Selected Articles
Texas Monthly
"How Houston Lost Its Mind Over a Trump Shirt"
June 8, 2018
Outside a cookie shop in one of Houston’s most idyllic neighborhoods, a West University Place council member spied Trump’s name on a teenager’s shirt and yelled a few of the president’s worst words at her. Then the internet found out. It's springtime in the age of hysteria.
"Barbara Bush Had a Good Life But a Hard One"
April 17, 2018
As I have aged and faced my own challenges as a woman on this planet, I have come to a different understanding of Barbara Bush.
"Houston Must Plan For the Coming Storm"
October 2017
Why the remarkable heroism displayed by my fellow Houstonians will be required for years to come.
"Green Acres"
October 2015
What if Houston were known for its parks instead of its stripmalls? Its bike trails instead of its freeways? The city has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into an extreme green makeover—and that vision is starting to bloom.
"Knowing My Place"
March 2014
When I moved to Houston’s Woodland Heights a quarter of a century ago, I discovered it was where I was always meant to be.
"Failure is Not an Option"
October 2013
She rose from nothing to become the decorated head coach for women’s track and field at the University of Texas, winning six NCAA championships, sending countless athletes to the Olympics, and turning the school’s program into the country’s standard for excellence. Then Bev Kearney was abruptly forced to resign because of an illicit affair. But she didn’t get to where she is by giving up without a fight.
"Mothers, Sisters, Daughters, Wives"
August 2012
In 2011 the Legislature slashed family planning funds, passed a new sonogram law, and waged an all-out war on Planned Parenthood that has dramatically shifted the state’s public health priorities. In the eighteen months since then, the conflict has continued to simmer in the courts, on the campaign trail, and in at least one PR disaster. Meanwhile, what will happen to Texas women—and their fathers, brothers, sons, and husbands—remains very much unclear.
"Hurt? Injured? Need a Lawyer? Too Bad!"
November 2005
Two years ago, rich and powerful Texans said lawsuits were ruining the state’s economy and needed to be fairer. Today, thanks to tort reform, they are fairer—for business. Ordinary people are out of luck.
New York Times Op-Ed Page
"Things Have Changed Since Sandy Hook"
May 21, 2018
"SANTA FE, Tex. — The makeshift memorials were growing larger by the hour outside Santa Fe High School on Saturday, the balloons holding up valiantly while the floral bouquets were already beginning to wilt in the early summer heat..."
"A Well-Bred Yankee Embraced by Houston"
April 19 2018
"HOUSTON — It’s going to be strange, living in Houston without Barbara Bush. She was so much a part of this place, even if many of us just imagined that we had anything to do with her."
"Why Texas Democrats are Betting on Beto O'Rourke"
May 19, 2017
"HOUSTON — It’s happening again. The stirring of the heart. The quickening of the pulse. The desire to abandon reality, even if you suspect there’s a world of hurt to come. Love, thy name is Beto.
If you haven’t heard, our junior senator from Texas, a.k.a. Darth Vader, a.k.a. Voldemort, a.k.a. Ted Cruz, has a challenger for 2018, a 44-year-old Democratic congressman from El Paso by the name of Beto O’Rourke."
"Houston Needs a Hand"
September 2, 2017
"HOUSTON — ...But while I’m more than grateful for the love that locals and outsiders have shown my adopted hometown, it’s just not going to be enough. Gov. Greg Abbott said on Wednesday that the scope of this disaster is far larger than Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina, which cost $50 billion and $120 billion, respectively. For that, it’s going to take strong, active, big government — something Texas famously has a problem with.
"Ken Starr's Squalid Second Act"
June 27, 2016
"HOUSTON — EDWIN EDWARDS, the colorful former governor of Louisiana, had a favorite quote often attributed to the Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu: “If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by.”
I thought of this again last week as Hillary Clinton absorbed a fresh attack on her record from Donald J. Trump. Amid that, I wondered whether she’d had a chance to savor the fall of the Clintons’ nemesis, Ken Starr, and appreciate its ironies."
New York Times Magazine
"Living the Good Lie"
June 16, 2011
"Should therapists help God-fearing gay people stay in the closet?"
"The Yoga Mogul"
July 21, 2010
There is so much going on in John Friend’s life right now that an assistant once teased him about waking just before dawn and calling to ask for coffee, only to be reminded that he, Friend, was in Quito, Munich or Seoul, while the assistant was back at home base in the Woodlands, a cushy suburb north of Houston. That Friend, the founder of Anusara, one of the world’s fastest-growing styles of yoga, has an assistant is itself significant; many people still picture yogis as serene guys who live in respectable deprivation in places like Mysore or Pune, India, and wait for disciples to find them. Not Friend.
The New Yorker
"Imelda's Tears"
April 20, 1998
"LETTER FROM MANILA about Imelda Marcos. Imelda Marcos, widow of the late Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos, recently became a candidate in the Philippines' Presidential election, which will be held on May 11th. Although she barely registers in the polls, she persists in making campaign appearances, at which she promises to share the Marcos wealth, estimated at $500 million, with the people."