Comments (0) Best Flack - 2009
Michelle Lyons, TDCJ
Spokespeople can be a reporter's best friend or worst nightmare, and Michelle Lyons is the poster child for the former. Don't get us wrong — "best friend" doesn't mean she's always available to hang out and talk about the Astros; it means she's always able to provide useful, reliable information, whether it be a quote, a statistic, a reference, or anything else that will help reporters get to the truth and heart of a story. Some flacks live to circle the wagons and block the free flow of public information. They live to throw back their heads, cackle maniacally and bust out the red tape. But Lyons works her ass off to make sure that if a reporter's going to write something about an institution as massive and complex as TDCJ, that reporter's going to have the correct information, and they're going to have it ASAP. She's fast, patient, whip-smart and doesn't make you feel like an idiot for asking possibly stupid questions (not that we ever do that). She gets the job done.
