Editor's Desk: Our May 2020 Issue

A note from our Editor in Chief, Dan Goodgame. [View in browser](  [Texas Monthly](    editor's desk    Dear Texas Monthly Reader, I and the Texas Monthly staff have been working from home for the past several weeks, as I’m sure many of you are doing. Even with kids and pets underfoot, we’ve redoubled our efforts to keep you informed, while also providing the entertaining stories and videos and podcasts that we all need these days as a break from the news. When we started planning our May issue a few months ago, we had a fun lineup in mind, including a cover story on sportfishing in Texas, and a colorful profile of best-selling novelist Paulette Jiles. We were also plotting a follow-up to our popular [Boomtown podcast]( and a full schedule of live events, including one at Austin’s South by Southwest music festival. Then [oil prices crashed](. And the coronavirus brought much of the state to a halt. This double whammy has us working overtime—especially through enhanced coverage that we’re updating around the clock on [TexasMonthly.com](. Leading that effort is the new editorial director of our website, Michelle Williams, a veteran of CNN and the Washington Post. She joined us in early March, and her team quickly delivered the most popular story we’ve ever published online—an inspiring tale of [how H-E-B diligently planned for the pandemic]( much earlier than did our federal or state leaders. With most of our live events postponed, executive editor Megan Creydt is finding novel ways to deliver their essence to our audiences. In “[Texas Monthly Bedtime Stories]( our writers read aloud some of their best narratives, on videos taken in their homes. (You never know when a child or pet might wander into the frame.) Megan and her colleagues have also arranged for some of the state’s most exciting musicians, including some who were scheduled to perform and tell stories at our SXSW event, to do so via [video from their homes](. To cover this fast-moving crisis, we had to tear up much of our May print edition halfway through our monthly cycle. [Our new cover story]( by senior editor Eric Benson, reports how state officials were explicitly warned in 2014 to prepare for a pandemic, and failed to do so. We offer some of our favorite ways to [hunker down at home]( through Texas-flavored books, movies, streaming series, music, and recipes. And remember that [author profile]( I mentioned? It’s in here, as is a full package of [fishing stories](. I hope you like the balanced diet of newsy storytelling and diversion that we’re offering in our print magazine and on our other platforms. I hope you’ll find it so valuable that you will want to [subscribe here]( and help sustain the quality journalism that we strive to deliver. –Dan Goodgame, Editor in Chief  Inside the may 2020 ISSUE   Cover story [Texas Officials Were Warned Six Years Ago to Prepare for a Pandemic. They Didn’t.]( And they’ve been dangerously slow to respond to the coronavirus. [Read Story]( By eric benson    staying in [How to Hunker Down Like a Texan]( A guide to catching up on great culture from around the state while you’re holed up in isolation. [Read Story]( For more like this: sign up for our weekly newsletter [staying in with tm](    the culture [I Love Paulette Jiles’s Novels. So Why Won’t She Talk to Me?]( My up and down encounters with the brilliant, beloved, and very grouchy western novelist. [Read Story]( By emily mccullar    Outdoors [Our]( Texas Fishing Safari”]( Texas has a lifetime of options for fishing adventures. It’s a kind of paradise for anglers of any age, inclination, or experience level. You just need to know where to cast. Let’s go fishin’. What's inside: - The Great Texas Fishing Safari [Read Story]( - Kayak Fishing 101 [Read Story]( - How Fishing in Texas Got So Good—and Kind of Weird [Read Story]( - Fishing Lures We Love [Read Story]( - Keith Combs Is the Best Bass Fisherman in Texas Waters—But He Has His Eyes Set on More [Read Story]( - How a Battle Between Recreational and Commercial Fishermen Spawned a Conservation Movement [Read Story](    news [Inside the Frantic—and Frustrating—Race to Develop a COVID-19 Vaccine in Texas]( Two Texas researchers believe they may already have one locked inside a Houston freezer. [Read Story]( By Peter Holley    Style & Design [High Ceilings Were a Must for Tennis Star John Isner]( The best male player in the U.S.—who is six feet ten inches tall—and his wife find what they need in a Highland Park home in Dallas. [Read Story]( By LAUREN SMITH FORD      Let's get social [Facebook](  [Instagram](  [Twitter](    [Texas Monthly]( PO Box 1569, Austin, TX 78767 You are receiving this message because you signed up for our newsletters. Want more? Check out our [other newsletters](. [Manage your preferences]( or [unsubscribe]( Â