[2] The magazine covers the Texas scene, from politics, the environment, industry and education to music, the arts, travel, restaurants, museums and cultural events.
While Oppel was editor of The Charlotte Observer (1978–1993),[3] the newspaper earned three Pulitzer Prizes, sharing one for editorial cartoons with The Atlanta Constitution.
He graduated from Northeast High School in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1960 and joined the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, serving six months on active duty.
In 2014 he was named interim vice president for institutional advancement, and helped raise money and lead construction of the Sandra Joy Anderson Community Health and Wellness Center to provide medical care to students and low-income residents in neighborhoods surrounding the university.
Oppel worked as senior vice president of Crosswind Media & Public Relations of Austin in 2016–2017, representing diverse clients in energy, infrastructure and healthcare, including trade associations before the Texas Legislature.
[10] On Feb. 1, 2018, Oppel was hired by owner Paul Hobby to serve as ombudsman of Texas Monthly after Tim Taliaferro, then the editor-in-chief, drew media criticism for allegedly entering into an arrangement with the dating app Bumble.
[13] According to Columbia Journalism Review, Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd would appear on the cover in exchange for a $25,000–30,000 social-media push by the dating company.
The first, awarded in 1981, was for “Brown Lung: A Case of Deadly Neglect,” an investigation of how cotton dust in textile mills caused the disease of byssinosis among workers.
[4] In 1988, The Observer won its second Meritorious Public Service medal for revealing misuse of funds by the PTL television ministry operated by Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.
[28] Their daughter, Shelby Oppel Wood, is a former columnist for The Oregonian in Portland and now works as a freelance contributor to advertising and public relations agencies.