It would be easy to get tangled in the excitement of a Hollywood movie premiere in Houston. But if all you see is a Houston woman of privilege and poise whose life is now portrayed by Julia Roberts in a Golden Globe nominated film, you might overlook the secret strength of Joanne Herring. She is a River Oaks girl whose friend recently described as the smartest woman on the planet.
She just happens to be charming and glamorous too.
"It's fun to see some of these events, because we never thought anyone would know about it," Herring told us.
The movie, Charlie Wilson's War examines Herring's and Texas congressman Charlie Wilson's secret efforts to drive the Soviet army out of Afghanistan in the late 70s and early 80s.
Charlie Wilson was a Lufkin congressman who sat on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. And he well earned his nickname, Good Time Charlie. Herring was a widow and long-time friend of Wilson's who "breathed fire into a rather aimless politician," the book reads.
Nudged by Herring at first and then on his own, Wilson brokered $500 million in aid to Afghanistan for what was and most likely still is the most expensive secret war ever fought.
Herring admits she was afraid, but she never felt out of place. Not when she was socializing with Afghan rebels. Not even when she and Wilson shopped in Paris for weapons to shoot down Soviet helicopters.
"We were looking at air ships and guns," Herring said.
Herring was always brave, known as her father's little boy. As a little girl not allowed to be scared of the dark. And as a young woman, her courage was wrapped in a very attractive package.
"If I had something serious to say, I would make it fun to hear," Herring said. "My mother used to say, 'Joanne that flippy black knit dress, you ought to be wearing a gray wool suit.' I said Momma, 'I would never get in the office.'"
But there were lines Herring didn't want crossed on screen. She says she's still a southern Christian woman and when Julia Roberts is on screen swilling double gin martinis and slinking out of swimming pools, it isn't accurate. It made herring so nervous, she hired Houston lawyer Dick Degeurin to make sure movie makers got it right. Producers, she told us, did the right thing.
"Your children, you know they don't want to see momma do those things," she told us.
Did Momma do those things?
"Uhhh, well I beat the Russians, is that what you mean," she asked.
Former congressman Charlie Wilson was not at the premiere. He is recovering from a recent heart transplant but doing well. The movie opens Friday.
We have a long portion of Herring's video at the top of this page, just push the play button on the picture.
