ELIZABETH CRUCE ALVAREZ has been the editor of the Texas Almanac since 2002. She received a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri at Columbia in 1978 and has a background in both newspaper and textbook publishing. Alvarez has worked as a reporter and editor for newspapers in Missouri, Iowa, and Texas. In 1980, she moved to the Permian Basin, where she was an editor at The Odessa American and traveled extensively throughout Texas. Since 1985, she has lived in Tarrant County, where she was an editor at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and, later, for Harcourt College Publishers. ROBERT PLOCHECK, associate editor, has been with the Texas Almanac since 1994. He is a native of Houston and was raised in Damon on the Gulf Coast. He received a Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin in 1972 and has worked at the Austin American-Statesman and the Marshall News-Messenger. He served for 15 years as an editor for religious newspapers in Houston and Tyler. For many years, he was a regular contributor to the Religion section of The Dallas Morning News, writing reviews of books and magazines.