Articles for December, 2011
Bill Minutaglio’s Kennedy Assassination Book Is Not To Be Confused With Stephen King’s
As the 50th anniversary of the assassination nears, Stephen King was first out of the gate, with his 11/22/63. Now comes news that former Morning News scribe Bill Minutaglio and his buddy Steven L. Davis will be coming out with a book about the worst day in Dallas. Here’s how the press release describes the nonfiction book:
Dallas 1963 follows the city through three turbulent years, beginning with the Kennedy election in November 1960 and ending on November 22, 1963. Set against the backdrop of a nation in transition, Minutaglio and Davis explain what the President and his team were thinking and doing in those three years, and why they could never have really understood the swirling forces awaiting them in Texas, where a rich and surprising ensemble of characters defined the city many people would blame for killing the President: rabid politicos, gangsters, unsung civil rights leaders, strippers, billionaires, defrocked military generals, fundamentalist preachers, clandestine heroes, and marauding police, among them.
The book will be published by Twelve in 2013, to coincide with the assassination’s anniversary. North American rights were sold in a heated three-day auction by Dallas power literary agent David Hale Smith, who used to run his own DHS Literary but then sold out to the Man and now works for an enormous, soulless, New York-based publishing behemoth called InkWell Management. David used to be a friend of mine. I asked him to confirm for me that the book had sold for $650,000 and a reservation for four at momofuku. He just put his stockinged feet up on his desk, threw his head back, and laughed like Max Cady through the smoke from a fine Cuban cigar.
First Trees Planted at the Park
We sent intern Jessica Melton out into the frigid air to capture the first trees being planted.
The crew prepares the River Birch trees for planting.
The Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation planted the first of 322 trees for the upcoming Park this morning at 10:30.
TurningPoint Foundation donated the first 25 River Birch trees. With the new trees came a new tree trust, which will allow donors who provide $25,000 or more to the Foundation to pick which trees they want to plant and select an area to place them in the Park.
One of the donors, Kristin Schor of the Gaedeke Group, says while her company already sponsors plant life around the United States, the people in her company are excited to see what they can do in their own backyard.
“We want to make a difference,” Schor says. “Even if it is one tree at a time.”
The trees are being planted in organic dirt placed on top of lightweight filler, because dirt alone would be too much weight for the bridge to handle, says Joanna Singleton of Jackson Spalding Communications.
Planting will be going on all day today and Thursday, but there’s not much else to see on top of Woodall Rodgers Freeway right now except a lot of organic dirt.
If you’re interested in what the Park will look like when it’s finished, the Foundation’s website has a bird’s eye view of what they’re planning for it. —Jessica Melton
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Dec. 6
After my worst-ever trip to the movies last night, I think I can safely say that it’s a sad day in America when a medium drink is $5 and not that much smaller than a Big Gulp. Meanwhile, NASA has discovered a new, potentially livable planet. I always knew the folks at Pixar were clairvoyant.
On tap tonight is “A Gathering” over at the Winspear, an AIDS memorial collaboration between various members of the performing arts community. It’s been 30 years since AIDS was officially recognized as a disease, and while advancements have been made in technology and treatment, there’s still no cure. But the purpose of this is to celebrate how far we’ve come. The evening of dance, music, and theater is entirely put on by volunteers, so all the proceeds will benefit local organizations: AIDS Arms, AIDS Interfaith Network, AIDS Services of Dallas, and Resource Center Dallas. FrontRow’s dance critic, Danna Reubin, attended a preview of tonight’s performances and writes eloquently on the subject here.
And speaking of things that have a charitable bent, Edna Jean’s Trailer Park Christmas at JR’s helps fund the gift project at Sam Houston Elementary School in Oak Lawn. Edna Jean Robinson is the drag queen alter ego of comedian Richard Curtain and the host of this long-running fundraiser. Edna Jean and guests will spread all the delightfully tacky Christmas cheer you could possibly want.
For more to do with your evening, go here.
Houston Drivers Get to Enjoy Country Legends
During a weekend road trip to Houston, I discovered one area in which Sweat City beats Dallas hands down: They have a classic country radio station, and we don’t. The appropriately named “Country Legends” revels in the catalogues of Willie and Waylon, Kenny and Dolly, Hank and Dwight, and other artists we all know on a first-name basis. Why can’t we get a station like that? The powers-that-be at Cumulus Radio should remember this the next time they’re ready to change the format of 93.3 FM (tick tock, tick tock).
Once we get a classic country station, we can set our sights on a classic hip-hop station. How great would it be to have a channel that played vintage Public Enemy, Run-DMC, LL Cool J, A Tribe Called Quest, and De La Soul? It sure would beat the noise they play on K104 and 97.9 The Beat.
Leading Off (12/6/11)
Cops Kill AMTRAK Passenger. Big trouble on the Texas Eagle yesterday. The train was stopped at Union Station, on its way to Chicago, when undercover agents exchanged gunfire with a passenger, killing him. Tashena Brownlee was four seats away, saw the whole thing, and told KERA: “All I know is it’s not normal.” (Side note: last spring break, I took my family on the Texas Eagle to San Antonio and got roundly mocked by my coworkers for my chosen mode of transport. Now who’s laughing? Because my 12-year-old would have loved to see some gunplay.)
Three Dead Near Eagle Mountain Lake. Cops aren’t saying, but this sure sounds like a murder-suicide.
Plan To Fix Levees Released for Environmental Review. If you’re not a subscriber and don’t have access, you need today to track down this story (sub. req.) in the Morning News about the city’s plan to fix the levees and what the Army Corps of Engineers thinks about it. Two things are very significant about it: 1) unlike it did early, the Corps is refusing to endorse any plan. That’s a major shift. And 2) in explaining why, the Morning News quoted Jim Schutze: “A document obtained by Dallas Observer columnist Jim Schutze suggests the corps’ disclaimer may have come as a result of disagreements between corps and city officials.” That’s a huge shift.
Will Southwest File for Bankruptcy? Well, it’s the only major carrier that so far hasn’t. And CEO Gary Kelly is sure talking like he’s giving it some thought (sub. req.).
John Wiley Price Gets a Challenger With a Very Familiar Name
As we already mentioned, John Wiley Price filed to run for re-election the first day he could. Now comes word that he actually has a Democratic challenger – one who will be a very familiar name to a lot of people: Betty Culbreath.
Culbreath is currently on the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport board, and has worked for the county for a couple of decades. She also regularly blogs here.
How Deion Sanders Got A Charter School
Brand new Texas Observer reporter (and competitive eating enthusiast) Patrick Michels has the interesting tale of how Neon Deion got into the business of public education: “The most novel aspect of these charters,” Michels writes, “May be the private funding sources they’ll depend on to round out their $10 million-a-year budget: not usual suspects like Bill and Melinda Gates or the Walton Family Foundation, but big brands Sanders has endorsed or worked with over the years, which he name-drops regularly when talking about the school.”
After telling the board how nervous he was—more than he was before those Super Bowl and World Series appearances you might remember him from—he recounted how plans for the school were born. “This all started as a dream, but yet a dream while I was still awake,” Sanders explained, relating a vision he’d had three years ago. “Could you imagine, educating kids of all socialities and different social statuses—white, black, Hispanic… Asian?”
Dena Miller, aka Mrs. Highland Park, Is Mistaken for Miss World
An alert FrontBurnervian brings our attention to the fact that Dena Miller, Mrs. Highland Park, says on her Facebook page that over the weekend she was mistaken for not only Miss World but Miss America, too. That’s a good weekend indeed! (Here’s an introduction to Miller that you might find as helpful as I did: “Formerly a glam rock scene Diva, Dena is now a Socialite on the Dallas philanthropy scene, specializing in Polo events that benefit women’s and children’s causes. Dena rules the North Texas Polo scene now, as she ruled the ’80s rock scene from Texas to L.A. in it’s heydey.”)
Ellen Terry, Sans Agents, Leaving Ebby Halliday
Remember how less than two months ago Ellen Terry’s high-end residential-realty brokerage merged with Dave Perry-Miller’s operation under the Ebby Halliday banner, and vowed to go snap up more luxury agents for Ebby from rival outfits like Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty? Well, there’s been a slight change of plans. Terry said today that she’s decided to throw in with … Briggs Freeman. RealPoints has the scoop.
Lauren Scruggs Story Goes International
The ladies in the office this morning were all talking about the Lauren Scruggs story. Scruggs is the founder of the online magazine LOLO. Yesterday, after flying around over North Texas to see Christmas lights, she walked into the propeller of the private plane and was severely injured. The story has now made its way to the online part of the Daily Mail, whose penultimate paragraph reads: “The pilot was not injured.” The ladies in my office all wanted to know how such an accident could happen. It’s a good question. One best posed to that pilot.
D Custom: The Other Side of the D Magazine Empire
When people ask about the company I work for, I can do a passable job of describing what it is that I do at D Magazine (answer hypothetical questions from Zac (”Who would be the best partner in an intra-office chicken fight?”)). And I can kinda even talk sorta knowledgeably about the work that goes on at D CEO, D Home, and our People Newspapers. But then there’s this division of the company called D Custom. Sometimes I say something like “They tell clients’ stories across all media” and sometimes I say something like “They’re kinda like SPECTRE, only not evil.” Depends on the nature of the particular cocktail party at which I’ve been asked about the company I work for.
All of which is to say that I’m happy D Custom has created this snazzy video to explain themselves. Now, when people ask me, I can just pull out my phone and show it to them.
No Grinch Alert or “Naughty List” This Year from First Baptist Dallas
Last year it “took on a life of its own,” Robert Jeffress told me recently. The church was trying to find a “fun way to make a serious point that Christmas is unique.” But a lot of people — many local Evangelicals included — didn’t think it was so fun. When Jeffress started the site GrinchAlert.com, it made national headlines and, as Jeffress put it, “caused more of a controversy than the Muslims or the homosexuals or anything else that I have talked about in the last few years.” He said he was genuinely surprised by the strong reactions, especially from Christians. This is what Jeffress told his congregation about it at the time. This is what he told CNN. The “Naughty List” was never supposed to be about boycotting. He still takes his family to Mi Cocina, even though the local chain appeared early on the list, Jeffress explained. “I just check my enchiladas twice.”
Either way, this year: no list. The site, as you can see, is down. It would appear that, for at least a few people, Christmas has come early this year.
Things To Do In Dallas Tonight: Dec. 5
I don’t watch Boardwalk Empire, but I gather last night’s episode was a doozy. And what a coincidence— the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed 78 years ago today, for which I’m sure we’re all truly grateful.
To celebrate this little bit of trivia, The People’s Last Stand in Mockingbird Station hosts a “Repeal Day” party, featuring prohibition era-appropriate cocktails, giveaways, jazz, and drink specials. The decent-sized bar is tucked up on the other side of Trinity Hall, and still feels like a bit of a pop up operation even though it officially opened in September. It probably has something to do with the concrete floors, white walls, and the fact that it was so cold in there I kept expecting to see Luke Skywalker ride in on a tauntaun. However, what the bar lacks in “cozy” and “den,” it makes up for in cocktail. They’re pretty good. Plus, there’s a salad with giant blobs of goat cheese. If you know me at all, you know that I’m sold.
And yes, it’s gross out. Driving long distances could get treacherous. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Amphibian Stage Productions closes out their 2011 season tonight at the Modern in Fort Worth with a staged reading of Christopher Hampton’s Treats. I consistently love the plays Amphibian chooses for this series, and Hampton is excellent. You know his film work: scripts for Dangerous Liaisons, Atonement (starring that green dress and Kiera Knightley’s back) and most recently, A Dangerous Method (also starring Kiera Knightley). Treats is a 1975 stage comedy about a love triangle that ends miserably for everyone involved. I find this fitting, as we head into a holiday season rife with manufactured romantic angst.
Quick update: Fans of the Dallas Opera’s world premiere of Moby-Dick might want to check out the company’s round table discussion tonight on creating new works for the musical stage. Like the last panel, FrontRow’s own Peter Simek will moderate. Unlike the last panel, it’s free and open to the public.
For more to do with your gloomy Monday evening, go here.
Leading Off (12/5/11)
Snow? Yep, keep an eye out. We might get some, but likely only out west.
Scam Rents Out Foreclosed Homes: The Agee family moved into a house in Rockwall only to be evicted a few weeks later. As it turns out, the house had already been foreclosed upon and was the property of Fannie Mae and not Dan Blackburn from Housmart Inc, who listed the house on Craigslist and had no authority to rent the home.
Baseball Heads to Dallas For Winter Meetings: Dallas (not Arlington) will become the center of the baseball world this week as representatives from teams around the MLB head to the Hilton Anatole for the winter meetings where they will wheel and deal for talent. I’m not sure if the location gives the Rangers any kind of home field advantage, but ESPN DFW notes that Jon Daniels and company have cultivated a reputation for making the best of the annual off season swap meet. Here’s their preview.
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