"White Knight in Blue Shades"
Plastic Surgeon Pens Zindler Biography

It’s no secret: Marvin Zindler and Dr. Joseph Agris, a plastic surgeon at The Methodist Hospital, are good friends.

Regular viewers of KTRK Channel 13 newscasts know that consumer reporter Zindler frequently turns to Agris – "Doctor Joe" – for help when he encounters a child with a disfiguring birth defect and no recourse for treatment.

And Zindler doesn’t hide the fact that Dr. Agris has performed multiple cosmetic surgeries on the TV personality. Dr. Agris likes to say he knows "the many faces" of Marvin Zindler.

So who better to write a biography of the man who is known by the phrases "It’s hell to be poor!" and "Slime in the ice machine!"?

"White Knight In Blue Shades," the authorized biography of Marvin Zindler, written by Dr. Joseph Agris, has just been published. All proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit the Agris-Zindler Children’s Fund, an organization that helps children with birth defects who would not otherwise receive care for their condition.

The Agris-Zindler Children’s Fund was started 22 years ago to help these children. Many of the children that viewers see on Zindler’s newscasts are helped by the fund, particularly those children that Zindler finds while on his goodwill missions to other countries.

The idea to write a biography of Zindler was originally tossed off as a joke between the two friends.

"Marvin’s had such an interesting life, I offered to write his biography one day when we were kidding around," Dr. Agris recalls.

But a few weeks later, while on vacation, Dr. Agris started making notes on just such a project. When he showed the notes to Zindler, the biography was born.

Writing on nights and weekends, Dr. Agris completed the book after four years of work.

"It’s a little bit ‘Valley of the Dolls’ and a little bit ‘Peyton Place,’ set in Houston," Dr. Agris says.

The author promises a lot of "secret stuff," information previously unrevealed about Marvin Zindler, as well as about some of the more celebrated stories he’s covered.

For example, there’s plenty of new information about the infamous "Chicken Ranch" in LaGrange that Zindler exposed in a series of Channel 13 newscasts in the early 1970s.

Hardcover copies of the book, autographed by Dr. Agris and Zindler, are available for $50 a copy for a limited time. These can be obtained by sending a check or money order (payable to The Children’s Fund) to: Agris-Zindler Children’s Fund – Book, 6560 Fannin St., Suite 1730, Houston, Texas 77030.

Credit card sales of the signed limited edition will also be made in person at Dr. Agris’ office, located in Scurlock Tower, Suite 1730.

"White Knight In Blue Shades" will also be available in bookstores as a softcover edition in a few months.

The public is invited to a New Year’s Day book signing from 1-6 p.m. at 400 Mulberry in Bellaire. For a $50 donation to the Children’s Fund attendees will meet Dr. Agris and Marvin Zindler, and receive an autographed copy of their book. R.S.V.P. to 713-797-1700.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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