On this date in 1921, KTRK consumer affairs reporter Marvin Zindler was born.
Zindler, of course, is forever linked with the Chicken Ranch, as his series of exposés on the brothel directly led to its closure. Marvin clashed with his father (who owned the well-regarded Zindler's clothing store in Houston) growing up and went on to try his hand at a host of different career options. He was a drum major (briefly) at Tarleton State, served in the Marines (again, briefly) before being discharged as 4F, was a radio reporter for defunct Houston radio station KATL, was a reporter for the defunct
Houston Press, ran for mayor of Bellaire, was fired by one TV station because he was "too ugly for television" and was a Harris County deputy sheriff for years, where he worked in civil fraud and fugitive extradition before setting up the consumer fraud division.
Had he not died of pancreatic cancer in 2007, Zindler would've been 96 today.
In
other news, TexARTS in Lakeway (that's just west of Austin on Lake Travis) has a production of that particular Chicken Ranch musical,
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, running August 18-September 3. For their 2 p.m. matinee performance August 20, TexARTS will host me for a post-show Q&A session. Stay after the show and learn more about the real-life saga that turned into a Broadway musical hit! And seriously, folks, if you've never seen the stage play--if all you know is that Burt Reynolds/Dolly Parton film--you don't know what you're missing. The live show is an entirely different animal, and for my money, about 10 times better than the movie. Get your tickets today for
The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas presented by TexARTS at
http://www.tex-arts.orb>tex-arts.org.
Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is available from both
Amazon.com and
BarnesAndNoble.com. It's also available as an ebook in the following formats:
Kindle,
Nook,
Google Play,
iBooks and
Kobo.
Now Playing: Antonio Carlos Jobim/Luiz Bonfá Orfeu Negro: Bof du Film de Marcel Camus
Chicken Ranch Central
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