A little slice of Hollywood comes to Houston

Last night was a very significantly special evening....gorgeous John and I hosted a premiere party for our good friend and Steele Magnolia, Joanne King Herring at the River Oaks Country Club. Joanne is depicted by Academy Award winning actress, Julia Roberts in "Charlie Wilson's War" - This five time nominated Golden Globe tale, which is based on a true story about our East Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson, played by Tom Hanks and a CIA operative (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) worked together to orchestrate one of the largest covert operations in history.

The movie is directed by Mike Nichols.It may have been Charlie Wilson's War but it was Joanne's dream that freed a nation and brought an end to the Cold War! This film is a real as it gets .....a remarkable tale of our silent services at its finest.

It was old home week for me, friends from every segment of my eighteen years in Houston gathered to celebrate the life of this extraordinary woman. While Julia and Tom could not make the premiere there were many Houston heavy weights and lots of media (KHOU) on hand to make the night unforgettable. Among the crowd of 300 included Mayor Bill White and his wife Andrea presented Joanne with a proclamation declaring it "Joanne King Herring Day" and Secretary of State James Baker and his wife Susan were on hand to share tales of Joanne -- he had stories going back to their days in dance classes together in Junior High School! Former Secretary of State, Jack Rains with Kitty Allen; ever effervescent Carolyn Farb (below left) with the dashing Charles Ward, Chronicle society mistress, Shelby Hodge and Texas Monthly pageturner, Mimi Swartz, PaperCity Princess Ryland Peveto was there with her gorgeous husband Art aficionado, Scott. My peeps there to lend support were Leigh, Eva, Beau, Dr Doug, Daniel and Veronica, "Cupcake", Franco, Estela and David, Amanda, Shanae, Bo, Paula and Sam and most importantly my Momma, JoJo. Then again we all consider Powerhouse legal eagles, John Eddie Williams was flanked by his breathtaking wife, Sheridan, close "besties" too! Criminal powerhouse Dick DeGuerin was escorted by his wife Janie. For those whose heart stopped when they saw this black tie crowd dazzling in jewels....were rest assured to know heart transplant guru Dr Denton Cooley (below right) and his wife, Louise were among the crowd as well.