Posted
7/29/2007 09:08:00 PM
by Douglas
Good golf, good tennis, or whatever makes you happy:
Houston loses an icon today:
Marvin Zindler, a Houston institution for more than three decades and a pioneer of consumer reporting, died Sunday at M.D. Anderson Hospital after a fight with cancer.
The irascible, flamboyant 85-year-old television personality had been diagnosed in July with inoperable pancreatic cancer that had spread to his liver.
Even in his last days, Zindler continued to work, filing reports from his hospital bed. In his last report, broadcast Saturday, in which he helped a 45-year-old U.S. citizen secure a social security card necessary for employment, Zindler appeared thin and his voice was weak.
Still, he signed off with a hearty "MAARVIN ZINDLER, EYEWITNESS NEWS" — his trademark for 34 years with KTRK Channel 13.
Marvin was as inherent to Houston as humidity and bad Mexican food. In the day of antiseptic newspeople with no accent and no discernable heritage, Marvin was unapologetically Texan. It's hard to imagine Houston without him. Sure, you didn't watch the Restaurant Report every Friday, but you knew it was on, and you knew Marvin was on the job, finding "slime in the ice machine."
I can't think of a bigger Houston icon.