ABSTRACT
Despite the association in American mythology of the Southwest with rich cattle barons and wheelerdealer oil tycoons, the history of the area is rooted in poverty and the harshness of rural life. The scene is an office in an older building in downtown Houston, elegant in the style of fifty years ago. The Houston Chronicle owned by the endowment, The Houston Press, and became the leading publication in the city. Howard Creekmore has not only operated a major foundation for many years but has also been a close observer of American philanthropy from a Texas viewpoint. The Houston Endowment has helped set a better standard in its asset management and to some degree in its program for others to follow. But a major change is in the offing when Mr. Creekmore retires. The donor of the Moody Foundation, W. L. Moody, Jr., was one of the most mean-spirited, compulsively acquisitive, and generally unattractive tycoons in the history of American capitalism.
