Email Author Margaret Downing

Awards

• 2012 - Maggies: The Magazine Awards of Western Publishing, published December 22, 2011

  "Mistaken Identities"

• 2011 - Maggies: The Magazine Awards of Western Publishing, published December 23, 2010

  "Children of God"

• 2011 - Lone Star Awards, published December 23, 2010

  "Children of God"

• 2011 - Lone Star Awards, published December 30, 2010

  "The Whipping Boy"

• 2011 - Lone Star Awards, published June 3, 2010

  "Homeless High"

• 2010 - Lone Star Awards, published June 4, 2009

  "Let the Record Reflect"

• 2009 - Education Reporting Awards/National Education Writers Association, published April 10, 2008

  "Exit Exams"

• 2009 - AAN AltWeekly Awards, published May 8, 2008

  "Mental Anguish"

• 2009 - Lone Star Awards, published November 13, 2008

  "Bad Faith"

• 2008 - Maggies: The Magazine Awards of Western Publishing, published May 31, 2007

  "Killing Fences"

• 2008 - First Amendment Awards/The Fort Worth Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, published October 25, 2007

  "Death in a Box"

• 2008 - Lone Star Awards, published October 25, 2007

  "Death in a Box"

• 2008 - Lone Star Awards, published August 23, 2007

  "Judging Books and Their Covers"

• 2007 - Education Reporting Awards/National Education Writers Association, published October 5, 2006

  "Opt In, Opt Out'

• 2007 - Lone Star Awards, published October 5, 2006

  "Opt In, Opt Out"

• 2007 - Lone Star Awards, published May 11, 2006

  "Diary of a Mad Man"

• 2006 - Lone Star Awards, published August 11, 2005

  "Who Cares?"

• 2006 - Lone Star Awards, published February 17, 2005

  "Mind Reading"

More

2012 Stories by Margaret Downing

• Joseph Kaiser Takes on the Riverboat Gambler Role in the Houston Grand Opera's Show Boat

  published Dec 28, 2012

  This January 18 will be opening night for Houston Grand Opera's production of Show Boat, a somewhat risky, untraditional choice for an opera company, and one that Artistic and Music Director Patrick S... More >>

• Peter Pan

  published June 14, 2012

  Cathy Rigby, the former world champion gymnast and Olympian who transformed herself into an actress and stage performer, has unretired from her... More >>

• God Bless You, Every One

  published June 14, 2012

  Former company member John Feltch, returning to the Alley Theatre for the first time in 12 years to play Jacob Marley's ghost (and Mrs. Dilber)... More >>

• Cover Story: Texas's Seven Deadly Crime Sins

  published Dec 26, 2012

  When staff writer John Nova Lomax set about his review of the crimes committed in Texas in 2012, he rapidly discovered that the Bible had a lot to say about them. Yes, all manner of crime that had ev... More >>

• Stephen Petronio's Underland: A Journey From Darkness to Light Set to Nick Cave's Music

  published Dec 24, 2012

  Back in the early 2000s, the Sydney Dance Co. commissioned dancer/choreographer Stephen Petronio to develop a dance work. Using the pop music of Australian Nick Cave, the American Petronio came up wi... More >>

• Quentin Tarantino and Our Year in Movies 2012

  published Dec 19, 2012

  Quentin Tarantino, the director who took on the Nazis in Inglorious Basterds, rewriting history to better suit him, brings us the Christmas Day gift of Django Unchained, another violence-filled, ch... More >>

• Atheists in Texas: Who Knewr And on the Increase, Too

  published Dec 05, 2012

  Texas has a long history of atheism, although most of its followers like Madalyn Murray O'Hair who moved to Austin in the mid-1960s and founded the American Atheists, were few in number and didn't ha... More >>

• The Chron's Top Execs Write Another Memo as They Prepare to Hand Out Merit Checks to the Best of the Best at the Chron (Lesser Employees Are Excused to Go Pound Sand)

  published Nov 30, 2012

  It's homestretch time for Houston Chronicle President John O'Loughlin and Publisher Tom Stephenson, who we've written about before for their determination to be one of the Top 50 Places to Work in Hou... More >>

• Still Flying

  published November 29, 2012

  When Cathy Rigby was a gymnast, winning world titles and representing the United States in the Olympics, the sport was all she focused on. When... More >>

• Houston ISD Doesn't Make Finalist List for Race to the Top and All That Money

  published Nov 26, 2012

  Houston ISD received discouraging news today as the U.S. Department of Education released its list of Race to the Top finalists and Houston wasn't on it. "We're disappointed to miss out on this oppo... More >>

• Cathy Rigby Still Soaring at Almost 60 in Peter Pan: Clap Your Hands If You Believe It

  published Nov 26, 2012

  She was the pert and perky gymnastics Olympian who went on to redefine a character identified in the public mind with Mary Martin. And now Cathy Rigby is back, taking the lead role in the national tou... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Ren Fest's Last Weekend for 2012: Go Now or Wait Till Next Year

  published Nov 24, 2012

  Check out our slideshow. Fair warning one and all: This is the last weekend for the 2012 Texas Renaissance Festival and with the slightly cooler temperatures and the last-minute discounts, this is... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  Happy Thanksgiving: Art Attack Writers & Their Shout Outs to the Houston Art Scene

  published Nov 22, 2012

  A rehearsal of Dominic Walsh's UzumeThe arts writers on Art Attack like to pause for a minute every Thanksgiving to note the things and people they are thankful for in the Houston arts scene. So here... More >>

• Would-be "Grandpa Bandit" Leaves Chase Bank Empty Handed

  published Nov 19, 2012

  The Houston FBI Bank Robbery Task Force is looking for help from the public after a man said to be in his 60s wearing a "short-sleeved light blue button down shirt," walked into a Chase bank, handed o... More >>

• Via Colori Festival W/Video: Where You Can Write All Over the Street and Not Get in Trouble

  published Nov 19, 2012

  Great weather graced the seventh annual Via Colori Street Painting Festival this past weekend as more than 240 artists arrived to create a massive mural while passersby watched their steps, making sur... More >>

• John Feltch in A Christmas Carol - You Bet It'll Be With A British Accent!

  published Nov 16, 2012

  Actor John Feltch has returned to the Alley Theatre after an absence of 12 years (other than to play in To Kill a Mockingbird in April 2007, Treasure Island in May 2007 and Eurydice in February 2009... More >>

• Les Misérables

  published June 14, 2012

  So what if there's a movie version coming out at Christmas starring Hugh Jackman? The 25th-anniversary production of Les... More >>

• The Italian Girl in Algiers

  published June 14, 2012

  Italian mezzo-soprano Daniela Barcellona checks in at about five-foot-ten, and in Houston Grand Opera’s second offering of the season... More >>

• Unidentified 20-year-old Robbery Suspect Shot by Store Owner: Bayou Body Count No. 200

  published Nov 15, 2012

  An armed robbery suspect was shot to death at a Cricket Wireless Store by the store's owner just after 6 p.m. Wednesday, Houston police report. The identity of the 20-year-old suspect is pending ... More >>

• La bohème

  published June 14, 2012

  Imagine you're dying. You're tired, worn; disease is sapping your last bit of strength. At the same time, however, you have to sing out about... More >>

• Body Awareness

  published June 14, 2012

  In Body Awareness, a lesbian couple, raising a son who may or may not have Asperger’s syndrome, see their home life upended... More >>

• George Aragon Charged with Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child, is Brought Back From Guam

  published Nov 14, 2012

  It took about a month but Harris County Sheriff's Office investigators finally have U.S. Marine George Aragon back in the United States, specifically in the Harris County Jail on charges of continuous... More >>

• 

  FEATURED STORY

  What Do Texas Secessionists, Teenagers and Hibernating Bears Have in Commonr A Venn Diagram

  published Nov 14, 2012

  Texas once again masterfully thrust itself into the national spotlight yesterday when it became clear that on Monday, more than 51,000 people had signed a petition and sent it in to Washington D.C. sa... More >>

• HGOco: Song of Houston: From My Mother’s Mother

  published June 14, 2012

  In From My Mother's Mother, the latest effort from Houston Grand Opera’s HGOco, a young Korean-American woman goes into the... More >>

• Harris County Sheriff's Office Asks For Help Finding Who Killed Coty Beavers

  published Nov 13, 2012

  If you are so inclined, the Harris County Sheriff's Office is asking for help in finding who killed Coty Beavers, who was shot to death on Monday, November 12 in his apartment. And to sweeten the deal... More >>