Loved Scott Pelley when he and his wife Jane Boone were working in Dallas way back when. It’s been years since Scott headed up to the northeast and started working for “60 Minutes.”
This past Sunday he did an interview with philanthropist Melinda Gates, who is married to Bill Gates and graduated from Ursuline Academy. At one point in the interview, this exchange took place:
Pelley: “Now, I’m from Texas, too, so I can say this. You don’t wear your wealth like a Dallas gal.”
Gates: “Mmm hmm.”
Pelley: “You don’t seem to be a big consumer of jewelry and cosmetics.”
Scott, you’ve been gone way to long, sweetie. The driving force for philanthropy in Dallas, Houston and Texas for that matter is made up of women who have their priorities nicely arranged. No one has ever, ever, ever thought of people like Margaret McDermott, Caroline Rose Hunt, Mary McDermott, Diane Brierley, Lynn McBee or Marguerite Hoffman (to name just a few) as being “big consumers of jewelry and cosmetics.”
Perhaps you need to visit Dallas and update your “Dallas gal” impression.
Rawlins Gilliland says
Jeanne, you are absolutely correct when you cite the amazing women above. But we have to be honest that there is a parallel universe in big city Texas where the flashier the better. It’s part of what makes Texas special but it is also part of what makes us a moving target. But I celebrate Texas women who are glamorous & larger than life no less than I applaud our movers & shakers who are low key & subtle.
If I wanted Texas all women to look like New England, I’d move to New Hampshire. In truth, a lot of Dallas jewels are awash in jewel tones & jewels &, as a 7th generation Texan & native Dallasite who retired from Neiman Marcus, I LOVE their spirit & style! They are stars who glow in the dark who can move mountains without ever chipping a nail. There too, as a man raised by a modern woman who was blazingly smart & anything but stereotypical while managing to be fearlessly aluring, I also adore it when a woman smolders instead of erupts. In Texas, thank God it’s all about being BIG. That has zero to do with being fake. Our women in Texas are beyond real. They are in a class by themselves. Long may they live!
Jeanne Prejean says
Rawlins, I totally agree with you. Dallas women definitely have style in all segments of their lives. That may be why so many small town ladies find their way to Big D.
But for Scott to dismiss “Dallas gals” with such a “broad brush” (sorry, no pun intended) was beneath him. Dallas women are marvelous individuals who combine independence, brains, beauty and compassion. It must be something in the water. I’ll drink to that!