Houston's Hospital Heroes: Amy Greenwood Hemingway
I am launching HHH (Houston’s Hospital Heroes) today by introducing my childhood friend, Amy Greenwood Hemingway. Amy is a wife, a mom of two teenage boys and the most devoted nurse for over three decades. Amy works relentlessly at Texas Children’s Hospital as a Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner and Advanced Practice Clinical Lead for congenital heart surgery. She is always influencing others whether her team or the families of her patients… She is devoted to her tiny patients, their families and their futures. She clearly adores her job and finds huge reward in helping others. She inspires and teaches the importance of kindness from morning to night whether at home with her family, at work or hanging out with friends. She is the true meaning of a hero - “someone who puts others before himself or herself.” She is devoted to making a difference in this world. A shining example! Just what we all need now and always. In these uncertain times we must look towards the future. We must care for each other and know that the future is bright. We are a community. We are Houston Strong. #florencenightingale #nurses #medicine #future #houston #texaschildrenshospital #pediatriccardiology #houstonstrong
“Floating House'“ 1955. Carrington Weems developed “Baywood” on the shores of Galveston Bay in Seabrook, Tx. It is his first creation and the home that he is most proud of. The design of this house is a stunning example of Modernist Architecture.
Carrington Weems: A Visionary
VISIONARY: “Someone with a strong vision of the future.” (Merriam Webster)
One could say Carrington is a living piece of American history. His Great-Great Grandfather, Mason Locke Weems (also known as Parson Weems), wrote the first biography of George Washington. He is the author of the famous fable about young George Washington and the cherry tree.
Grant Wood Parson Weems Fable - Amon Carter Museum
I met Mr. and Mrs.Weems when I was a teenager. Their daughter, Thilde, has been a lifelong friend of mine. Carrington and Mary Ann had three children. Their eldest, Alexandra, works in the Arts and Publishing. She splits her time between the East and West Coasts. Their son, Carrington, is a special effects photographer who specializes in interactive virtual tours. He lives in Texas. Thilde is an MD turned clothing and textile designer living in California.
Carrington is a descendant of one of Houston’s Founding Families. His Grandfather came to Houston in 1858. His Grandparents’ home was in downtown Houston. It was on the SE corner of Jackson and Rusk. A third generation Houstonian. Carrington’s father was in the name of Vinson, Elkins, Weems and Searls. Carrington is a Houston Legend, King of Real Estate deals and Developer Extraordinaire! In fact, when I called him to set up our first appointment he said “that’s a deal.” He studied Architecture at Rice University under the famed Andy Todd. Although he has a degree in Engineering his true love has always been Architecture.
A young Carrington Weems at 30
Photo by Houston Museum District. Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Tx.
While studying at Rice, he joined the Contemporary Arts Association. A successful architect and land developer, he was appointed Chairman of the Land Acquisition Committee and Head of Capital Fund Drive for the CAA. Through many social and business connections, Carrington helped the CAA raise enough funds to purchase the land on the corner of Bissonnet and Montrose and give the Museum a permanent home. Carrington built the new museum.
Carrington married Mary Ann Sledge who had a degree in Education as well as a degree in Interior and Furniture Design. She studied at the New York School of Interior Design. She studied under Frank Lloyd Wright as well as Marcel Breuer. They made an unconquerable design duo!
Photo by Michele Grinstead-Griffiths
Photo by Michele Grinstead-Griffiths
“Home is where the heart is.”
Carrington and Mary Ann lived in a home he designed in 1961. Think Bauhaus/Frank Lloyd Wright meets Texas glamour. Terrazzo floors with high styled furniture designed either by famous architects, Carrington or Mary Ann. The home is an escape from the hustle and bustle of city life although very much in the center of it all. An almost all glass exterior surrounded by forest. A tribute to a full and accomplished life, a house chock-full of collections. Among his collections are model ships and all things maritime. Remarkable oil paintings and watercolors of ships, Texas maps and maritime maps, Audubon prints and books on Audubon. Books on art, furniture, design, architecture and American history. Photographs everywhere...framed family photographs taken over the years.
Photo by Michele Grinstead-Griffiths
We visited during a cloudburst:
Photo Michele Grinstead-Griffiths
EMMA: What floats your boat???
CW: I’m a would have been architect.
EMMA: Tell me about the huge deal you put together in the late 1970s.
CW: In 1979 I closed a deal that was, at that time, the largest commercial real estate transaction in Texas. It encompassed 33 blocks of downtown Houston. Today, one would recognize it as the area between the Four Season’s Hotel and the GRB Convention Center. Discovery Green is inside the area and 1 and 2 Houston Center as well.
EMMA: Is that your biggest milestone?
CW: As far as real estate deals, I would say that my most outstanding project was the 3300 acres Harry Masterson and I assembled in 1999-2001. The community now known as Shadow Creek Ranch in Pearland..
EMMA: Oh, right! I spoke with Harry about his “training with you.” Harry says he “caught the real estate bug from you.” He described you as “BIG - larger than life.”
CW: He said that? I will never forget how much work he did on 150 different transactions to make that deal happen…
EMMA: Let’s talk about some of your favorite things...What is your favorite music?
CW: Easy. Cole Porter
EMMA: You were married for 55 years. What was the secret to your marriage?
CW: Mary Ann was my best friend. We had so much in common. We loved to travel and visit different places. We had a deal. Every time we went somewhere new we would buy a map or model ship for our collection and she would get a piece of jewelry.
EMMA: What is your favorite building in Houston?
CW: Wells Fargo Plaza
EMMA: I just drove by that building. It’s gorgeous and the second tallest building in Houston. What’s your favorite building of all time?
CW: The Solow Building in NYC. It’s next to The Plaza. It’s also known as The Avon building. 9 West 57th St.
EMMA: What’s your favorite restaurant in Houston and what do you eat there?
CW: EMMALINE. I love it! I eat tuna tartare with eggplant and spilt pea soup.
EMMA: Alexandra told me that when she was a child you took her to a very special ballet performance you brought to Houston
CW: Yes. Years ago I was on the Board of Directors of The Ballet Foundation and The Society for The PerformIng Arts and raised money for The Royal Ballet to come to Houston. Five sold out standing room only performances with Margot Fonteyn and Rudolph Nureyev. They danced together for the last time in Jones Hall.
Carrington loves to dance, listen to music and sing. Diana Krall “When I look in your eyes” comes on his CD player every afternoon at 2:30. The magic sets in...he begins telling me about the many years of shrimping, crabbing and fishing he did with his family. He describes their house in La Porte and the pier where he and his children and grandchildren have spent hours fishing. Carrington told me about a Great Blue Heron who visits him every time he goes out on the pier. The Great Blue Heron is said to bring messages of self-determination and self-reliance.
“THE CALL OF THE SEA.”
Photo by Michele Grinstead - Griffiths
Carrington’s collection of Maritime ships will be left to The Houston Maritime Museum. He is so proud of this museum. Even in its temporary location Carrington believes the museum is world class. Leslie Bowlin is the Executive Director of the future 50 million dollar museum. “The museum has over eight galleries and gives guests a comprehensive history lesson on the history of Buffalo Bayou, the Houston Ship Channel and the impact of the port on the daily lives of Houstonians, the economy of Houston and the nation.” (Houston Maritime Museum)
Next February 13th Carrington will be honored by the Sons of the American Revolution. The award is being given to him for his exemplary leadership in the business community, his philanthropic efforts and his support and love for the Arts as well as his lifelong demonstration of the values and principles of the SAR. He will join a short list of Houston Legends who have received this award in the past. One thing Carrington always wanted to do is go to the moon. Upon receiving this honor he will be in the company of Eugene Canon, the last man to walk on the moon among other legendary people.
The Great Blue Heron befriended the right person. Carrington’s Great-Great Grandfather’s fable about young George Washington and the cherry tree represented the important life lessons and morals one should uphold. The SAR honor Carrington will receive February 13, 2020 represents honesty, loyalty, patience, knowledge and the morals we try to uphold as Americans.
Photo by Geoff Winningham (2001)
Lauren Anderson: Houston Ballet's Living Legend
Lauren and I met in the early 70’s. We met in ballet class at Houston Ballet. In 1972 we were in Houston Ballet’s very first Nutcracker. We were gingers, mice and party children. I spoke with her recently in a sunlit studio in Houston Ballet’s 115,000 sq ft Center For Dance.
Lauren in the Jones Hall dressing room at the age of twelve as a soldier in The Nutcracker
Lauren at age seven with Courtney Laves as clowns in The Nutcracker
Close to 45 years later, time flew by as we caught up and discussed her world famous career. Lauren reminded me of how often we were reprimanded for talking in ballet class.
Born in the Third Ward, Lauren moved very few times during her childhood. Her parents live in the same house she grew up in and she now lives close to downtown. An only child, she grew up close to her parents. She attended Will Rogers Elementary School, then Lanier and later Lamar. The daughter of two teachers she knew the meaning of hard work and discipline at an early age. In 1983, the year Lauren joined the company, she became pescatarian in order to change the shape of her muscle bound frame. She transformed her body from one that looked like a track athlete to the impeccably sculpted body of a ballerina. Houston Ballet’s first African American Principal dancer and the only African American Prima Ballerina at the head of a major ballet company in the world. (Wikipedia) She performed with Houston Ballet from 1983-2006.
“FIRSTS ARE REALLY IMPORTANT. THINGS CAN’T CHANGE WITHOUT FIRSTS.”
Lauren’s parents met with Ben Stevenson, the then Artistic Director of Houston Ballet, when she was 13. Mr. Stevenson wasn’t sure ballet was the right road for Lauren to take. Lauren’s father had already paid for more lessons. She was forced to stick with ballet. Six months later she was cast as Alice in the upcoming production of Alice In Wonderland. She was stunned and asked Mr Stevenson how she, a dark black girl, could possibly be Alice. Alice had (until then) always been a white girl in a blue dress. His unforgettable response changed her life and career. “Darling, you’re a dancer and dancers dance. The only color in art is on a canvas."
Lauren Anderson as Alice with Keith Elliott as the White Rabbit in Houston Ballet’s production of Alice in Wonderland (1978)
Lauren Anderson as the Sugar Plum Fairy in Ben Stevenson’s The Nutcracker
Photo by Jim Caldwell (2005)
Her career exploded. She danced all over the world. She performed leading roles in all the great classical ballets. Ben Stevenson created two ballets especially for her - Don Quixote and Cleopatra. She performed all over the world as a guest artist. She rose to the top of the ballet world and put Houston on the map by breaking barriers for ballerinas of color. Speaking candidly and enthusiastically she says “the awesome thing about dance is that you actually get to become the music. The music is the driving force of what you are doing. You are telling a story and the coolest thing is to make an audience laugh or cry or feel w h a t e v e r without telling them a thing.”
Lauren’s commanding voice is now heard regularly. Spending her days talking, teaching and snapping her fingers, she is now the Program Manager of Education and Community Engagement for Houston Ballet. With a motherly tone and full of charisma she charms audiences and classrooms of students lecturing, telling her story, teaching dance and coordinating school visits to the Houston Ballet Center for Dance. The E.C.E. Program for Houston Ballet is an out reach program that includes over 60,000 ISD kids and 19 programs. Teaching is in her blood. Everyone in her family is a teacher and Lauren is very comfortable in this role. She says “kids don’t have voices” and her’s is loud and clear. Her message is always positive and full of love. She tells them all she loves them and tells them what is good before what is bad when teaching. “I realized a long time ago that what I have done is not who I am. It has allowed me to become who I want to be. I want to be this person who changes the world.”
LAUREN’S SON LAWRENCE
Lawrence Bell Fitzgerald Turner is a natural on stage. Lawrence attends HSPVA and, at 16, he is an accomplished jazz musician. His dad, Kyle Turner, a famous saxophonist (who happens to have been Luther Vandross’ last saxophonist) is also a native Houstonian. “All the Turners are musicians. The entire family.” As parents, Lauren and Kyle have stepped back to allow Lawrence to figure out who he is. “I don’t want him to think he has to live up to me. He has to live up to him. He knows who I am and what I have done. His dad too.”
LAUREN’S CHILDHOOD DREAM
From the time Lauren was a young girl in the ballet world she dreamed of dancing the role of The Sugar Plum Fairy. The year she retired she danced eight performances as The Sugar Plum Fairy.
THE SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE
Lauren’s Sugar Plum Fairy pointe shoes and her Cleopatra costume are on permanent display at NMAAHC. What Lauren values the most is her son’s response to seeing them on display - with very little time to view the precious collection, they raced to see her costume and shoes before the museum opened to the public. It was when Lawrence exclaimed “that’s my mom! Those are her shoes. This is something I can bring my great- great grandchildren to see” that Lauren knew she had been the first of something huge that inspired changes that would then stimulate bigger and broader changes.
Houston Ballet today is America’s fifth largest ballet company. Under the artistic direction of Stanton Welch since 2003, the company, according to Lauren “has become bigger and better.” We spoke only about Mr. Welch’s Nutcracker and agreed that “it’s S P E C T A C U L A R. BEYOND BROADWAY, BALLET MEETS BROADWAY, AWESOME! It’s full of stimulation - next level - it had to be in order to be totally different and to be successful…”
Photo by Michele Grinstead Griffiths (2019)
Q and A WITH L.A.:
EMMA: To start, do you cook? What do you eat to stay in shape?
L.A.: I’m queen of the stir fry!
EMMA: Is that your go to? Tell me how you like it...
L.A: It’s like this… I get a gallon bag and fill it with lots of chopped veggies. I buy garlic in a jar so it’s already minced. I chop onions and fry them in safflower oil until they are clear, add some garlic then pour the vegetables into the skillet and fry them up. I add some Slap Ya Mama Creole Seasoning and BOOM SHAKA LAKA! Throw some protein in and it’s ready to eat.
EMMA: SLAP YA MAMA’S WHAT???
L.A. You’ve got to try it! Its the best!
EMMA: It’s on my list. I won’t forget the name...So that’s what you eat to stay in shape.. What’s your favorite desert or cheat food?
L.A.: Oh, that’s easy... I looooove Bluebell Homemade Vanilla ice cream and key lime pie.
EMMA: What do you crave when you are stressed?
L.A.: Puffy Cheetos every time!
EMMA: What is Lawrence’s favorite food?
L.A.: Anything with ketchup on it. I’m not lying...He loves ketchup! Pizza and ketchup anyday. He also loves spaghetti and greenbeans.
EMMA: What’s your favorite movie?
L.A.: Singing In The Rain. I’ve seen it so many times. Also, The Godfather One and Two.
EMMA: What’s your makeup routine?
L.A.: I don’t wear a lot of makeup but I do like Dermablend powder. They make lots of shades of brown. Also MAC. I love MAC.
EMMA: What about lipstick? What color are you wearing now?
LA: I’m wearing almond oil and then that perfect dark colored lipstick from Walgreens. You know, the perfect shade of wine/burgundy???
EMMA: What are you referring to? Something dark like Midnight in Nicaragua?
LA: I don’t have that color, but I like the name of it. Sounds good!
EMMA: Those are your only makeup secrets?
LA: No. I use Mary Kay Cafe Au Lait lipstick on top of everything. It’s the best color. I wore it today because I knew we would be taking photos.
EMMA: I assume this is your weekday uniform… a Houston Ballet tee, Slitz 59 leggings and tennis shoes.
L.A.: Yes! This is it. I have to be able to move and run at a moments notice - tackle any task that’s necessary.
EMMA: What do you wear when you are going out? An important night out or an event?
L.A.: Chloe Dao. Always.
EMMA: Chloe Dao? The Project Runway winner? She has a shop in Rice Village?
L.A.: YES!!! I love her clothes. I love the way they fit my body. She always knows what’s best for me.
EMMA: OK. I will check her out. Have heard great things about her…
These days, Lauren doesn’t seem to ever have a shortage of evening events, award dinners and ceremonies. Earlier this month Lauren chaired the Houston Arts Alliance’s annual soiree celebrating local Houston artists where they raised over $200,000. Lauren shines like a star whether she is in her Houston Ballet uniform or dressed for a night out. She is a powerhouse who isn’t slowing down anytime soon. Her confidence and strength is contagious!