Chicken Ranch anniversary: Marvin Zindler (1921-2007)

On this date in 2007, KTRK consumer affairs reporter Marvin Zindler died of pancreatic cancer.

Zindler, of course, is forever linked with the Chicken Ranch, as his series of exposés on the brothel directly led to its closure. And for that reason, many people (mostly men) who are old enough to remember curse his name. Despite being a raging egomaniac, he was a powerful champion of the downtrodden in his lifetime, and did a tremendous amount of good. Where the Chicken Ranch was concerned, he let his lust for fame and the spotlight get the better of him, and this allowed people with a vendetta against the Chicken Ranch to manipulate him from a distance. Zindler was a person who firmly believed in his own righteous infallibility, and once it became clear the vast organized crime conspiracy behind the Chicken Ranch's operation did not exist, well, Zindler doubled down on the conspiracy angle rather than admitting he'd been duped. He went to his grave insisting on criminal conspiracy and corruption, although he was never able to prove any of his claims.

Despite this, nobody could argue Zindler wasn't committed to his job. He accomplished a tremendous amount of good throughout his career, championing the downtrodden and exposing slum lords, unscrupulous car salesmen and all manner of predators exploiting people who had neither the money nor power to fight back. But they had Zindler on their side. Despite constant pain from the cancer destroying him, Zindler insisted on delivering his famed restaurant report from his hospital bed on July 20. It proved to be his final report. Just over a week later, he was dead.

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.

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Friday Night Videos

Anyone who's paid attention to me at all over the past 35-plus years will know I'm a fan of the Kinks. Huge fan. In 1984 I missed my one chance to see them live in the Sam Houston Coliseum by two days (although I've since caught Ray's solo show and almost saw Dave solo as well). I appreciate a good cover, but unfortunately most covers are either slavish remakes or distort the original song so much the integral essence of what made it special in the first place. That's why Mikaela Davis' cover of "David Watts" has me gobsmacked: her interpretation is so fresh and original and true to the original that I still find it hard to wrap my head around what she's accomplished. Bravo!

Previously on Friday Night Videos... João Gilberto.

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Friday Night Videos

João Gilberto, the father of bossa nova, died a few weeks ago. The man was an amazing talent. Some of you may have noticed that I've developed an interest in tiki in recent years. In my home tiki bar, bossa nova is just as likely to be heard as exotica or calypso or hapa haole or any other tropical-style of music. And of that, at any given time it's likely to be Gilberto playing. "Desafinado" is one of his most-covered songs, and listening to his virtuoso rendition of it, it's easy to understand why.

Previously on Friday Night Videos... R.E.M..

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They're gonna romp! And stomp!

I haven't posted much here about the Chicken Ranch lately (or really, much of anything--life intervenes) but I've got a good one to share today. This evening I shall be making the short drive up to Wimberley to take in the Wimbeley Players' production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. As is my wont with these things, I shall be arriving early and staying late to answer questions from the audience, cast, crew and random passers-by about the real Chicken Ranch and the shenanigans that went on there back in the day. It's always a good time, but I'm just the sideshow here--the play's the thing, and I've heard excellent buzz about this production. If you've only ever seen the theatrical version with Burt and Dolly, I strongly encourage you to check out the play if you can. There's so much here that the movie simply ignored, and that's a shame. Most of the run is sold out, but give the box office a call, as they may have a few tickets squirreled away here or there.

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.

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