Email Author Lauren Kern

2001 Stories by Lauren Kern

• Art Therapy

  published November 8, 2001

  In the weeks since the terrorist attacks, many critics have proclaimed the abilities of art to remind us of the optimism of the human spirit, to... More >>

• Great Expectations

  published October 11, 2001

  "This place is dead," says Joe Hernandez, stating the obvious. It's the middle of a Saturday at Joe's Sandwich Shop at the corner of Main Street... More >>

• Sugar & Spice

  published August 30, 2001

  It's mid-July, and one of Houston's most prestigious art galleries looks like a little girl's bedroom. The walls are pink, with white painted... More >>

• Forever On His Toes

  published August 2, 2001

  In his office, Ben Stevenson is surrounded by friends. The walls are covered with framed autographs and letters and photos of famous dancers and... More >>

• Waivering Rights

  published July 12, 2001

  In 1988 Christopher Ochoa confessed to raping and murdering a young woman at an Austin Pizza Hut. The 22-year-old man implicated his friend,... More >>

• Unstable Ground

  published June 21, 2001

  Harold McVey seems quite pleased with himself. The 75-year-old president of Wharton County's Concerned Citizens Against Pollution, who has a... More >>

• Bargain Basement

  published June 21, 2001

  With the new $100 million County Criminal Justice Center shorted out by the flood for what may be months, some defense attorneys worry that their... More >>

• No Storybook Ending

  published June 14, 2001

  Houston Ballet's Romeo and Juliet loses something without Shakespeare's words, Dracula without Bela Lugosi's bite, Cinderella... More >>

• Second to None

  published May 31, 2001

  There's a moment in ballet when dancers seem to hang in the air, their muscles sprung like coils, their pointed feet reaching toward the earth,... More >>

• Tuning Out the Static

  published April 5, 2001

  "Something big is about to happen," says Edwin Johnston. Tall and lanky, with a mop of curly hair, Johnston seems kindhearted but crazy -- the... More >>

• Coping with Coppélia

  published March 15, 2001

  The dancers of the Houston Ballet must still be a bit shaken by artistic director Ben Stevenson's near-resignation late last month (see The... More >>

• This Bird Has Flown

  published March 1, 2001

  The Houston Ballet's winter mixed repertory is an expensive one. Canadian choreographer James Kudelka's new version of The Firebird... More >>

• A Portrait of the Artist as a Capitalist

  published February 22, 2001

  Vladimir Gorsky considers the two faces of George Herbert Walker Bush in his living room. One of them, in a painting that hangs unfinished on the... More >>

• Lawyerly Liaisons

  published February 1, 2001

  "It just happened," says Houston attorney Mitch Gaspard, sounding like a teenager who lost track of time or kissed someone other than his steady.... More >>

• Growing Up's For Suckers

  published January 25, 2001

  The panorama, from right to left: A Frosty the Snowman impersonator announcing "Happy birthday!" from inside a basketball-size head outfitted with... More >>

• Spin Control

  published January 11, 2001

  It was 6:45 a.m. Kristin Stecher dragged herself out of bed and pulled on a sweatshirt over her flannel pajamas. She wasn't resentful at having to... More >>