Austin Monthly October 2021

Ghostly Encounters, Hidden Cemeteries, and the City’s Most Chilling History

HAUNTED ATX

56

Austin’s Most Haunted

All the creepy trails, lakes, and city landmarks where ghosts are said to roam.

66

Leading the Way

Meet an Olympic athtlete, a viral beekeeper, and 10 other inspiring Austin women who are proving that the future is female.

79

Top Doctors for Women

The 120-plus best local physicians in fields such as gynecology and maternal medicine.

Nina Means is teaching fledgling designers how to make a sustainable career in the fashion industry.

Scout 25

Head to Lubbock this fall to take advantage of the High Plains wine harvest 26

Chainsaw artist Griffon Ramsey taps into the Halloween spirit 28

Five stellar local artists to check out at ACL Fest 2021 30

Author Chandler Baker imagines a world where men handle all the housework 32

Feast 35

The experts at Tiki Tatsu-Ya give a tutorial on all things beachy and boozy 36

Tavel Bristol-Joseph brings the Caribbean flavors of his childhood to Canje 38

Get the lowdown on Indonesian bakso 40

Beat 43

The threat of COVID-19 hasn’t curbed a spike in STDs across the capital city 44

New conservation efforts to save Austin’s outdoors 46

UT basketball coach Chris Beard returns to his alma mater 48

Haunted Austin, by Johnny Dombrowski

Editor in Chief

Chris Hughes

Creative Director

Sara Marie D’Eugenio

EDITORIAL

Executive Editor

Madeline Hollern

Associate Editor

Emma Schkloven

City Columnist

Kim Krisberg

Contributing Writers

Jessica Dupuy, E. Ryan Ellis, Tanya Sepulveda Estes, Lara Hallock, Laurel Miller, Bryan C. Parker, Courtney Runn

ART

Contributing Photographers

Wes Ellis, Max Kelly, Sanetra Longno

Contributing Illustrators

Lauren Crow, Rob Dobi, Johnny Dombrowski

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Digital Manager

Abigail Stewart

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Rosie Ninesling

INTERNS

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Tina Mullins

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Jillian Clifton

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Kelly Clifton

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Todd P. Paul

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Julie A. Kunkle

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Rebecca Fontenot Cord

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Editor’s Letter

Scare

Tactics

IF MY PARENTS’ visit from Houston proved anything to me this August, it’s that you’re never too old for some good ol’ fashioned paternal scrutiny. Sitting on my couch, I felt my dad lean over and pull up my sleeve to reveal tattoos of a black cat and a jack-o-lantern on my bicep. Obviously, he’d seen the hint of clawed paws or maybe the orange rim of a pumpkin peeking from beneath my polo, and he’d gone in for a closer look.

“Why the hell would you do that?” he asked, sparing no amount of exasperation.

It’s simple: I love Halloween and the entire horror genre. My bookshelf is crowded with titles from Shirley Jackson and the criminally underread Michael McDowell. I consider John Carpenter the country’s true film auteur. And gourds of all sizes start crowding my front steps as early as September. Compared to the stress surrounding other holidays like Christmas, Halloween is only concerned with having fun (assuming your idea of fun is copious amounts of candy and having a good scare). No litany of forced gatherings. None of the obligatory financial strain. Just an inspired costume choice and maybe a Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror” marathon.

With that being said, it doesn’t need to be October to get into the Halloween spirit in Austin. That’s because around every lake, trail, and dog park is a creepy story just waiting to be told. Disembodied voices can be heard on Moore’s Crossing over Onion Creek, a site of numerous deadly floods a century ago. Divers have plunged into the bottomless chambers of Jacob’s Well in Wimberley, never to reappear on the surface. And there are almost too many tales of lost wraiths and other unusual happenings in The Driskill Hotel downtown.

All of these and more are covered in Tanya Sepulveda Estes’ meticulously researched feature, “Austin’s Most Haunted” (p. 56), which looks at the history behind many of the area’s favorite urban myths and ghost stories. Moving away from the paranormal, but dealing with subjects no less frightening (think: the pandemic and injustice in the workplace), is “Leading the Way” (p. 66), a celebration of 12 women helping to improve Austin for tomorrow. Whether it’s a sommelier rethinking a troubled industry or a festival director taking the lead on COVID-19 vaccinations, there are so many inspiring female leaders helping to mend the wrongs both of today, as well as the past.

The macabre doesn’t necessarily mean morbid. In fact, clinical psychologists now say horror fans are more resilient when it comes to dealing with uncertainty and anxiety. It’s a coping mechanism. A way to examine history with a scrutinizing eye. Or maybe, like Rania Zayyat—the aforementioned somm—it’s a way to do battle with the shadows in a field that, ultimately, champions life.

SHORT CUTS

Outtakes from our interview with UT men’s basketball coach, Chris Beard:

On Famous Roommates “Arlo Eisenberg was in our dorm always skateboarding around. We took a couple of road trips together. Now, Arlo is the GOAT of extreme sports.”

The Impact of Tom Penders

“I was in meetings I had no business being in as a sophomore at UT. I was able to travel with the team and take part in recruiting. Those guys empowered me.”

Favorite Local Haunts

“[While at Tech] I would drive here from Lubbock just to go to Ginny’s Little Longhorn. It was an iced tea experience because I would have to drive back that same night.”

Chris Hughes Editor in Chief chughes@austinmonthly.com @cmhughestx @chris_hughestx

Uncommon Objects

In 2013, New Hampshire native Sarah Miller joined four of her girlfriends in moving to Austin, sight unseen. Drawn to the city’s artistic vibe, she began experimenting with her own creative projects and eventually started making planters out of cement. The hobby evolved into Awkward Auntie, her line of concrete matchstick holders, trays, candles, and vases. Depending on the piece, Miller pours white or rapid-set cement into silicone molds and then tops each one with concrete countertop sealant. She chose some of her unique mold shapes such as bones and hands to suit the quirky nature of Austin. “It’s just a town of weird people,” Miller laughs. “Someone is going to put this [skull or] fist on their mantle, and it’s going to be perfect for them.” Shop her handcrafted wares at awkwardauntie.com or locally at Nina Berenato Jewelry and Art For the People Gallery.

—Madeline Hollern

What to Do in Lubbock

Sip locally grown sangiovese and learn about Buddy Holly in the late musician’s hometown. By

THOSE WHO DISMISS Lubbock as a metropolitan blip in the Panhandle have obviously never seen a pastel sunset in the West Texas sky. Located about 375 miles northwest of Austin in the High Plains, this gateway to the American West is more than the home of Texas Tech University; it’s the cultural cornerstone of the region. And considering October is Texas Wine Month, there’s no better time to visit the region where more than two-thirds of the state’s grapes are grown.

Jessica Dupuy

Wine

In the heart of downtown, Burklee Hill Vineyards is housed in the early 20th-century Kress Building, which is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. Enjoy a glass or two from one of the top grape-growing families in Texas, and savor its tasty menu of sandwiches, small bites, and pizzas. As the proprietor and winemaker of McPherson Cellars , Kim McPherson has long championed grapes such as sangiovese, carignan, and albariño as varieties best suited for the West Texas heat and soil. McPherson got his start

From left: The private dining greenhouse at The Nicolett in downtown Lubbock; a pasta dish at the fine dining restaurant.

at Llano Estacado Winery, which his father, “Doc” McPherson, cofounded in 1976. Today, it’s one of the largest wineries in the state, with winemaker Jason Centanni crafting some of the top vino in Texas. For a scenic drive, head west about 40 miles southwest to Brownfield’s Farmhouse Vineyards to sip a few private labels and stroll its lush vineyards.

Dine

Lubbock native Finn Walter draws upon his extensive experience in Paris, Austin, and Santa Fe to meld West Texas flavors with elevated culi-

nary technique at The Nicolett . Sample dishes such as Piñon-smoked quail or pozole with Rancho Gordo beans and green chiles. Cocina de La Sirena is a local favorite for modern Latin American cuisine like braised short rib tostadas and tequilamarinated flank steak. Craving barbecue? Evie Mae’s holds up against any Central Texas favorite, and its rich banana pudding is worth the trek alone.

Stay

Take advantage of the sleek, urban feel of the Cotton Court Hotel, with industrial-chic accents and a nod to the decades of cotton farming that has framed Lubbock’s agricultural region. For a more “highrise” experience, book a west-facing room at the Overton Hotel to soak in incredible West Texas sunsets.

Explore

Experience a taste of 1950s rock ‘n’ roll at the Buddy Holly Center or take in an evening show at the old Cactus Theater, a Lubbock landmark hosting live music, theater, and movies since 1938. Football fans can catch a Texas Tech home game at Jones AT&T Stadium: This month, the Red Raiders play TCU on Oct. 9 and Kansas State on Oct. 23.

San Angelo

Abilene

Austin

Lubbock

Texas Chainsaw Masterpiece

Using power tools as her paintbrush, Griffon Ramsey shapes organic canvases into fantastic creatures. By

Madeline Hollern

THEY SAY THE devil is in the details. Perhaps that’s why Griffon Ramsey is drawn to demonic subjects like Regan MacNeil from The Exorcist and Pennywise from It when carving her intricate wood, pumpkin, and ice designs with a chainsaw.

Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Ramsey first became curious about carving when she watched her grandfather whittle wood as a hobby. Her interest only grew as she saw artists perform with power tools for crowds. “On the Oregon coast, chainsaw carving is kind of a tourist thing,” she says. “After I saw [them make] totem poles, I was totally fascinated.”

Although she’d forged an art-based career in set design, movie makeup, and video production, Ramsey didn’t try carving with a chainsaw until her early 30s, when she was making a bold video for her new YouTube channel in 2011. “I just wanted to stand out,” she says of that first demonstration. “But then I got addicted to it.”

Ramsey now crafts her pieces from a combination of tools, such as angle grinders, finger sanders, and power gouges. For most of her wooden artwork, she utilizes Eastern red cedar in her Southeast Austin workshop. While the artist carves all kinds of shapes into her various mediums, her subjects tend to be on the darker side, such as skulls, aliens, and horror movie characters like Greta from The Gremlins

These pop culture images command a lot of attention on her Instagram page—which has more than 125,000 followers—especially around Halloween. But because the characters are so well known, their carvings also require a high level of precision: “The challenge there is that people have a real expectation for what it looks like,” she says. “I can make a dragon that looks kind of like anything and it’s still a dragon, but if I want to do Annabelle, Annabelle has a specific look.”

In addition to selling commissioned and freestyle pieces, Ramsey is drawn to the performative side of the business. She has competed in international chainsaw-carving competitions and was featured on the Food Network show Outrageous Pumpkins last fall. The sculpture artist enjoys doing demonstrations for crowds in Central Texas, and this season, she is teaching her second chainsaw-carving workshop for women at Pioneer Farms.

While her work is always stimulating, Ramsey notes the level of stamina required to carve for more than a couple of hours with 7- to 10-pound chainsaws. Plus, it does come with its fair share of occupational hazards. Although she hasn’t gravely injured herself yet, the artist has broken her knuckles with dive grinders and has a scar due to an accident with an angle grinder. “It’s not for the weak or the frightened, I suppose,” she says.

Griffon Ramsey (left) often carves horror movie characters, such as Pennywise from It (right).

All The Way Up

Watch out for these rising local musicians, who were selected to play at this year’s ACL Fest. By Bryan

GLANCING BACK AT Austin City Limits Music Festival lineups of years past, some names stand out more now than they did at the time. For example, Midland and Jackie Venson graced the fine print near the bottom of 2017 and 2018’s artist announcements, respectively, before their big breakouts. No doubt, performing at the event garners fans, but it’s the festival’s confidence to book them in the first place that portends a bright future for these up-and-coming musicians. At press time, this year’s event seemed likely to go on as scheduled, but whether or not ACL Fest 2021 ultimately happens, these five Austin artists have not only earned the trust of its discerning bookers but are also already well on their way to becoming household names.

The Tender Things

Self-described as “hippie country,” The Tender Things’ brand of roots music thrives on an edgy grit familiar to outlaw country artists from the Lone Star State. Twangy guitars echo with reverb as singer Jesse Ebaugh drawls out love ballads and odes to the Texas Gulf Coast. The band exudes a classic country appeal for fans of Willie Nelson or Gram Parsons. Ebaugh played in revered Austin folk rock band Heartless Bastards for a decade before launching this new project, and its first album, How You Make a Fool, features guest appearances by Patty Griffin and Robert Ellis. LISTEN TO: “The Secrets We Could Tell” from How You Make a Fool (2020)

Nané

It’s almost impossible not to like the funk-tinged R&B of Nané, which released its self-titled debut album in November 2020. Named after a term of endearment singer Daniel Sahad’s family called him in the Dominican Republic, Nané is among Austin’s buzziest bands. (Alabama Shakes singer and guitarist Brittany Howard even selected the band’s song “Blue Velvet” as one of five of her fa-

C. Parker

vorite NPR Tiny Desk submissions last summer.) Its sound recalls Prince’s smooth pop, as Sahad’s voice soars through anthemic choruses, easily navigating high and low registers. LISTEN TO: “Always On My Mind” from Nané (2020)

Zach Person

Following a lineage of Austin blues rockers like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gary Clark Jr., and Jackie Venson, newcomer Zach Person churns out gritty

Clockwise from top left: Sir Woman; Deezie Brown; The Tender Things.

guitar licks over the simple yet propulsive one-two punch of bass drum and snare. A contestant on the 2016 edition of American Idol, Person has a penchant for catchy riffs that get hips moving, but he adds his own proclivity for edgy, distorted guitars. The singer-songwriter’s gravelly croon works as the unifying component and magnetic charm that defines his sound. Person released his self-titled debut album this past April and was scheduled to tour Europe in early fall. Now, he’s ready to cement his name among the vanguard of hot new Austin artists. LISTEN TO: “Can’t Stop Running” from Zach Person (2021)

Sir Woman

Perhaps best known as the singer for acclaimed Austin band Wild Child, Kelsey Wilson adopted the moniker Sir Woman when she embarked on a solo musical project in 2019. Built on her dynamic voice, Wilson’s soulinfused pop has been met with the same enthusiasm as her previous band. After releasing an EP in October 2020, Wilson followed up with a new single, “Party City,” this summer. With bouncing keys and brass, the jubilant pop song offers a preview of Sir Woman’s impending full-length debut, planned for release later this year. In May, the band opened one of the shows during Black Pumas’ five-night run at Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater, and Sir Woman’s inclusion on this year’s ACL Fest bill continues its steady rise. LISTEN TO: “Highroad” from Bitch (2020)

Deezie Brown

All eyes have turned to Austin’s rising rap scene in recent years, and Deezie Brown is among the city’s most lauded stars. Raised in Bastrop, Brown prides himself on making hip hop informed by old-school southern hip hop artists like UGK and OutKast, especially apparent on his most recent EP, Geto Gala. However, most of his 2018 full-length album, Judith, drew comparisons to modern rap artists like Kanye West. Last October, Brown collaborated with basketball star Chris Bosh, who has recently tried his hand at music production, on a track called “I Want It All,” which paid homage to the late Kobe Bryant. LISTEN TO: “Blue State” from Geto Gala (2021)

Novel Idea

In her latest book, local author Chandler Baker gives The Stepford Wives concept a gender flip, imagining a world where husbands handle the domestic duties.

By Madeline Hollern

FOR MANY WOMEN, the quest to “have it all” is a fantasy: a lofty ambition that it’s possible to maintain a successful career, rock-solid marriage, thriving children, and sparkling clean house, all while getting plenty of sleep and exercise. But despite modern gender advancements, most working mothers still get stuck with the brunt of housework and child-rearing responsibilities on top of their full-time jobs, rendering unrealistic and unfair expectations.

Author Chandler Baker deftly explores these all-too-common domestic inequities in her new book, The Husbands. The plot follows Nora Spangler, a 35-year-old corporate lawyer, wife, and mother living in Austin who is up for partner at her job and pregnant with her second child. As Spangler struggles to balance her work and home

life, she and her husband consider moving to a bigger house in the fictional Dynasty Ranch subdivision, an idyllic master-planned community that feels straight out of West Austin.

Upon getting to know the female residents of this posh neighborhood—ultra-successful careerwomen who hold titles like CEO of a tech company, neurosurgeon, and award-winning author— Spangler is shocked to discover that their husbands handle nearly all responsibilities on the home front, from picking up the dry cleaning and cooking dinner every night to driving the kids to their violin lessons. It’s only when she takes on a wrongful death case in the community, in which a husband has perished during a house fire, that she unravels the secret way these women have pulled off this elusive balance.

LET’S HEAR IT

An avowed multitasker, Baker often listens to audiobooks while doing other activities. Here are three of her picks.

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson “It’s about children that spontaneously combust, and a woman that goes to be their nanny. It’s this bizarre concept, but it’s so tenderhearted and warm.”

The Last Thing They Told Me by Laura Dave “It’s like a scavenger hunt through Austin. A woman’s new husband is suddenly accused in an Enronesque scheme, so he disappears and leaves her a note to protect his teenage daughter. She has to figure out where he went, what happened, or if he’s guilty.”

The Hunting Wives by Mary Cobb

“It’s about a group of Texas women who have a shooting range club, and someone is murdered. I like it because it’s a bit spicy for mainstream fiction.”

While the author did not base Spangler on herself, she did channel her own experiences when developing the main character. Baker is also a 35-year-old married corporate attorney who penned the book while pregnant with her second child. “There was a time after my daughter’s birth that I had considered actually asking for a reduction in pay at my job, because I just wanted to do anything to reduce the guilt of feeling like I’m failing on both fronts,” she remembers.

The prolific Dallas-born author, who first moved to Austin in 2008 to attend UT Law School, has written six young adult books. She made waves with her first novel for adults, 2019’s Whisper Network , which centered on corporate culture for women. The book was a New York Times bestseller and was also chosen as a pick for Reese Witherspoon’s book club.

While conceptualizing The Husbands, Baker considered the plots of both The Stepford Wives and Get Out, envisioning a modern twist on their tropes. “[In these films], we’ve seen the more traditionally empowered class using [their power] to further subvert the less empowered class,” she says. “I thought it would make more sense to flip it the other way around and do it in a way that you could justify people using The Stepford Wives’ scheme.”

Since debuting in August, her new novel has struck a chord with readers and critics alike. It was named a Good Morning America book club pick and is also being turned into a movie starring Kristen Wiig. Baker is currently writing the screenplay for the film, which will be produced by Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment. After reading her novel, she hopes that people will put more thought into gender norms inside the household and all that is heaped upon working mothers in the modern era. “We’re living in this society that is still predicated on the idea that one parent is going to be able to go to work full-time and one is going to stay home, but for most people, that’s not happening,” Baker says. “It’s a real dinosaur of a previous era that has combined with technology to make employers expect us to be plugged in all the time.”

Let Them Eat Cake!

To spread the gospel of his baking bona fides, Raymie Fuentes has been known to employ some unconventional means. After moving to town in the summer of 2020, for instance, the pastry chef briefly exchanged confections for Instagram followers at Zilker Park. Then, last June, the recent Emmer & Rye hire walked into Royal Blue Grocery on Rainey Street and declared that they should start selling slices of rainbow cake to celebrate Pride Month. Sure enough, Fuentes went to work

creating a seven-layer almond variety that graced their bake case for only a couple of hours before selling out. Now, his impromptu side project can be found in all six Royal Blue locations in Austin, and he’s eyeing an expansion into other specialty stores like Central Market and Whole Foods. Craving something festive? In addition to his rotating cake slices, the chef also sells seasonal pastries like pumpkin tarts and eggnog macarons.

—Chris Hughes

Tropic Like it’s Hot

Tiki Tatsu-Ya’s Cory Starr breaks down the tiki ingredients to know, the gospel on glassware, and the category’s star cocktails (*Mai Tai not included). By Laurel Miller

5 INDISPENSIBLE INGREDIENTS

Orgeat

When it came to this opaque almond syrup—a key component of a Mai Tai—Starr opted for an extra hit of umami by mixing in shiro miso.

Falernum

The addition of pho spice to the typical notes of lime, ginger, and clove inspired Starr to name his twist on the Caribbean staple: pholernum.

Gardenia Mix

The cocktail equivalent of Ramen Tatsu-Ya’s flavorful “bombs,” the seasoned honey butter gets a West Indies makeover here courtesy of ghee and East Indian spices.

Fassionola

Starr riffed on the fruit punch profile of the oft-recreated original with pomegranate, tart cherry, passion fruit, guava, and the Japanese citrus sudachi.

Cream of Coconut

Crucial in a Painkiller or Tradewinds, Starr’s rendition dials up the flavor with the addition of Thai coconut yogurt, coconut water, and miso.

Beyond a Mai Tai

❶ Jungle Bird

Often one of the more eye-catching concoctions, Starr makes his even more chic with blackstrap rum, Campari, Steen’s Cane Syrup, lime, and a fluffy cap of aerated pineapple juice.

❷ Port Light

Few cocktails in the tiki canon contain whiskey, but this 1961 Ohio-based invention bucks tradition with bourbon, port wine, passion fruit, lemon, and grenadine.

❸ Suffering Bastard

Created in 1942 at Shepheard’s Hotel in Egypt as a hangover helper for allied troops, Starr’s ups the boozy benefits of the brandybased beverage with Texas gin, shochu, Cynar, ginger, and an ume plum shrub.

❹ Zombie

This 1934 Donn Beach creation was once a closely guarded secret, but Tiki Tatsu-Ya is more than happy to disclose the contents of their update: cinnamon syrup, pholernum, fassionola, Chinese five-spice “herbstura,” and a hefty blend of citrus and rums.

Heart of Glass

Drinking vessels and non-edible garnishes (swizzle sticks, umbrellas, plastic animals, etc.) have been integral to tiki cocktail culture since the 1950s, when “Polynesian” imagery became a part of its kitschy tendencies. Today, the country’s top tiki-themed bars distinguish themselves with custom glassware and design, including the Tatsu-Ya family’s entry. Austin-based illustrator Tony Canepa created the menu art and some of the vessels, like the Zombie set-up featuring a round glass bowl surrounded by LED lights. Others, like the S.O.S. Banzai! Boat and Skeleton Cruise, were designed by Cory Starr himself.

Saturn

Played: shot + a beer. Upgrade: a mini Kingston negroni served with this tiki drink made from Japanese gin, lemongrass shochu, miso orgeat, pholernum, passion fruit, a starfruit cordial, and lemon.

Almost Paradise

Pastry

savant Tavel Bristol-Joseph

gets introspective on a Caribbean passion project he swears will change Austin dining forever. By Chris Hughes

LIKE MOST 18-YEAR-OLDS,

Tavel Bristol-Joseph didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. After navigating a difficult childhood, in which his troubled father died at an early age, simply discovering who he was consumed most of his headspace. “That’s how crazy my life was,” he says. “I didn’t have time to sit back and figure out what I wanted to be. It was just, I’m going to be whatever I can be.”

The only thing that was apparent to him at the time was his strengths in two very different endeavors: cooking and basketball.

Just a year away from arriving in New York from his native Guyana, he’d spent plenty of time in his home kitchen, baking pound cake, cookies, and fresh bread for the Sunday school at his aunt’s church. But his time on the city’s storied basketball courts was just as meaningful to him. A Lakers fan in Knicks country (“now that takes some backbone,” he likes to joke), he spent as much effort on his post moves as his culinary game. That was, until one fateful afternoon when his mom showed up to watch him play in a pickup game in Brooklyn.

“I was terrible that day,” he says with a laugh. “I think part of it was that she’d never really seen me play before, and I was just nervous. But afterward, she put her arm around me and asked me how I did. I admitted I was really, really bad. The next day, she enrolled me in culinary school.”

A big believer in his uncle’s mantra of “choose one thing, and make sure you’re the absolute best at it,” Bristol-Joseph abandoned those Kobe dreams and went to work wowing in the pastry program at the New York Restaurant School. Besides his daily coursework, the city’s diverse dining scene furthered his education as he happily ate his way through Italian, Thai, and Puerto Rican cuisine for the first time. No opportunity to cultivate his palate proved too small. For instance, if anyone in his family was heading to the supermarket, he immediately latched on to peruse the produce aisle.

“[Canje] is going to shift the needle in Austin’s culinary scene.”

“I had never had a strawberry or kiwis. Hell, I’d never even had an American apple,” he says. “So, I was like a sponge taking in everything I could.”

That insatiable appetite to experience other cultures, to explore through the medium of food, is even more apparent today. The co-owner of Emmer & Rye Hospitality Group, Bristol-Joseph now oversees six distinct concepts that run the gamut from a Basque-style tapas bar to a cerebral New American concept obsessed with heritage grains to a live-fire restaurant where frozen desserts

Decorated pastry chef

Tavel Bristol-Joseph explores the foods of his native Guyana at Canje.

(like the matcha-shrouded kakigori) are presented in juxtaposition to a host of smoky proteins. It’s a range that helped earn the pastry maestro a nod as one of Food & Wine magazine’s Best New Chefs of 2020.

But what next to give his adopted hometown, a place he’d already introduced the unique pleasures of deeply caramelized Basque cheesecake and Japanese shaved ice that reaches mountainous heights? This time, he turned back home.

At his latest concept, Canje, which opens this month, you’ll discover offerings like red snapper braised in a coconut fish broth and a beef pepper pot gilded with orange peel, fresh ginger, chiles, and cinnamon sticks. It’s the type of Afro-Caribbean food he’d spot simmering on his mother’s stove in Brooklyn, and that he still finds himself making when he’s not on the clock. More importantly, it’s a category that he took for granted in New York—yet has been sorely lacking for representation in Austin. Because of that dearth, he doesn’t hesitate when he brazenly says that Canje “is going to shift the needle in Austin’s culinary scene.”

Whereas his chef partner, Kevin Fink, often takes the reins on the Emmer & Rye Group’s savory side of the operation, Canje will be different. Considering the uber-personal scope of the project, Bristol-Joseph will doff his pastry toque to spearhead much of the direction on their East Side Caribbean spot. Located in the former Last Straw space, the duo’s latest concept considers the entire Caribbean diaspora—particularly its amalgam of influences, such as East Indian, Portuguese, African, and native Taino.

Get Bristol-Joseph talking about the latter, and he’ll regale you with the origin story of jerk chicken, which the indigenous tribe helped forge alongside African slaves. At Canje, the chef puts his own riff on the classic by subbing a dry rub for fresh ingredients that have been blended and then aged for months. It’s the type of inventiveness that made him excited enough to marginally divert his gaze from his sweets legacy. “If I was ever going to do a savory concept, it only made sense for me to do the food I grew up with and am so passionate about,” he says.

The Way Bakso

A West Java native brings some of Indonesia’s greatest street foods to Burnet Road.

By Chris Hughes

A mammoth beef rib marinated in coriander, Indonesian bay leaf, and freshly ground galangal is braised for two hours, grilled over an open flame, then served bone-side up.

To draw out even more intensity in her broth, the chef simmers beef bones along with Chinese celery, fried shallots, and roasted garlic for hours.

IF YOU’VE HEARD of the Indonesian meatball soup bakso, chances are, you probably got the rec from former President Barack Obama, who famously proclaimed his love for the dish during a trip to Jakarta in 2010. It’s something chef Yeni Rosdiyani mentions herself when pointing out the lack of Indonesian options across the state. But with her new trailer, Yeni’s Fusion, she not only hopes to amend that shortage but to create a new batch of bakso believers.

To achieve “springy” meatballs, Rosdiyani adds egg whites and tapioca starch to the mix of ground chicken and beef.

“Because there’s no bread, I describe them as my most keto-friendly dish,” she says.

In place of typical garnishes like hard-boiled egg and bok choy, Yeni’s version opts for slabs of fried tofu and a crispy wonton as big as a New York pizza slice.

Sexual Reeling

While a number of illnesses have been on the wane, STDs have found a prime breeding ground during COVID times.

By Kim Krisberg

AAS MANY AUSTINITES spent endless dreary months disconnected and lusting for life as we knew it, a number of illnesses also took a brief hiatus in the first year of the pandemic. The flu, for instance, pretty much disappeared. But not sexually transmitted diseases, which built upon a solid foothold that’s only been getting bigger every year. “COVID didn’t slow people down from having sex,” says Steven Tamayo, outreach and testing manager at Kind Clinic, a local sexual health and wellness clinic. “It just changed how they had sex.”

In case you weren’t sure, wearing face masks and getting it on outdoors doesn’t stop STDs. Last year, Tamayo reports, Kind Clinic screened over 2,300 people. More than 200 tests came back positive for chlamydia, nearly 200 were positive for gonorrhea, and over 60 tested positive for syphilis. “And that was in the middle of a pandemic,” he says.

Not surprisingly, demand for STD testing at the clinic’s North Austin walk-in site, which offers the service for free, ticked up as vaccines rolled out. By June of this year, the clinic had screened more than 3,000 people, diagnosing and treating hundreds of positive cases.

Austin is hardly alone in facing a nonstop current of STDs. In April, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that U.S. STD cases reached an all-time high in 2019 for the sixth year in a row. Using that CDC data, California

research company Innerbody Research ranked the top 100 U.S. cities by STD rates. Austin came in at 62.

The most commonly reported diseases, at 2.5 million cases, were chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis, the latter of which the U.S. had actually been on the verge of eliminating just 20 years ago. All three STDs have been on the rise in Texas for years, according to the latest data from state health officials. The diseases can have serious consequences, including infertility or severe pregnancy complications, if left untreated. Letting them circulate without stronger intervention may also

SEX ED

A brief glance at STD numbers in the city.

No. 62

Where Austin ranks among U.S. cities with the highest STD rates.

1,247

Number of STDs per 100,000 Austin residents in 2019.

34%

The combined total of STD increases in Travis County from 2014 to 2018.

18-25 years

The age group in Austin with the most STDs among those tested at Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas’ clinics.

From top: Steven Tamayo testing manager at Kind Clinic; the clinic offers drop-in testing at its North Austin location.

mean fewer treatment options in the future as diseases like gonorrhea develop resistance to the medicines that treat it.

“Knock on wood, we haven’t seen it in Texas yet,” says Elizabeth Cardwell, lead clinician at Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, which has seen rising STD cases in all the communities its clinics serve, “but it’s a smart bug and keeps mutating.”

Many of the factors driving up these record rates are the same that have always dogged STD prevention, namely stigma and access to care, says Paige Padgett Wermuth, assistant professor at UTHealth School of Public Health in Houston.

At the same time, she says, it’s probably no coincidence that STD rates are going up as investments in prevention go down. An analysis from the National Coalition of STD Directors found federal STD funding has declined 40 percent in purchasing power since 2003, meaning those on the frontlines at local health departments face rising rates with stagnant resources.

The Affordable Care Act increased insurance coverage of STD testing, but Wermuth says fewer dollars for public STD clinics, which often specialize in confidential, sex-positive care, ends up leaving many without testing options they feel safe about.

At Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, which has four clinic sites within Austin city limits, the highest numbers of diagnosed STD cases are typically among 18- to 25-year-olds, says Cardwell. And while demand for STD services declined considerably during the first year of the pandemic, it was nearly back up to original levels by this summer.

Luckily, some help could finally be on the way. Last November, for the first time in more than two decades, the Texas State Board of Education revised its sex education curriculum. Right now, the majority of Texas school districts either don’t teach sex ed or only focus on abstinence, according to Jen Biundo, director of policy and data at the Austin-based Texas Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. (The Austin Independent School District already has a fairly comprehensive sex ed program that covers STDs.)

With the new Texas curriculum standards, which go into effect in 2022, all students should get a basic education in sexual health. “For many kids, this will be the very first time they’re getting medically accurate information on STDs and prevention,” says J.R. Chester, project director at the campaign. “Taking the shame out of this is a huge factor.”

The funding situation could be shifting, too. President Biden’s American Rescue Plan tapped billions of dollars to hire more public health workers, who are usually charged with local STD prevention and control—when they’re not dealing with a raging pandemic. There are also proposals in Congress to boost the CDC’s STD funding.

More resources couldn’t come soon enough. Experts like Wermuth say that even if 2020 data shows COVID-19 did blunt the trajectory of STDs, it’s likely just a brief pause. “That’s the thing with STDs—there’s always going to be sex, so they’re always brewing.”

Keep Austin Green

The larger the city gets, the more we overtax our precious natural resources. But there are now several initiatives to save the great outdoors.

By Emma Schkloven

Soil

Acres of greenery provide mini oases from Austin’s ever-increasing sprawl. But construction compacts soil, leading to erosion and contamination, among other unpleasantness. While no local conservation programs specifically target soil, says Matt McCaw of Austin Parks and Rec, holistic management of our natural resources “is, in the course of events, going to improve soil health.” Prescribed burns and native seeding—used to restore grassland—also bring nutrients back to our dirt, feeding everything in it.

Water

As urbanization butts up against nature, all those car oils, take-out containers, and doggy doos are literally spilling into our streams as runoff. “Bacteria is one of the problems we’re seeing most,” says Liz Johnston of Austin’s Watershed Protection Department. Expanding green stormwater infrastructure, like residential rainwater harvesting, into developed areas helps, but Austinites also can assist by actually following trail signs, resisting the urge to over-fertilize gardens, and picking up after Fido, she adds.

Invasive Species

We don’t mean the Californians. Or the harmful algae in Lady Bird Lake (it’s not actually invasive), Johnston says. We’re talking about zebra mussels, which may be one of the evil algae’s causes. The pesky stowaways snuck into the Colorado River by barnacling onto boats and hitching rides. “Once an invasive species invades a place, it’s really hard to get rid of them,” she explains. “You have to just manage for them.” In that vein, ecologists are using a clay-like material to try and curb the growth of said algae.

Chris Beard

UT Men’s Basketball Coach

In 2019, coach Chris Beard led the Texas Tech Red Raiders on a thrilling title run that culminated in a nail-biting overtime defeat in the championship game. A historic achievement in Lubbock, Beard was rewarded with AP National Coach of the Year honors and public recognition for his place among the college greats. Two years later, the Irving, Texas, native shocked the sports world by decamping to his alma mater on the Forty Acres. On the cusp of launching a new era in Longhorn basketball, Beard sat down to discuss his undergrad days, country music legends, and the (largely) misunderstood Bobby Knight. Interview by Chris Hughes

How did you fall in love with basketball?

I think it was that I got to play it all the time. You need at least five people to play football, right? Baseball is the same kind of thing. But basketball is this beautiful thing where you have all kinds of access: You can play late at night at the park or early morning in your own driveway. I was also blessed to play with two High School Hall of Fame coaches in Mike Kunstadt [Irving High School] and Terry Priest [The Woodlands High School]. Coach Kunstadt is this iconic figure now, and I got to play for him long before his celebrity.

You were recruited to play at other colleges, but you chose not to play and attend UT. Why?

It’s basically the same thing I’m selling today in recruiting. I call it the triple threat. The success of Texas athletics speaks for itself, especially with how powerful the brand is. But there’s also the academic piece. The slogan “what starts here changes the world”—I believe that. It’s not something you just slap on a T-shirt or koozie. It’s actually true. Go to the dining hall in your dorm, and you

bump into an Olympic swimmer and one of the best jazz musicians in the world. Third: Austin, Texas, is one of the best cities in the world. It has the feel of a college town, but it’s also a nice city where you can get a real meal at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday, then go see some live music.

How did you get involved with being a student assistant on Tom Penders’ staff when you were an undergrad?

I was in the business school for my first semester, but I’d already met Coach Penders, and I saw this path to getting involved in the program. Everyone told me, “You cannot drop out of Texas business school.” But I was at peace with what I was doing. I’m a no-backup-plan kind of guy. So, I got in this long, brutal line at the school to tell them I wanted to withdraw. I’ll never forget it, the lady at the desk pulled down her readers and just kind of looked at me. She said: “Son, you see that line of people? They’re trying to get in the school, are you sure you want to get out ?”

Later, you were an assistant under Bobby Knight at Texas

Tech. Was his irascible reputation earned, or was there a side of him that the public didn’t see?

Definitely both. There was a fiery side to Coach, a non-negotiable side to discipline, academics, and doing things the right way. He was a very demanding person. But what’s misunderstood is very real, too. He’s one of the most generous people I’ve met, both when it comes to philanthropy and especially coaching. In today’s world, coaches don’t get along, and everyone makes so much money, and there are all kinds of secrets. Coach Knight was from a different generation. He used to host coaching clinics and tell them everything that he knew. He really respected the game that way. I can say these things now because he’s older, and he won’t come down here and kick my ass.

Do you miss those days where there was more of an open dialogue among coaches?

Willie’s got that line: “Regret is just a memory written on my brow, and there’s nothing I can do about it now.” So, no, I’m not a big regret guy. But I do see the game differently. We invite coaches to come in all the time. My ideology is: No fluff. I really try to make the game better than it was in previous generations.

Speaking of country music, I heard that Jerry Jeff Walker sent you a video greeting during your 2019 championship run. True story. I’m not a reader—the only book I can ever remember reading as a kid was Where the Red Fern Grows— but I read Gypsy Songman in one sitting. I went from being a fan to becoming obsessed with Jerry Jeff after that. Somehow that got back to him, maybe after I dropped one of his lyrics in a press conference. When I got the video from him, I showed the whole team. Of course, they all said, “That’s cool, but who is that?” In our team text chain, I then made them all listen to “Mr. Bojangles.”

You famously hashed out your UT contract over Egg McMuffins in Plainview. I have to ask, is that your favorite fast-food item? No, McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwich. The one thing you can always count on: You never have to ask for extra tartar sauce on that thing.

AN EDUCATED LIFE

A GUIDE TO AUSTIN SCHOOLS

Whether you’re pre-K or post-grad, STEM-savvy or artsfocused, Austin has an abundance of options when it comes to educational institutions. In this section we feature exceptional places of learning in the Austin area.

AESA PREP ACADEMY

AESA Prep Academy is an elite K-12 college preparatory school offering rigorous academics in a charming atmosphere. AESA’s versatility and highly educated staff offer a hand-crafted experience for each student, unmatched global learning opportunities and community support. AESA (Academic Excellence for the Scholar, Athlete and Artist) is small by design with an average student to teacher ratio of 7:1. All schools in the AESA International School System are accredited and highly rated by Cognia. AESA is proud to have Windsor School Bahamas of Albany as their latest addition. In response to COVID-19, AESA continues to meet the needs of every family offering on-campus, remote and hybrid learning. We are one of the only schools in the nation equipped with on-site rapid testing, custom-built outdoor classrooms, and hospital-grade air purification.

THE GIRL’S SCHOOL OF AUSTIN

The Girls’ School of Austin provides an academically challenging education for girls in a community that fosters creative learning and personal excellence. Our mission is to develop confident young women who lead intellectually vibrant and fulfilling lives. Our students are routinely asked to take on all of the roles in their classrooms and on the campus at large. They are researchers, analysts, writers and scientists. They are athletes, artists, producers and even, comedians. They become comfortable as leaders and collaborators. Our girls graduate with a strong sense of accomplishment, both academic and personal, and a strong sense of who they are, which is empowering.

THE AUSTIN WALDORF SCHOOL

The Austin Waldorf School is nestled on 27 wooded acres and is celebrating 39 years of educational excellence. The school serves 390 students K-12. Austin Waldorf provides an integrated curriculum, balancing the academics with artistic and practical disciplines. In ad -

dition to the rich academic curriculum, all students receive instruction in two foreign languages, music, gym, handwork, woodworking and fine arts. The school also offers competitive athletic teams.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS AND DIOCESE OF AUSTIN

The curriculum in our Catholic schools is designed to prepare students for college and beyond. Serving pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, the Catholic schools provide a Christ-centered education in which Catholic identity permeates the entire curriculum, encouraging our students to reach their fullest capacity (teaching the whole child)—spiritually, academically, physically, and socially.

CHALLENGER SCHOOL

Since 1963, Challenger School has helped children excel by employing proven, effective methods in a fun and structured environment that inspires them to achieve. The Challenger difference is evident from the moment you set foot on campus. Students bubble with enthusiasm as they make connections between their prior knowledge and new concepts. In order to facilitate setting crucial learning patterns, Challenger accepts students as young as 2 years 9 months. Yet in all grades, the school’s acclaimed, intellectually stimulating programs establish a foundation of achievement with clear results. On 2019 national standardized tests, Challenger K-8 students averaged well above the 90th percentile. Come take a tour!

KIRBY HALL SCHOOL

At Kirby Hall School, our passion is helping students to discover their intellectual gifts from pre-K4 through 12th grade. We offer academic rigor in a loving, nurturing environment made possible by small class sizes. Our comprehensive curriculum is available online as needed, and virtual info sessions and tours can be scheduled at admissions@kirbyhall.org.

✖ BY TANYA SEPULVEDA ESTES

Sunken ghost towns, hair-raising tales of tragedy, and rumors of specters and monsters of all types. Welcome to the paranormal side of the capital city.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHNNY DOMBROWSKI ✖

CREEK  SHOAL

A LONG AND shallow creek winds through the center of modern-day Austin, its adjacent park a family-friendly playground to disc golfers and drum circles. But beneath its wooded canopy lies something far more sinister: Namely the ghosts of lost bodies. Large mounds of mass graves once loomed over Shoal Creek, containing sacred burials of the Tonkawa that once inhabited this land. But these are not the graves that still haunt us. No, the spirits seen to hikers along the trail come from those lost in the wake of murder and plague, buried quickly in shallow graves.

Native American clashes in the 1840s, with people who settled on land beyond Austin’s original western border, resulted in a bloody history that seems to only focus on one man: Gideon White. Despite the obvious dangers, White situated his family home by the creek and

O. Henry’s Cursed Treasure Hunt

paid a fatal price during “The Shoal Creek Massacre” of 1842, a dramatic moniker for a fight between him and a Native American warrior. While White is now buried in Austin’s Oakwood Cemetery, his murdered foe was dumped in an unmarked grave along the creek. Some claim to have seen their ghosts, as though hunting each other beyond the veil, leaving frigid air in their wake as tangible proof that their fight isn’t over. Disease also cursed Shoal Creek when George Custer and his troops camped in the woods during Reconstruction in 1865. Cholera killed as many as 40 men, and hasty burials along the bank meant many were unaccounted for when they exhumed the bodies years later. Even today, human bones have periodically emerged in the wake of storms, but after centuries of violence, one wonders how many more lie hidden beneath the mud.

Beneath the light of a midnight moon in 1894, writer O. Henry (William Sidney Porter) and his friends crept through the woods along Shoal Creek in search of a buried treasure with a cursed reputation. Hidden along the bank by two thieves in 1836, it represented the entire payroll for Santa Anna’s Mexican Army in Texas. One thief had supposedly murdered the other and drained his blood over the treasure’s burial ground to create a patron, or a ghostly guard. O. Henry set forth to find it, undeterred by its ill repute, but ran away when he heard screams emanating from the woods. Discovering the shrieks came from a man who’d escaped a nearby asylum, the writer returned for several more fruitless attempts. Although denied any pilfered wealth, he’d earned a priceless story.

Lake Buchanan

All lakes have secrets, things buried in their depths that remain unknown to those joyfully swimming laps on the surface. Lake Buchanan is no different, harboring the abandoned buildings and cemetery of Old Bluffton at the bottom of its waters. Unlike Friendship, the town buried under Granger Lake, the residents of Old Bluffton had no time to relocate their cemetery after Buchanan Dam was built in 1937. A flash flood filled the lake, and residents were forced to abandon everything. Only during severe drought does the lake reveal the names of its dead, as they show through the shallow depths on each perfectly preserved tombstone.

Jacob’s Well

Sometimes it’s the silence of a place that frightens us. Other times, it’s the dark. Jacob’s Well, a natural spring in Wimberley, has both. At the bottom of a 30-foot drop lie harrowing chambers that extend almost 140 feet deep and are fraught with danger. Dead-end tunnels and loose gravel have claimed the lives of divers who ignored the history of those that never returned from the abyss—only some of whom were ever found. Native Americans once thought elemental spirits lived in the well. Many now believe that the spirits are the ghosts of the numerous divers that have drowned in the quiet darkness below.

Red Bud Isle

Nestled in the middle of the Colorado River is an island that Austin pet lovers know well, a special space where dogs can frolic in the water or walk off-leash. What most people don’t realize is that the island was created from the remnants of tragedy, formed from the debris of homes swept away in the flood of 1900. Fifteen years later, a second flood (this one killing 60 people) added to the unnatural formation. Since those events, many Austinites have claimed the orbs of light that dance below the water at night are the souls lost in the cataclysmic storms.

Moore’s Crossing

By day, Moore’s Crossing is a pedestrian bridge used by hikers and bicyclists. By night, the ghosts of the floods that swept through Onion Creek in 1915 and 1921 are said to lurk in the trees that surround it, their disembodied voices reported by many local residents. Perhaps most disturbing is that of a white man hung for his relationship with an African-American woman. Not only have many seen him swinging from the rafters, but they also say you can still hear the noose scraping against the metal.

Above: Tombstones buried beneath Lake Buchanan. Right: The perilous Jacob’s Well in Wimberley.

THE BODY SNATCHERS TEXAS

A CENTRAL POND and paved sidewalks winding beneath shady trees offer visitors of the Texas State Cemetery the experience of walking through a tranquil outdoor museum, where the artistic beauty of the headstones feels more like a sculpture garden than a graveyard. No other state has an equivalent final resting place dedicated to their historical and famous dead, and the beauty of its surroundings casts a Stepford façade to the macabre means behind many of its greatest acquisitions.

Founded in 1851 as the “state burying ground” for notable Texans, it began with a lone military general and an aspiration to display the remains of Stephen F. Austin. Although they initially failed in their pursuit of the “father of Texas,” entire sections began filling up with those killed during the Civil War. Around 2,000 Confederate graves, all with matching white headstones,

dotted the grounds. And yet, the local landmark still yearned for some monuments with more pizzazz.

In 1910, new measures were taken to claim the remains of Stephen F. Austin in Brazoria County, including a resolution that passed both houses of the Texas Legislature, after Austin’s descendants finally gave approval. For years, his sister preferred he rest in the family plot on the Peach Point Plantation, meaning the resolution wasn’t passed until decades after Austin’s death. With statewide fanfare, people gathered at the site on Oct. 18 to see what the gravediggers would find. This included a 60-page book that detailed the removal of his “bones…and as much of the sacred dust as could be collected.” Flag-waving children threw flowers on his coffin as it moved from city to city until it finally reached Austin a day later. All the pomp and circumstance was

just the publicity they needed as they surged toward their next goal of collecting as many notable bodies as possible in time for the 1936 centennial of Texas independence.

Like rushing to decorate for a party, local businessman Louis Kemp led the frenzied effort. His first prizes were governors James Pinckney Henderson and Peter Hansborough Bell, and he didn’t stop until he filled 70 graves in time for the big event. One failed mission took Kemp’s men as far as Missouri, where they attempted to unearth the body of Stephen F. Austin’s father, Moses. When caught breaking into the tomb with picks and shovels, the suave Texas undertaker in charge claimed he had orders from the state. Afterward, Missouri officials were forced to embed Austin’s grave in a concrete slab to prevent any further looting.

In 2011, former State Cemetery superintendent Harry Bradley said, “We haven’t done anything like that since, and probably never will,” which makes it sound like the cemetery now only inters the newly dead. But he only meant that mass body hunts were over; individual raids are still very much on the table.

Like any museum, the State Cemetery is always on the prowl for the next flashy attraction. For example, Susanna Dickinson, the only Anglo female survivor of the Alamo. Dickinson’s descendants refused the state’s effort to move her body from Oakwood Cemetery, just a few blocks down the road, in 1936 and in the 1970s. In an effort to honor the family’s unanimous decision and appease the State Cemetery, Dickinson’s great-granddaughter, Willard Nitschke, worked with the Daughters of the Texas Republic to donate a memorial cenotaph in 1976. Yet in 2008, the State Cemetery went right back to its grave-digging ways.

Board members obtained permission to move her body from an unverified relative of Oscar Holmes, one of the husbands of Dickinson’s daughter. They knew state law requires permission by direct descendants, but a recording of a board meeting illustrates they wanted her body by any means necessary. “I don’t mind stepping on the city’s toes to do it,” one board member said, before discussing which city employees could help address any public or family outcry.

Seventy years after the raid on Moses Austin’s grave, Texas State Cemetery showed that they were still very much in the tomb-raiding business. In addition to Dickinson—again stymied when word reached her family—there were three coveted governors in nearby plots. As of now, they all remain at Oakwood Cemetery, leaving one to wonder if their efforts failed, or if the eyes of the Texas State Cemetery are still upon them.

GRAVE NEW WORLD

Three other historic cemeteries to visit.

Oakwood Cemetery

Victorian iron fencing, gothic angels, and crumbling tombstones abound in Austin’s oldest cemetery. Established in 1839, it features graves for towering names like Ima Hogg, Susanna Dickinson, and the victims of The Servant Girl Annihilator, America’s first serial killer.

Plummers Cemetery

Named after Black farmer Thomas P. Plummer, who owned the land and served as its sexton, the 19th-century African-American cemetery boasts a number of headstones that have sunk so deep in the earth, they’ve almost disappeared into the graves below.

Austin Memorial Park Cemetery

The newest of the historical spots (established in 1927), it’s where visitors can connect with our more star-studded deceased like literary legend James A. Michener, Star Wars actor Richard LeParmentier, and Frank Hamer, the Texas Ranger who killed Bonnie and Clyde.

THERE ARE TIMES when people are more dangerous than poisoned gas. In Burnet County, that time was the late 1800s. The place was Dead Man’s Hole. Though only 7 feet wide, the 155-foot drop felt like a gateway into hell as local villains utilized it as the perfect place to dispose of their crimes.

Created by a natural gas explosion, fumes still lurk in its depths—something that prevented full scientific exploration until 1951, when gas masks could be employed. What they uncovered were two caves along with a number of bones. Though a historical marker accounts for 17 recovered bodies, historians say it’s hard to pinpoint an exact number because of the state of the scattered remains. The one thing that can be confirmed, however, is how they got there.

During the Civil War, Confederate vigilantes, known as fire-eaters, hunted down those they suspected of being Union sympathizers in the area and hung them from nearby trees, later dumping their bodies in the hole. Lynched African-American bodies were also discarded there for decades afterward. Though the hole is now covered today by a metal plate, these victims are said to haunt the area, creating a chilling silence with extreme cold spots capable of piercing through the scorching Texas sun.

Swamp Thing

Behind the beautiful fans of palm fronds that give Palmetto State Park its tropical ambience is a swamp littered with mud volcanoes and alligators. In this setting, though, the vicious reptiles are the least of your worries. Visitors claim that grass and twigs move on their own, as if crushed by the weight of some lurking beast. Snapped branches have often been found in the wake of such mysterious movement. Those who have seen the monster describe it as a cross between a man and an ape, but its uncanny ability to camouflage itself has caused many to say it’s more of an “invisible man.”

Hairy Man Road

Though a paved sidewalk and ever-encroaching construction have dwindled the primitive atmosphere of this section of Round Rock, enough of the woods that once sheltered a feral boy still remain. In the late 1800s, a flash flood swept through Brushy Creek, separating him from his fleeing family. Traumatized, he hid in the woods and lived as a hermit who frightened passersby as he charged at them with his unusually long hair and beard. Dubbed “The Hairy Man,” he was sadly trampled by a speeding stagecoach, but his legacy lives on in the annual festival still held in his honor.

Paranormal investigators Nicole Riccardo and Devin Glasgow chat about

Austin’s newest otherworldly podcast.

CERTAIN STANDARDS ALMOST always appear in the paranormal investigations canon, but The Real Ghosts of… hosts Nicole Riccardo and Devin Glasgow imbue an entirely different vibe into their Austin-produced podcast. (Think less ominous voices or B-horror movie effects, more “grab your cocktails and let’s spill the tea.”) The sites they’ve explored so far also shy away from Austin’s historically haunted conventions, but the months’ worth of meticulous research they bring to each case is anything but casual.

On their first paranormal encounters:

DG: I’m not very in tune with it. I believe in it, but the direct contacts I’ve had haven’t been very

many. I heard a voice ask for my sister at one point. Never heard it again.

NR: When I was 8, my great-grandfather passed away. Shortly before, he gave me this old hat. It was this satin, beautiful baby blue, old newspaper boy cap. Not long after he passed, I was staying at my grandparents’ house, and I remember waking up at 3 a.m., look[ing] over in the doorway, and there was this figure that was that exact same baby blue color. It wasn’t a full-on person standing there; it was kind of this glowing mist in the shape of person.

On the podcast’s tone:

NR: As obsessed as we are with the paranormal, we feel like it’s almost a trope now: everything is super spooky, and dark, and scary. We do take this very seriously, but at the same time, if that’s all it was, it wouldn’t be a reflection of us. We wanted it to be more approachable. We wanted people to feel like, “You have your night in, so put on your sweatpants, grab your wine, sit down with your besties, and let’s talk about scary s**t.”

On consciously avoiding Austin’s historic haunted places:

DG: They’ve been done so many times. And we have gone into some places that have had investigations; our first road trip [was] the [Sheraton] Gunter Hotel in San Antonio, and that one’s a very well-known one. But our focus is to bring something new to the narrative.

NR: We want to find these things that once were such a big part of the history of this city, and now, they’re not known anymore. Like we discovered the whole Austin flood of 1900 [when we were] investigating Moonshine [Grill]. It was apparently the biggest tragedy in the city’s history. I had no clue about it; none of the workers we talked to there had any idea about it. It’s exciting getting to find all of these old events and occurrences that might otherwise have just been forgotten about or lost, and bring it to light again.

On ignoring skepticism:

DG: Everyone’s going to have their own belief system, but when I look at how many people here in Austin have shared their experiences —people that will say, “I didn’t believe in this stuff until it happened to me”—I think it’s just too widespread for it to be whatever people concoct as their alternative. Emma Schkloven

From left: Taylor Reneau, Nicole Riccardo, and Devin Glasgow of The Real Ghosts of... podcast.

Room 525

THE TALE

Two jilted lovers, separated by a century of history, roam The Driskill’s halls.

THE DETAILS

Like Stephen King’s infamous Room 217 in The Shining (changed to 237 in the Kubrick film), The Driskill has its own haunted suite where tragedy keeps repeating itself. Little is known of the first dead bride, a sort of ancillary ghost peppered in for flavor. The only thing confirmed is that she killed herself in Room 525 after her fiancé called off their wedding, and that she mournfully walks the halls in her Victorian gown.

The second bride is the more famous one, in part because she is a rare Gen X ghost who died in 1991—yet she still fits the trope of a young and beautiful woman who meets a terrible end. A Houston socialite who escaped to the hotel after being jilted at the altar, she went on a massive shopping spree with her lover’s purloined credit card and was last seen carrying several bags into Room 525. Later that night, while sitting in the bathtub, the bride put a gun in one hand and a pillow in the other, then shot herself. Since then, Driskill guests have claimed to see her carrying packages or a pistol down the hall before she vanishes into Room 525 without ever opening the door.

The Senator’s Daughter

THE TALE

A child meets an untimely end and continues to play among some of the hotel’s most storied features.

THE DETAILS

Edgar Allan Poe once said, “Of all melancholy topics…the death of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world...” He built a legacy on the backs of dead brides, much like ghost tour companies, podcasters, and writers that specialize in Austin’s tales of the macabre. But when it comes to gothic tropes, nothing competes with a ghost bride quite like a ghost child.

Legend says that a girl, rumored to be named Samantha Houston, tripped and fell to her death on the Driskill’s grand staircase and can since be heard giggling and bouncing a ball on its steps. Historians have long searched for any evidence to verify the tale, all to no avail. Considering the public setting and the headline-grabbing impli-

cations of the story, it seems to point to the apocryphal—even if some supernatural ball continues dribbling down the hotel’s staircase and into our nightmares.

Annie Lennox’s Ghost

THE TALE

The spirit of a suave Texas cowboy haunts traveling female rock stars.

THE DETAILS

The Driskill has been smoke-free for more than a decade, but that hasn’t deterred pockets of cigar smoke from being detected by unsuspecting guests. Some blame the hotel’s founder, Col. Jesse Driskill, who was known to frequently partake of a good stogie. Regardless, one cigar-wielding male ghost dressed in 19th-century cowboy clothing has appeared before many a female musician. Annie Lennox claimed he selected her stage outfit while she showered, and Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde wrote the song “Ghost of a Texas Ladies Man” after a night of enduring his ghostly shenanigans. He’s also been known to touch women on the arm or back, proving himself more worthy of a historical romance than a gothic novel.

The subject of this painting by Richard King is rumored to be Samantha Houston, the senator’s daughter.

LEADING

ILLUSTRATIONS BY

LAUREN CROW

PHOTOGRAPHS BY

SARA MARIE D’EUGENIO

THE WAY

From a former ACL Fest organizer who spearheaded the vaccine effort, to a sommelier modernizing the hospitality industry, to a beekeeper lobbying for the crucial pollinators, these 12 impressive women are changing Austin for the better.

CHAVEZ GINA

MUSICIAN

AFTER THE RELEASE of her La Que Manda EP in 2020, Gina Chavez is on a roll. The queer Latinx musician is garnering the kind of critical praise rarely awarded to an indie artist making both Spanish and English music, and she even nabbed a Latin Grammy nomination in November. After spending 2020 “live-streaming [her] face off” and appearing on Brené Brown’s podcast, Chavez is preparing for her second ACL Fest performance this month. Here, she discusses her new EP and being her own critic. —E. Ryan Ellis

When did you first get into music?

I had really incredible middle school and high school [choir] programs here in Austin... I learned how to use my voice as an instrument and found out I was pretty good at singing. Fast forward to college, I took my dad’s 1954 Martin [guitar] to campus at UT. I was a young guitar player who was too lazy to learn other people’s songs, and I started writing my own.

How did your new EP come together?

La Que Manda was supposed to be a full-length record, and I was still recording it in February [2020]. I went on tour and came back March 8, and the world shut down. I quickly was like, “OK, I guess I’m doing an EP.” I had one song left to finish, and it’s the title track, which had to be fire, because you can’t have an album named La Que Manda [“the woman in charge”] without a title track that melts your face. That song has a story of me wrestling with it, having 30 different versions that

weren’t working. Basically, I got in the studio and just screamed. That scream worked out and ended up allowing an indie artist from Texas that no one knew in the Latin community to come in and snag a Latin Grammy nomination.

What did last year look like for you?

I spent my year largely promoting the album, but it was really connecting with people. People would hear me on the Brené Brown podcast, and there were thousands of people that I was having actual conversations with in Instagram DMs. I mean, messages after messages of people talking about, “Oh, I love your music,” or “I’m Latina and queer,” and sharing their stories.

What is your process when performing?

Rehearsal is everything, because when you rehearse and you know your stuff, you can really enjoy the stage. I’m also now at the point where, not having label support or having A&R… I’m the person that’s looking at videos and being like, “Oh, you know, when I did that, I thought I looked really cool. I should probably do this instead.”

What’s coming up next for you?

I have a new track that is completely different. It’s basically a gay-fabulous remix of my song “She Persisted,” and we have a music video we are going to drop with queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race. It looks great. It was also, spoiler alert, my drag debut. I have so much respect and love for the drag community.

WHEN

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE owner Tim League interviewed Shelli Taylor in December 2019 to take over his job as CEO, the company was riding high. Beloved for its superior moviegoing experience, celebrity-approved festivals, and immersive events like JAWS on the Water, the cinematic juggernaut had cruised to 41 locations in 10 states. But by the time Taylor took the helm the following summer, the theater chain was in a tailspin. Government-mandated closures due to COVID-19 had led to furloughed staff, late payments, and a mountain of uncertainty.

Fortunately, the Southern California native was just the person to stop the bleeding. Known for being level-headed, Taylor had previously worked as a Starbucks executive for two decades, with tenures at Disney and Planet Fitness as well. The CEO knew that Alamo needed to take care of its employees, start negotiating its debt, hang on to some cash—and, most importantly, retain its cinema-loving soul. “There was a lot of ‘You should do X,Y, or Z [advice]’ that was way off brand,” she says. “For us, to stay on brand was really important.”

The company innovated by launching Alamo On Demand, its streaming service of rare and arthouse films, and offering private theater rentals to individuals. Although it ultimately filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and shuttered four locations, the filing allowed Alamo to get back on track, and in late May it announced that five new theaters would debut within the next year. After hosting its signature Fantastic Fest this fall, the brand plans to double down on movie parties and festivals in the future—so long as it’s safe to do so. “We’re driving as fast as we can to be back in person with events,” Taylor assures. —Madeline Hollern

XOCHI SOLIS • Connector

A THIRD-GENERATION AUSTINITE, mixed media artist, and community organizer, Xochi Solis is committed to bringing people together. After volunteering at every level of Future Front Texas (formerly Boss Babes ATX), Solis became its board president in 2020. The collective is geared toward connecting women and LGBTQ+ communities through marketplaces, a creative incubator program, a public workshop series, and more. Despite event and sponsorship cancellations, the group distributed more than $40,000 in grants and commissions and connected 1,000-plus people through virtual programming last year. This summer, the nonprofit officially rebranded as Future Front Texas, the result of a two-year process to find a name that better encompassed the group’s identity and future, acknowledging its reach well beyond Austin and its commitment to robust community support. Whether working through the nonprofit or on other endeavors, Solis’ challenge for locals remains the same: “Become an active and engaged community person. Know your neighbors. That sort of human connection is super important always, but especially during this time,” she says. —Courtney

Runn

SHELLI TAYLOR CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

LINDSEY

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN your job is to produce massive festivals, rallies, and conferences, but a global pandemic derails the ability for crowds to gather? If you’re Lindsey Sokol, you channel that skill set into making a difference.

As an employee of Austin-based C3 Presents for more than a decade, the Plano native quickly proved her talents as an organizer, spending her last four years with the company as festival director for ACL Fest and Lollapalooza. “I oversaw all the operations, budgets, staffing, city relations, you name it—I was the adult in charge of our major festivals,” she says.

Ready to strike out on her own, Sokol left C3 in 2019 to create two separate businesses: Guaranteed to Wrinkle, an intimate women’s membership organization centered around community and wellness events that she launched the year prior; and Blue Norther Live, a full-service event production company. Through the latter, she planned Beto O’Rourke’s presidential campaign launch in Texas and was gearing up to host the U.S. Conference for Mayors in Austin in June 2020. But that March, her momentum came to a screeching halt when South by Southwest got called off.

With no way of knowing when gatherings would return in the wake of COVID-19, Sokol started planning for what the future of events would look like. But her skills were sorely needed in the present. In June, she received a call from an emergency management consulting firm, Hagerty, which had a contract with the City of Austin and asked her to run operations to build an alternative care site at the convention center. “A lot of the smalltown hospitals were overflowing with patients,” she says. “We were building a hospital for what was to come.”

After completing the care site in September, her next project was more in her wheelhouse: She

needed support right now?’” she remembers. So, Sokol’s team filmed local musicians such as Shakey Graves and Parker McCollum performing sans crowds at venues like Continental Club and Mohawk, giving the shuttered spaces an opportunity to turn their lights back on, at least momentarily.

As the new year began, Blue Norther received another contract—this time from Travis County— which hired them to run operations for an ambitious endeavor. The mission? Getting Central Texans their COVID-19 shots. On weekends from March through June, the company set up a vaccination site at Circuit of The Americas, helping locals get their life-saving jabs from the comfort of their own cars. Because of its efficient drive-thru model, up to 8,000 residents were able to get vaccinated in a single day, and by the end of its run, more than 100,000 individuals had been inoculated at the pop-up sites.

After a year that was exceedingly difficult for so many, the event planner envisioned her next in-person festival to highlight one arena decimated during the pandemic: the local food system. Conceptualizing the idea with Trisha Bates, the founder of Austin initiative Urban American Farmer, the duo came up with Field Guide Fest. The two-day gathering pairs two dozen Central Texas farms with 24 area chefs, offering participants incredible farm-to-table meals and tastings, educational panels on everything from regenerative agriculture to seed breeding, and even tutorials on growing your own food. Comedor owner Philip Speer will act as chef curator and Olamaie owner Michael Fojtasek as chef advocate for the event, which happens Oct. 29-30 at various outdoor venues in town.

“We want everything that you’re eating and drinking at the festival to have a full experience, so that it could cause you to change your day-to-day

SOKOL FESTIVAL

produced Austin’s New Year’s Eve celebration for the second year in a row. While the previous iteration had taken place at Auditorium Shores, this version needed to be limited to a broadcast. “The city manager’s office specifically said, ‘What if we looked at Austin New Year’s virtually but helped support the music venues and local artists that

DIRECTOR

life, from where you’re buying your produce to learning to compost your food and what that does to the local ecosystem,” she says. As with all her events, Sokol says the goal is to give back to the city and its residents: “No matter what, we have to take care of ourselves, because life around us never stops.” —M. Hollern

ZAYYAT RANIA

SOMMELIER

IT DIDN’T TAKE long for Rania Zayyat to make a name for herself in the wine industry. After earning her chops at Pappas Bros. Steakhouse in Houston, she received her advanced pin from the Court of Master Sommeliers in 2015 and became the wine director at Austin’s Bufalina in 2019. But as Zayyat continued to advance in her career path, she began to see flaws in a profession overwhelmingly geared toward white men.

In 2018, amid the rise of the Me Too movement and her own reflections on past inequities and harassments at work, Zayyat began conducting weekly interviews with women she respected in the industry. As those conversations gained steam, she founded the Wonder Women of Wine Conference in March 2019, a gathering of more than 200 women to network and share their experiences of on-the-job discrimination. The success of the conference inspired her to start Lift Collective (then called Wonder Women of Wine), a nonprofit that supports marginalized people in wine and hospitality.

Among the major downfalls that Zayyat discovered in the wine industry was a lack of diversity in leadership roles and a dearth of female advisors. According to a 2020 gender survey conducted by Lift Collective and The Wine Nerd, both women and men agreed on the importance of mentorship for career advancement; however, twice as many women as men reported having less than two mentors, with 11 percent of women saying they had no mentor at all. Through her nonprofit, Zayyat is organizing a new program centered on mentorship, community, and connection.

Citing another alarming statistic, the sommelier notes that only 2.3 percent of venture capital funding went to women founders in 2020. This year, Lift Collective partnered with Cameron Diaz’s wine brand, Avaline, to award eight scholarships to female entrepreneurs. “It’s about giving women the spaces to create,” she says. “Women naturally care more about other people because they know what it’s like to be excluded.”

And Zayyat makes sure to practice what she preaches. While preparing for a Lift Collective program to highlight female-made wines at restaurants and retailers in Austin, she noticed that among Bufalina’s 300 bottles, only about 10 wines were made by women. So, the wine director went to work on her own list. Female-produced wines now have callouts on its online retail shop, and chalkboard features encourage diners to try cuvées from diverse winemakers. She’s also striving for better equity in pay and resources for industry workers.

“My dream for Austin is for us to be the leaders of changing the restaurant and hospitality industry to create more sustainable careers and environments,” says Zayyat, who was recently named as one of Wine Enthusiast ’s 40 Under 40 Tastemakers. “The hospitality community showed up for this city in the ‘snow-pocalypse’ and during the pandemic. These are some of the most giving, community-oriented groups that live here, and I would love to shift the narrative of how the community sees the people who work in restaurants.”

—Lara Hallock

IT’S ONLY FITTING that Sarah Eckhardt spent her first year as a state Senator duking it out within a volatile Texas legislative session. After all, the battles that her late parents—U.S. congressman Bob, the liberal lion who represented Houston’s 8th district, and Nadine, assistant to both LBJ and pen-wielding maverick Molly Ivins—waged against Dixiecrats and oil lobbyists are now the stuff of local legend. “[My parents] would often say, ‘When you make progress, you have to keep making progress because we’ll slide back,’” Eckhardt says. “Yes, the arc of the moral universe bends towards justice. But you have to bend it.”

The fight isn’t new to Eckhardt (D-District 14), who has spent the last two decades championing criminal justice reform, affordable healthcare, and climate-conscious policies during an illustrious career that’s taken her from Assistant County Attorney to Travis County Commissioner to County Judge.

After busting through so much red tape to create Travis County’s first-ever public defender office, add thousands of acres of green space including improvements to the Onion Creek Greenway, and navigate pandemic safety for 1.3 million Travis County residents, the progressive politician decided to move up a weight class and take on the acrimonious, party-led gridlock at the state governmental level. “I get up every day and think What can I do to serve today?” Eckhardt says. “Someday I won’t be an elected official, but hopefully, I’ll still wake up and say, ‘What can I do to serve today?’”

—Emma Schkloven

BRIGHTON ZEUNER • Athlete

AT THE TENDER age of 6, Brighton Zeuner received her first skateboard. She followed her older brother and dad to the skatepark every night in Arizona, and after her family relocated to Encinitas, California, she started training on her backyard vert ramp daily. Now splitting her time between the West Coast and Austin, the skateboarder has racked up plenty of accolades in her nascent career: She was the youngest female athlete to compete at the local X Games at the age of 11, the youngest X Games champion at 13, and a member of the first national skateboarding team, which journeyed to this year’s Olympics in Tokyo. Although the 17-yearold didn’t qualify for the final Olympic competition, she remains ranked 12th in the world in the sport and hopes to inspire other young women to compete: “I think it’s really cool for young girls to see that and be like, Oh, she’s my age. I want to do that, and I can,” she says.  —Jessica Lenamond

SARAH ECKHARDT POLITICIAN

ERIKA THOMPSON

BEEKEEPER

IN THE PAST year and a half, Erika Thompson has created more than just a buzz on social media. Famous for her bee removal videos on TikTok, the locally based Texas Beeworks owner shares why she’s advocating for the vital insects both online and at the Texas Capitol. —C. Runn

While you already had a presence on Instagram, your social media influence exploded after you joined TikTok in the spring of 2020. What drew you to the platform?

Like many people at that time, I very much thought it was an app for a younger generation to show off their dance moves but quickly realized there’s this great educational component. I started to spend more time on the channel and realized I would start sentences like, “I learned this on TikTok…”

You have more than nine million followers now, and your account has even sparked parodies. How has going viral affected your day-to-day business?

It’s sort of changed my life. A year ago, I was still using Google ads to advertise my beekeeping services and let folks know that there was another option besides an exterminator. Last week, I was in the South of France invited by Guerlain, one of the biggest beauty houses in the world, to meet with Angelina Jolie and folks with UNESCO to talk about their Women for Bees program. It’s incredible. It’s been the craziest year of my life.

In the spring, you testified at the Capitol in support of HB520, which would have multiplied pollinator-friendly plants if it had passed. Why is this type of legislation important to you?

Texas is a great place for bees—and to be a beekeeper with all the space that we have for the bees to forage and be really healthy—but we certainly need to take steps necessary to protect our bees. And that’s part of [why] I was working with Rep. Beckley on the house bill to protect pollinators. I’m so fortunate to be in a position where I can do a little bit of legislative advocacy work on behalf of the bees. I’m working on a national level now on something very exciting with Congressman Blumenauer, a Saving America’s Pollinators Act.

As climate change produces more extreme weather like the winter storm this year, how will that affect bees in Texas?

Bees are feeling the effects from the choices that humans are making on the planet and not living sustainably. Some of the things most affecting bees are indeed habitat loss, the effects of climate change, and then, of course, the use of pesticides, mainly in mass agriculture systems and how we’ve designed our food system now. I just think that folks need to realize we’re all connected. When the bees are doing well, we’re all doing well, and vice versa.

What has been the best part of your work?

The most amazing thing is that so many people are seeing the important work that bees and beekeepers do. To think that these small creatures pollinate one out of every three bites of food we eat, they’re responsible for pollinating over 75 percent of flowering plants, and they do so much for us, but people don’t really know that much about them. So, to be able to offer people an inside look at their fascinating world inside the hive is the best.

ELIZABETH MCCRACKEN • Author

OF ALL THE things Elizabeth McCracken loves about fiction writing, perhaps her favorite aspect is that there are no hard rules. “A huge difference between fiction writers and journalists is that we have no ethics,” she laughs. Indeed, the ability to dream up complex characters and fantasy scenes without restriction has been a lifelong joy for the award-winning author, who got her MFA at the esteemed Iowa Writer’s Workshop and has penned seven books, including her latest collection of short stories, Souvenir Museum. The New England native moved to Austin in 2010 to become the James A. Michener Chair at the University of Texas at Austin. At the university, she teaches semester-long fiction workshops, in which students write and then share their works with the class for analysis. Her top tip for her pupils? Make friends with the hardest-working writers you know, because you will work twice as hard to catch up to them. “There’s no point in writing without ambition,” McCracken says. —M. Hollern

NINA

MEANS

EDUCATOR

TO MAKE A living as a fashion designer, talent is only part of the equation. That’s why Nina Means chose to spearhead Austin Community College’s Fashion Incubator program: to help emerging designers turn their skills into careers that are actually sustainable.

Though Means began her professional life in the public health arena, fashion had always been her dream job. At 30, the North Carolina native decided to pivot careers, studying in Florence through the Fashion Institute of Technology’s International Fashion Design program. She has since designed for the likes of Rebecca Taylor, American Eagle Outfitters, and H by Halston for QVC, as well as launched her own eponymous label.

Compelled to share her sartorial know-how, Means became the director of ACC’s fashion incubator in 2018 and turned it into a yearlong tutorial to guide fledgling designers of all ages. Through the program, these creatives regularly meet with industry professionals to

learn about everything from building capital and understanding legal lingo to implementing marketing strategy. “We aren’t necessarily teaching how to make patterns or sew,” she says. “We’re teaching creative direction, and how to pull that product together in a cohesive way, and how to market it for a salable, profitable collection.”

This year, Means has also worked on a global business expansion initiative called the ATX + EGYPT Fashion Entrepreneurship program, in which six Austin fashion brands teamed up with 10 Egyptian companies. “The goal with that particular program was to take them through a 16-week accelerator, take a break for a few months, implement their learnings, refine their collections, and then between October and December of this year, they would engage in a travel exchange,” she says. See the collaborations between local and Egyptian designers as they both participate in Austin Fashion Week this December. —M. Hollern

SINCE LAUNCHING HER website, A Taste of Koko, in 2010, Jane Ko has become an undeniable force on Austin’s blogging scene, logging hundreds of restaurant reviews and amassing 100,000-plus Instagram followers. To celebrate her site’s 10-year anniversary last year, she asked herself, “What can I do for my community?” Little did she know 2020 would provide ample opportunity to give back.

As influencers across the country came under fire for fleeing cities and aspirational lifestyle content suddenly started to feel tone deaf, their actual “influence” seemed precarious. But Ko flipped the script—by March 23, she had launched a website to help creatives get hired. The next day, she announced Hundred for Hospitality, a fundraising initiative to provide meals to unemployed service industry workers. When the winter storm hit this past February, she partnered with 365 Things Austin blogger Kristy Owen and PR professionals Cara Caulkins and Chelsea McCullough to raise $160,000 to provide 40,000 meals. Ko also used her brand to advocate for Black- and Asianowned restaurants, sharing an unusually vulnerable Instagram post in April about her own experience growing up in Texas as an Asian American.

Looking forward, she’s hoping to set aside her community fundraising hat, but she can’t ignore the power of her platform. “Knock on wood, there’s not another pandemic or natural disaster that happens,” Ko says. “But if there is, I can and would be willing to step up, and hopefully my community would be willing to join me again.” —C. Runn

JORDAN JONES • Entrepreneur

2020 LOOKED PROMISING for Packed Party founder Jordan Jones. Since launching her business of confetti bags, festive decor, and other soiree-worthy goods in 2013, she was featured on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list, and her company was expected to make $20 million in revenue by year’s end. Then COVID-19 hit, and parties were suddenly off limits. While Jones worried that the pandemic would crush her company, she soon discovered the opposite: People were desperate for celebration. Work-from-home and desk accessories saw an immediate bump in demand, and a themed promotion for one of its care packages helped sponsor more than 38,000 meals to one of its partner nonprofits, Feeding America. Packed Party product lines are now found in Walmart, Whole Foods, H-E-B, and Neiman Marcus, with collections coming soon to PetSmart as well. Jones is also publishing her first children’s book, Meet Birthday, this month. Her company is currently valued at $50 million, placing Jones in the exclusive club of female Austin entrepreneurs who have weathered the pandemic—and grown. But she’s the only one doing it with a disco-ball cup in hand. —C. Runn

JANE KO

BLOGGER

AUSTIN’S TOP DOCTORS FOR WOMEN

From pregnancy to menopause and every specialized need in between, trust your care to these 128 local physicians ranked by their peers as the best in town.

BREAST SURGERY

Edward J. Bombach

ARC Medical Plaza Specialty 1401 Medical Pkwy., Bldg. B, Ste. 220 Cedar Park, (512) 260-1581

Caroline Coombs-Skiles

Texas Breast Specialists

1015 E. 32nd St., Ste. 306 (512) 872-7200

Moya Griffin

Texas Breast SpecialistsAustin North 12221 Renfert Way, Ste. 120 (512) 873-8900

Heather King

Texas Breast SpecialistsAustin

901 W. 38th St., Ste. 300 (512) 421-4111

Sangeetha Kolluri

Austin Cancer Center

900 E. 30th St., Ste. 100 (512) 505-5500

Julie M. Sprunt

Texas Breast Specialists 901 W. 38th St., Ste. 300 (512) 421-4111

GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY

Rachel M. Brightwell

Austin Cancer Center

900 E. 30th St., Ste. 100 (512) 505-5500

Helen Dinkelspiel Eshed

Texas Oncology

6204 Balcones Drive (512) 427-9400

Kassondra S. Grzankowski

Austin Cancer Center

900 E. 30th St., Ste. 100 (512) 505-5500

Priyanka N. Kamath

Texas Oncology

6204 Balcones Drive (512) 427-9400

Lynne Knowles

Texas Oncology 6204 Balcones Drive (512) 427-9400

Angela S. Kueck

Texas Oncology 12221 Renfert Way, Ste. 300 (512) 873-8900

Paul V. Loar III Texas Oncology 12221 Renfert Way, Ste. 300 (512) 873-8900

Michael Teneriello Texas Oncology 6204 Balcones Drive (512) 427-9400

Marian Yvette WilliamsBrown

Seton Family of Doctors 1601 Trinity St., Ste. 804 (512) 324-7865

INFERTILITY/ REPRODUCTIVE ENDOCRINOLOGY

Maya B. Bledsoe

ARC Seton Northwest 11111 Research Blvd., Ste. 475 (512) 338-8181

Natalie Crawford Fora Fertility 715 W. 34th St. (512) 596-5006

Lisa Hansard

Texas Fertility Center

6500 N. Mopac Expy., Bldg. 1, Ste. 1200 (512) 451-0149

Shahryar K. Kavoussi

Austin Fertility & Reproductive Medicine

300 Beardsley Lane, Bldg. B, Ste. 200 (512) 444-1414

Angela S. Kelley

Aspire Fertility

911 W. 38th St., Ste. 402 (512) 479-7979

Winifred Mak

UT Health Austin 1601 Trinity St., Bldg. A (833) 882-2737

Kenneth K. Moghadam

Austin Fertility Institute

2200 Park Bend Drive, Bldg. 1, Ste. 402 (512) 339-4234

Anthony M. Propst

Texas Fertility Center

6500 N. Mopac Expy., Bldg. 1, Ste. 1200 (512) 451-0149

Kaylen Silverberg

Texas Fertility Center

6500 N. Mopac Expy., Bldg. 1, Ste. 1200 (512) 451-0149

Thomas Vaughn

Texas Fertility Center

6500 N. Mopac Expy., Bldg. 1, Ste. 1200 (512) 451-0149

MATERNAL AND FETAL MEDICINE

Jasvant Adusumalli

Austin Maternal-Fetal Medicine

12200 Renfert Way, Ste. G-3 (512) 821-2540

David L. Berry

Austin Perinatal Associates

6500 N. Mopac Expy., Bldg. 1, Ste. 1205 (512) 206-0101

Kimberly A. DeStefano

Austin Maternal-Fetal Medicine

12200 Renfert Way, Ste. G-3 (512) 821-2540

Jeny Ghartey

Ascension Seton Medical

Park Tower

1301 W. 38th St., Ste. 315 (512) 324-7256

Sandra Rocio Herrera

Austin Maternal-Fetal Medicine

12200 Renfert Way, Ste. G-3 (512) 821-2540

Mollie McDonnold

Austin Maternal-Fetal Medicine

12200 Renfert Way, Ste. G-3 (512) 821-2540

Joy Celeste Sheppard

Ascension Seton Medical Park Tower

1301 W. 38th St., Ste. 315 (512) 324-7256

Jasbir Singh

Austin Maternal-Fetal Medicine

12200 Renfert Way, Ste. G-3 (512) 821-2540

MEDICAL ONCOLOGY

Mika Cline

Texas Oncology

901 W. 38th St., Ste. 200 (512) 421-4100

Beth Hellerstedt

Texas Oncology

2410 Round Rock Ave, Ste. 150 Round Rock, (512) 341-8724

Kathryn E. Hudson

Texas Oncology

6204 Balcones Drive (512) 427-9400

Debra Patt

Texas Oncology

6204 Balcones Drive (512) 427-9400

OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY

Allison L. Anderson

Austin Area Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Fertility

12200 Renfert Way, Ste. 100 (512) 652-7001

Sindura Bandi

ARC North Austin Ob/Gyn 12201 Renfert Way, Ste. 250 (512) 994-2662

Melanie M. Belt

ARC South OB 4315 James Casey St., Ste. 200 (512) 383-9752

Crystal S. Berry-Roberts

ARC South OB 4315 James Casey St., Ste. 200 (512) 383-9752

Sapna R. Bhagat

ARC South OB 4315 James Casey St., Ste. 200 (512) 383-9752

Nancy Binford Balcones Obstetrics & Gynecology PA 3705 Medical Pkwy., Ste. 540 (512) 452-8888

Guy V. Blumhagen*

ARC Seton Northwest 11111 Research Blvd., Ste. 475 (512) 338-8181

Kathleen Boswell

Baylor Scott & White Clinic 302 University Blvd. Round Rock, (512) 509-0200

Sharyl R. Brasher-Giles

ARC Seton Northwest 11111 Research Blvd., Ste. 475 (512) 338-8181

Rachel L. Breedlove

ARC South OB 4315 James Casey St., Ste. 200 (512) 383-9752

Michael T. Breen

Seton Family of Doctors 911 W. 38th St., Ste. 202 (512) 324-8670

Diane L. Brinkman

ARC Far West Medical Tower

6811 Austin Center Blvd., Ste. 300 (512) 346-8888

Andrea L. Campaigne

ARC North Austin Ob/Gyn 12201 Renfert Way, Ste. 250 (512) 994-2662

Kimberly Carter

Seton Family of Doctors 911 W. 38th St., Ste. 202 (512) 324-8670

Renu Chalasani

ARC Seton Northwest 11111 Research Blvd., Ste. 475 (512) 338-8181

Amy Mclerran Chapman

Baylor Scott & White Clinic 302 University Blvd. Round Rock, (512) 509-0200

Tara Cherry

ARC South OB 4315 James Casey St., Ste. 200 (512) 383-9752

Caroline Cohen

Wildflower OBGYN

805 E. 32nd St., Ste. 101 (512) 479-6655

Robert J. Cosentino*

ARC Far West Medical Tower 6811 Austin Center Blvd., Ste. 300 (512) 346-8888

Robert K. Cowan

Austin Area Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Fertility 12200 Renfert Way, Ste. 100 (512) 652-7001

Alinda R. Cox*

ARC South OB 4315 James Casey St., Ste. 200 (512) 383-9752

Laura Eastep

Women Partners in Health 1305 W. 34th St., Ste. 308 (512) 459-8082

Bailey Escarzaga

Women Partners in Health 1305 W. 34th St., Ste. 308 (512) 459-8082

Vida Esfandiari

Women Partners in Health 1305 W. 34th St., Ste. 308 (512) 459-8082

Jayme B. Evans

ARC Medical Plaza Specialty 1401 Medical Pkwy., Bldg. B, Ste. 200, 211, 220 Cedar Park, (512) 260-1581

Joseph Isaac Fernandez

Baylor Scott & White Clinic

302 University Blvd. Round Rock, (512) 509-0200

Alyson Garcia

Austin Area Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Fertility 12200 Renfert Way, Ste. 100 (512) 652-7001

Romy Ghosh

ARC North Austin Ob/Gyn 12201 Renfert Way, Ste. 250 (512) 994-2662

Julie A. Grimes

ARC South OB 4315 James Casey St., Ste. 200 (512) 383-9752

Zachary C. Hamilton

ARC Medical Plaza Specialty 1401 Medical Pkwy., Bldg. B, Ste. 200, 211, 220 Cedar Park, (512) 260-1581

Tyler Donald Handcock

Baylor Scott & White Clinic 2600 E. Pflugerville Pkwy., Ste. 200 Pflugerville, (512) 654-6500

Kristen J. HansenPeterman*

ARC Far West Medical Tower 6811 Austin Center Blvd., Ste. 300 (512) 346-8888

John Gehring Harkins

Seton Family of Doctors 911 W. 38th St., Ste. 202 (512) 324-8670

Claire Hoverman

OBGYN Group of Austin 1301 W. 38th St., Ste. 300 (512) 454-5721

YuHan Virginia Hu

Austin ObGyn Associates 2911 Medical Arts Square, Bldg. 2, 3 (512) 391-0175

Robert S. Hughes*

ARC Seton Northwest 11111 Research Blvd., Ste. 475 (512) 338-8181

Natasya Ikbal

Women Partners in Health 1305 W. 34th St., Ste. 308 (512) 459-8082

Lisa M. Jukes*

Modern Women’s Health 5656 Bee Caves Road, Ste. B-101 (512) 301-6767

Caroline A. Kaufman

ARC North Austin Ob/Gyn 12201 Renfert Way, Ste. 250 (512) 994-2662

Whitney C. Keller

Seton Family of Doctors 1201 W. 38th St. (512) 324-7000

Karen Kish

Westlake Gynecology

6836 Bee Cave Road, Bldg. 3, Ste. 150 (512) 375-2555

Margaret Landwermeyer Hill Country OB/GYN Associates 7900 FM 1826 (512) 462-1936

Kimberly B. Loar

Texas Oncology 12221 Renfert Way, Ste. 300 (512) 873-8900

Megan McCoin

OBGYN Group of Austin 1301 W. 38th St., Ste. 300 (512) 454-5721

Laura Meritt

Renaissance Women’s Group 12201 Renfert Way, Ste. 225 (512) 339-6626

Tara Mills

Renaissance Women’s Group 12201 Renfert Way, Ste. 225 (512) 339-6626

Cindy Mingea Wildflower OBGYN 805 E. 32nd St., Ste. 101 (512) 479-6655

Anthony C. Monteiro Jr.

ARC Medical Plaza Specialty 1401 Medical Pkwy., Bldg. B, Ste. 200, 211, 220 Cedar Park, (512) 260-1581

Rosa A. Moreno*

ARC Far West Medical Tower 6811 Austin Center Blvd., Ste. 300 (512) 346-8888

Paul D. Mumfrey*

ARC South OB 4315 James Casey St., Ste. 200 (512) 383-9752

Michael F. Phillips

Austin Area Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Fertility 12200 Renfert Way, Ste. 100 (512) 652-7001

Maansi Piparia

OBGYN North 12221 Renfert Way, Ste. 330 (317) 514-2505

Kimberly Rutter

Hays Women’s Health 1180 Seton Pkwy., Ste. 240A, Kyle (512) 268-0286

Anita R. Sandhu

ARC North Austin Ob/Gyn 12201 Renfert Way, Ste. 250 (512) 994-2662

Christopher G. Seeker

Austin Area Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Fertility 12200 Renfert Way, Ste. 100 (512) 652-7001

Jennifer Summers

Women Partners in Health 1305 W. 34th St., Ste. 308 (512) 459-8082

John Thoppil

River Place OB/GYN 6611 River Place Blvd., Ste. 202 (512) 473-8300

Rita Tsai

Seton Family of Doctors 911 W. 38th St., Ste. 202 (512) 324-8670

Sharon A. Vaz

ARC Seton Northwest 11111 Research Blvd., Ste. 475 (512) 338-8181

Amanda Walters

Baylor Scott & White Clinic 302 University Blvd. Round Rock, (512) 509-0200

Diana Y. Wang

Austin Area Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Fertility 12200 Renfert Way, Ste. 100 (512) 652-7001

Sonja Lee Yoo

ARC Seton Northwest 11111 Research Blvd., Ste. 475 (512) 338-8181

PLASTIC SURGERY

Minas Constantinides

Westlake Dermatology 3800 N. Lamar Blvd., Ste. 155 (512) 617-9200

Lauren Crawford

Synergy Plastic Surgery 11200 Manchaca Road, Bldg. 2, Ste. 201 (512) 244-1439

John M. Eggleston III

Breast Reconstruction Associates 12201 Renfert Way, Ste. 100 (512) 763-4545

Christine Fisher

Austin Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery

2905 San Gabriel St., Ste. 100 (512) 815-0123

Ashley Gordon

Restora Austin Plastic Surgery Centre 901 W. 38th St., Ste. 401 (512) 371-8817

Rocco Piazza The Piazza Center for Plastic Surgery & Advanced Skin Care 5920 W. William Cannon Drive, Bldg. 7, Ste. 200 (512) 288-8200

Elisabeth Potter

Dr. Elisabeth Potter, MD 6818 Austin Center Blvd., Ste. 204 (512) 867-6211

Dustin Reid

Restora Austin Plastic Surgery Centre 901 W. 38th St., Ste. 401 (512) 371-8817

Ned Snyder IV

Snyder Plastic Surgery 1510 W. 34th St., Ste. 200 (512) 522-9902

Kelly Tjelmeland

Meridian Plastic Surgery Center

4220 Bull Creek Road (512) 617-7500

Adam Bryce Weinfeld

Adam Bryce Weinfeld MD 6811 Austin Center Blvd., Ste. 420 (512) 324-2765

Fred Wilder

Austin Plastic Surgery Institute

4701 Bee Cave Road, Ste. 202 (512) 459-1234

RADIATION ONCOLOGY

Karen Cohen

Texas Oncology

2410 Round Rock Ave, Ste. 150 Round Rock, (512) 341-8724

Shannon D. Cox

Austin Cancer Center 11111 Research Blvd., Ste. LL2 (512) 505-5500

Paiman Ghafoori

Austin Cancer Center 11111 Research Blvd., Ste. LL2 (512) 505-5500

Michael Herman

Texas Oncology

2410 Round Rock Ave, Ste. 150 Round Rock, (512) 341-8724

Ryan Tierney

Texas Oncology

4101 James Casey St., Ste. 100 (512) 447-2202

Catherine Wu

Texas Oncology

4101 James Casey St., Ste. 100 (512) 447-2202

UROGYNECOLOGY

FEMALE PELVIC

MEDICINE

RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY

Tomas G. Antonini

Central Texas Urogynecology and Continence Center 3407 Glenview Ave, Ste. A (512) 716-0861

Grady Bruce

Urology Austin 16040 Park Valley Drive, Bldg. A, Ste. 111 Round Rock, (512) 248-2200

George Shashoua

Austin Urogynecology

12319 N. Mopac Expy., Bldg. C, Ste. 200 (512) 973-8276

Amanda B. White

Seton Family of Doctors 911 W. 38th St., Ste. 202 (512) 324-8670

UROLOGY

Micaela Aleman

Lonestar Urology 2911 Medical Arts Square, Ste. 1A (512) 476-9850

Melody Denson

Urology Austin 11410 Jollyville Road, Ste. 1101 (512) 231-1444

Miranda Hardee

Urology Austin 11410 Jollyville Road, Ste. 1101 (512) 231-1444

Nikki P. Le

The Austin Diagnostic Clinic 12221 N. Mopac Expy. (512) 901-1111

Elizabeth Mobley

Urology Austin 11410 Jollyville Road, Ste. 1101 (512) 231-1444

Koushik Shaw

Austin Urology Institute 12319 N. Mopac Expy., Ste. 200 (512) 694-8888

Lawrence Tsai

Austin Urology Institute 12319 N. Mopac Expy., Ste. 200 (512) 694-8888

HOW THE LIST IS MADE

Using an online survey, Austin Monthly solicited peer nominations from physicians in Travis, Hays, and Williamson counties, asking them to nominate up to three doctors per practice area who they would trust with the medical care of themselves or their family. To ensure the nomination process is peer-based, full contact information was requested before nominating, and doctors were asked to limit their nominations to physicians whose work they’ve personally witnessed. Austin Monthly then tallied the results, selecting the top vote recipients in each practice area before submitting the final list to our fact-checking process, which includes a review of good standing among medical boards.

DOCTORS

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A Scare is Born

One local artist’s homemade haunted house has transformed into a spooky neighborhood tradition for more than 20 years. By

Rosie Ninesling

WHILE OTHER NEIGHBORS decorated their North Austin homes with pumpkins and fall wreaths in October 2000, Tony Sansevero—who had just moved to Texas two months prior—stood in his driveway sawing pieces of scrap wood and coating them in bright fluorescent paint. A Halloween fanatic since childhood, he had vowed to go all out for the holiday as soon as he became a homeowner. What the neighbors didn’t know? That his promise involved creating an elaborate haunted house in his own front yard.

But as the 10-by-10 structure came to life, their support became clear. The father next door offered construction advice and helped him build. A scientist down the street donated test tubes and old wires for props. And on Halloween night, attracted by the spooky sound effects reverberating from

his home, nearby kids came pouring in to see the finished product.

Now considered a neighborhood tradition since its genesis more than two decades ago, the handpainted structure has steadily grown to over 40 feet long and features everything from an Edgar Allan Poe room and alien autopsy station to an outdoor movie theater screening classic horror films. And Sansevero—who works on the haunted house an average of 18 hours a day throughout the month of October—has no plans of slowing down.

“I think it’s important to hold on to the spirit of a holiday, as well as your childhood dreams and sense of innocence,” he says. “If you can incorporate that into your life—if you can keep an aspect of that alive—it’ll help everything you do.” See the spectacle for yourself at 302 E. Skyview Road.

Tony Sansevero’s ever-expanding haunted house has become an annual Skyview staple.