Marvin Zindler

[WildcatOne]

A Houston legend; an icon of local media for several generations, the prototypical consumer advocate. He rose to prominence after working for the Sherriff's Department here (Harris county) for several years, then when the newly-created consumer fraud division was created, he was the guy. He uncovered scandals and frauds which led to his boss, and he didn't back down. He exposed a world of corruption and swindling in Houston politics and law enforcement, and was fired forthwith. It was then that ABC Channel 13 picked him up and turned him loose on the world. The movie "The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas" has him characterized (with not much of an exaggeration, actually) in it...it was Marvin Zindler who brought "The Chicken Ranch" in LaGrange to national attention. We all knew about the Chicken Ranch but nobody ever did anything about it, ya know...ZZ Top's song "LaGrange" is about that place (the shack outside LaGrange...heheh, y'all know what I'm talkin' 'bout!), after it got shut down...the scandal Marvin led us to, you guessed it, was the county Sherriff, who was being paid to turn his head about the operation there...Marvin Zindler was loud, confrontational, some may say arrogant, but he was a crusader for truth, justice and the American Way. He will be missed, as his style, manner and dedication will never be replaced. Here is the first of several upcoming URLs that will detail this incredible man's life. RIP Marvin. Thanks, WC1
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/front

[draglist]

RIP to Dom Deluise, er, Mr. Zindler... Funny in the film, but I love consumer advocates... bp

[WildcatOne]

Marvin didn't like the Dom Deluise portrayal of him in that movie...he wanted Clint Eastwood! <g> In real life, he was the champion of the little guy who got ripped off...all the crooks in this town are breathing a little easier and sleeping a little sounder knowing that he's not going to be banging on their door with a TV camera behind him...same for the restaurant guys who don't want to keep their places clean, and the nursing homes that neglect and rip off their residents. What hurts the most are the thousands of underprivileged children from all over the world who he would have brought here and had their cleft palates or other birth defects fixed by his doctor friends. It goes on and on, what he did...so long, Marvin. It was a wonderful party. WC1

[draglist]

Thanks for helping to set the record straight, Cat. bp

[WildcatOne]

Well, like most everybody else around here, I was all for leaving the Chicken Ranch alone. Heck, it was a Texas institution. It was an accepted part of regional lore. Wasn't hurting nobody. Marvin knew that, but he was on a mission and that was to expose corruption in law enforcement, politics and commerce...and around here, it was like trying to dismantle the San Jacinto Monument with his bare hands. I never went to the Chicken Ranch or any other such establishment, other than a strip club every once in a great while with my running buddies, just for kicks. I didn't protest shutting the place down, but that's what folks remember him for over everything else, and by everything else, I'm saying he did more than a hundred other men combined would have accomplished if given the opportunity. He went all over the world with a team of doctors to treat thousands of kids who needed help, for free. He saw to it that the little guy got his due, the underdog was given justice, that the downtrodden people of this city were taken care of properly, that the elderly and helpless were given fair and proper benefit, and his Friday evening weekly restaurant reports (he went in the back with inspectors and uncovered spine-tingling atrocities every day, threw 'em up on TV and YELLED the name and location of the place, pointing at the picture) became a much-anticipated event, as Houston is probably 90% restaurant. "SLIME in the ICE MACHINE!!!!" They even have a song called "Slime in the Ice Machine"...the city of Houston is in mourning this week. "Everybody have a great weekend...good golf, good tennis, or whatever makes ya happy. MARVIN ZINDLER, EYEwitness news!" WC1

[Tzoom]

I lived in Houston during the Zindler/Chicken Ranch era. While he was shutting that down he also shut down the old derelict motel/whore house that sat along Intestate 10 in Sealy. Funny that didn't get mentioned in song.

[WildcatOne]

Yeah, the Sealy deal was pretty hard-core. Both places were protected by the Sherriff...he came right up and kicked Marvin's butt on TV, too. Put him in the hospital. "Yawl git th'Hell out-cheah. Raht NOW! Go own, GIT! GIT!" If it wasn't so funny, it would have been serious? But it was real...and Marvin Zindler was all about what was really going on...he never backed down from anybody and he never stopped. He didn't get into his thing until he was well into his fifties, that's another story...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Zindler