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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, August 10, 2021, marks the 100th anniversary of the |
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birth of the late Marvin Harold Zindler, a well-known Houston |
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television news personality and consumer advocate; and |
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WHEREAS, The son of Austrian Jewish immigrants, Abe and Udith |
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Zindler, Marvin Zindler was born in the Bayou City in 1921; he |
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attended Tarleton State University and worked for the Bellaire |
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Police Department and his family's clothing store before beginning |
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his career in media; after breaking into radio in 1943 as a |
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part-time DJ and spot news reporter for KATL, he created and hosted |
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a half-hour crime news program; from 1950 to 1954, he was a reporter |
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and cameraman for Southwest Film Production Company, which produced |
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the evening news for KPRC, and in 1962, he began a 10-year stint |
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tracking down fugitives as a Harris County sheriff's deputy; he |
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also established a consumer fraud division; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Zindler was hired by KTRK in 1973, and his |
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exposé of the Chicken Ranch brothel in La Grange led to its closure; |
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the case inspired the musical and movie The Best Little Whorehouse |
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in Texas; an early consumer champion and action reporter, he |
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campaigned against scams, medical abuses, and, in his Friday "Rat |
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and Roach Reports," unsanitary eateries; those popular segments |
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featured his famed "Slime in the Ice Machine" rundown on sites with |
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unhygienic ice production; and |
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WHEREAS, Deeply compassionate, Mr. Zindler united prominent |
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people from many realms in a team called Marvin's Angels to help |
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those in need at home and abroad, from suffering children and |
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innocents caught in the legal system to captives in foreign lands; |
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during his final illness, he continued to file consumer reports |
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from his hospital bed until just days before his death on July 29, |
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2007, at the age of 85; and |
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WHEREAS, A devoted family man, Mr. Zindler shared a |
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fulfilling marriage of 56 years with his wife, Gertrude, before her |
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passing in 1997; they were the parents of five children, Helen, |
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Marvin, Donny, Mark, and Danny; and |
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WHEREAS, Marvin Zindler informed and enlightened his viewers |
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as a pioneering consumer advocate, and his commitment to fighting |
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indifference and injustice made a positive difference in the lives |
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of innumerable people in Texas and beyond; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Marvin Zindler on |
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the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth; and, be it |
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further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for his family as an expression of high regard by the Texas |
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House of Representatives. |