Dish-Houston

Sounds like two things a gal can't have too much of and for Joanne King Herring, a staple in the Houston social scene, in Washington, D.C. and the Afghan countryside...they are two things she possesses in piles.

Meeting her at an event you feel her energy, you can't help but be moved by her and want to know more about everything about her. Getting to sit down with her is everything you would expect on Christmas morning if you could unwrap a human. The way this interview came about was through two very good friends. One, August Skamenca first sent me Mrs. Herring's assistant's name and number but in a wild desire to clean the entire world I accidentally deleted the info! I requested it again but August was on assignment for CBS Radio and couldn't get back to me. Not being one to be deterred, I sent a message to her via facebook knowing full well there would be a huge firewall to get through. Turns out the firewall was another friend, Corbett Parker who has been working with Joanne with Afghanistan and on this book for more than three years. Needless to say, when I did finally call they were waiting for me! Imagine...Joanne King Herring waiting for YOUR call! It was a Thursday and I was sitting in the hairdresser's chair...in Dallas... when I had time to actually dial the phone and the most refreshing thing happened, Joanne answered her own phone. There are no airs about this woman, she really is as approachable and down to earth as Julia Roberts portrays her if not more so. She let me know instantly that she had a goal and it was to have her new book Diplomacy and Diamonds be number one on the best sellers list by Saturday and since DISH is an online magazine and we can publish instantly she wanted to do the interview RIGHT THEN! I was grossly unprepared! I said I could call back in a bit or come back from Dallas early that evening to interview her. She, of course, had an event that she was willing to "get sick" for to make this interview happen. When she revealed that she has purchased a table (meaning she was hosting 10 people) I offered to meet her at her event and interview her in the lobby to which she responded,

"Well why don't you just join us, wear jeans and a sweater it's a picnic in the park!"

Who could refuse! She had a goal and I wanted that interview! I left the hairdresser's with wet hair, packed and drove the 4 hours home a day early.

In 50 degree weather with the sounds of Grammy Award Nominated Mary Griffin singing in the background we sat in the corner and chatted away. I wanted to know everything I could before we turned blue.

I started with the obvious question: Why Afghanistan? To which she educated me ever so gently,

"In all of the years our military has been over there they have yet to create one self sustaining village. With our non-profits we have one almost finished in only four years. We've created a 6 month long educational program for their military so they can read a manual, write and do small sums, we're educating their children so they can grow up to be leaders, and develop and sustain a democracy. We're teaching them how to get clean water, grow their own food like soy that they can then sell for profit and creating a minimal medical system so the women won't die in childbirth and will be able to create healthy milk for their new babies. The Afghan people have been enslaved and kept ignorant and in poverty by the Hezbollah, Hamas, and Muslims. The only way the Afghan people will be free is for us to give them tools and skills to break free."

She went on to inform me that Gene Green and Michael McCaulare leaving tomorrow (Nov 4, 2011) to visit the model village in Afghanistan that is being built. The goal isn't to send a bunch of Americans over to do it but to have a few key folks who can help them help themselves. They are also creating a sewing building in each village where designers Kate Spade and Cesar Galindo have already agreed to employ the women in the village after they learn how to sew.

The really fun part about this entire project is that America has spent 14 BILLION and achieved nothing in setting the Afghan people up to be prosperous for themselves. The Marshall Plan Charitiescan do that for just 2 billion and set up EVERY village. It's already been launched and it was paid for by Houstonians. Not one penny was taken from the US government.

With the heavy lifting for the brains put aside because we were getting cold and our wine glasses had run dry she left me with a few anecdotes.

The first one was telling me how to get someone's attention in a receiving line if you'd really like to meet them. She started with Prince Philip.

"I have trouble sleeping you see, so when you're having trouble sleeping I always think about dancing with a handsome man and Prince Philip is handsome now but was VERY handsome when he was younger. So when I met him in line I mentioned to him that when I had trouble sleeping I thought of dancing in the Buckingham Palace Ballroom with him, after he finished blushing he asked me to dance! His assistant told me later that he never thought anyone could ever make Prince Philip blush!"

The last story was my favorite:

"One of the things I do is crisis management! When a politician or Hollywood celebrity is in trouble I help them out! SO what do you do when you're at a formal dinner and a big MARRIED celebrity puts his hand on your thigh?"

I waited with baited breath...WHAT WHAT WHAT???

She responded with the greatest giggle I've ever heard,

"Read the book!"

Favorite qoute of the evening: "I never wanted to shatter the glass ceiling, I wanted to tap dance on it" -Joanne King Herring