elevate Your Celebrate

AISLE SPONSORS AISLE SPONSORS AISLE SPONSORS

Bank of Texas ~ Ben E Keith Beverages ~ Carol and Jim Leito ~ FROST ~ Jean Roach, Amy Bailey, and Lori Davis ~ Johnson and Pifer Families ~ Kelly and Peter Ray ~ Luther King Capital Management

Texas Health Resources ~ The Rios Group ~ The Ryan Foundation ~ Williams Trew

Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center

BAG CHECK SPONSOR BAG CHECK SPONSOR BAG CHECK SPONSOR Chicken Salad Chick FLORAL SPONSOR FLORAL SPONSOR FLORAL SPONSOR BOOT SHINE SPONSOR BOOT SHINE SPONSOR BOOT SHINE SPONSOR Steve Berry and Adams Mortgage Group

SPECIAL EVENTS SPONSORS SPECIAL EVENTS SPONSORS SPECIAL EVENTS SPONSORS

Blackbeard Operating, LLC ~ Brazos Midstream ~ HUB Fort Worth ~ Kimbell Royalty Partners, LP Marty Leonard ~ Tiffany Rubenkoenig and Natalie Martin

PREVIEW PARTY SPONSORS PREVIEW PARTY SPONSORS PREVIEW PARTY SPONSORS

2024-2025 JLFW Board of Directors ~ Carrie Cappel, Molly Hardgrove, and Amy Patyk ~ Carson Hearing

Double Eagle ~ Fort Worth Fertility / Dr. Robert Kaufmann ~ Glenda Diaz - Keller Williams Realty

Linbeck Group ~ Mindy Hegi ~ Nan Matson ~ Trindero | Principal + Advisory

PRIVATE SHOPPING SPONSORS

Freeman Mills PC ~ Janeen Lamkin ~ Kim Darden

Meta Alice Keith Bratten Foundation ~ Sarah and Patrick Washington ~ Vantage Bank

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING MAD SCIENTIST BALL 2024!

PONSORS

alor | Ramona and Lee Bass | Anne and Orlando Carvalho | Kelly Hart LLP

Cindy and Russ Anderson & Briggs Freeman Sotheby's Intl Realty | Frost

Nissa and Ryan Harrington | Hartman Wanzor McNamara | Amarillo National Bank

Higginbotham | Jenner & Block LLP | JPMorganChase | Lhoist | Luther King Capital

Management | Tammy and Ty McKinney | Raise Your Hand Texas | Sproles Woodard LLP

The Projects Group | TTI, Inc. | Varghese Summersett | Wick Phillips | Agather & Wharton

ASTING SPONSORS

Bob’s Steak and Chop House Fort Worth

Heim Barbecue

Magdalena’s Catering and Events

Providencia Restaurant

Reata Restaurant

Mrs. Renfro’s Salsas

Savor Culinary Services

Walloon’s Restaurant

& Local Sweet Treats

S PIRIT SPONSOR

La Pulga Spirits

W INE SPONSOR

Lauren-Ashton and John Moncrief

M EDIA SPONSOR E MCEE

Evan Anderson - NBC 5

featuring

Friday, November 1

Enjoy a silent art auction, gourmet dinner, live music by Josh Weathers, and more.

Gala + After-Party Tickets from $250 After-Party only $100

Let’s celebrate four decades of art and connection with proceeds benefiting Camp Fire First Texas youth.

It’s a party you just won’t want to miss!

817.831.2111 ext. 161

CampFireFW.org/AAC

Event Chairs, Brandon and Carley Moore

October 17, 2024 | 6:00 PM

Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery 3433 W 7th Street, Fort Worth, TX 76107

The ASID Texas Chapter Fort Worth Design Community and sponsor Fort Worth Magazine invite you to celebrate the region’s finest achievements in interior design at the 2024 Shining Star Awards.

Find details & register by October 14th at asidtxfwssa2024.eventbrite.com

On Saturday, October 19, the JPS Foundation is hosting its inaugural White Coat Gala benefitting JPS Health Network.

The JPS Foundation provides funding and support for the network ensuring our community has access to exceptional healthcare.

To learn more about the JPS Foundation, visit GivetoJPS.org

Thank you to our generous sponsors!

Presenting Sponsor

Every summer, usually between mid-July and late-August, the entire Northern Hemisphere gets a cosmic spectacle in the form of the Perseids meteor shower — so named because the meteors appear from the general direction of the constellation Perseus. Of course, for a good view, Fort Worthians might need to take a small trek from the city lights. As photographer Matt Lantz puts it, “The two most important ingredients you need for a good photograph of meteors are dark skies and an interesting foreground subject.” This photo was captured by Lantz at the Saint Boniface Catholic Church, a small church built in 1912 in nearby Dodson Prairie (a one-hour drive out west). “Conditions were ideal on the peak night of the shower,” Lantz says, “and I was able to capture about 15 meteors and stack them together in one image with the Milky Way nicely aligned with the church in the background.”

Get your photo on this page and win a $100 gift card to Fort Worth Camera. Just tag FortWorthMagazine (@fwtxmag) and Fort Worth Camera (@fwcamera) and use the hashtags #fwtxmag and #fwcamera on all your amazing Cowtown images.

@lantzscape_photos

PHOTO BY MATT LANTZ

PICTURED: David Elattrache, GM, Platinum Toyota; Justin Rogers, GM, SouthWest Toyota of Lawton Oklahoma; Stephen Gilchrist, Dealer Operator, Gilchrist Automotive

Regal Rovers

Ask Dillon Lovelace why he drives a Range Rover, and the Westlake resident will tell you he’s chosen the luxury vehicle mainly for its safety and dependability. Whether he’s driving to his familyowned manufacturing business, LODC Group Ltd., or traveling to Possum Kingdom Lake on weekends, Dillon trusts his 2023 Range Rover SVR Autobiography LWB to keep his family safe on the road. And he didn’t have to give up comfort and style in the name of worry-free driving because the Range Rover offers the complete package of luxury, comfort, and performance. “We enjoy our cars on road trips around the region, especially to the lake,” Dillon says. He just surprised his youngest daughter, Macey, with a 2025 Land Rover Range Rover Velar for her Sweet 16th birthday. This compact luxury SUV, with a sporty personality, has a good array of advanced safety and driver assistance features designed to enhance driver awareness, features that give Dillon peace of mind when Macey is driving on metroplex roads.

A loyal customer for the past 15 years, Dillon praises the Park Place Land Rover DFW dealership for their superior sales and service. “We have purchased at least 10 various types of Range Rovers from them,” he says. “At Park Place, they’re Experts in Excellence because they take extra time to understand your needs and goals for the next vehicle purchase, and they use their extensive product knowledge and networking to get their customers into the right vehicle solution,” he says. “Park Place provides a tremendous car-buying experience all the way around. They truly spoil you with their customer service.”