Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2010 > September > 02 > Entry
Lawrence Wright Reception at Blanton Museum of Art
A brainy bunch gathered at the Blanton Museum of Art on Wednesday. They ascended the stately west atrium stairs to preview Lawrence Wright’s “My Trip to Al-Qaeda.” The documentary, directed by Alex Gibney, airs Sept. 7 on HBO.
Wright won the Pulitzer Prize for his book “The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11.” He has also produced some of the finest magazine journalism of his generation. Yet he’s a down-to-earth Austin guy and even told self-deprecating stories in the lobby about his stop-and-start driving attempts with a fundamentalist Muslim in Britain. (The footage of the curb-bashing was cut from the movie.)
Evan Smith and Lawrence Wright
Lee Walker, formerly of Dell Inc. and the Capital Metro Transit board of directors — and perhaps the brainiest of the bunch — fondly recalled his recent two months in a timeless Umbrian town. Sally Fly of AIA-Austin recounted backstage stories about the previous night’s tour preview party at a dazzling Enfield mansion. (The first carpet spill of the evening came courtesy of the homeowner’s staff.)
Another iPhone note fail: Please help ID.
Hyper-socializer Dan Bullock, wearing the last white of the summer, worked the crowd gently. (Tip: Bullock will sing soon at Zach. Look for it.) Mark Holzbach of Zebra Imaging introduced an extremely promising filmmaker Jason William Marlow, whose “The Big Bends” is tearing up the festival and industry circuit. Suzanne and Marc Winkelman made similar introductions to other bright lights of the evening.
Another iPhone note fail: Please help ID. (L: Luke Dunlap; R: Wolfgang Neidert)
Texas Tribune publisher Evan Smith — the event partially benefited the nonprofit online newspaper — buzzed around the upstairs cocktail reception. Downstairs, I ran into Sharon Watkins of Chez Zee who praised UT fine arts dean Doug Dempster and new theater and dance chairman Brant Pope to the skies. (She hosts a reception at her Northwest Hills eatery for Pope soon.)
The consequential crowd included Lance Armstrong, according to his own tweets. He must have whizzed right by me. I didn’t stay for the showing. The screener disc is tucked in my satchel for a Labor Day watch.
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