STREET TALK

Dallas Opera Director Plato Karayanis says he’s only in the “talking stage” with the National Opera of Paris and its artistic director, Jean-Philippe Saint-Geours, concerning the possibility of an exchange of musical productions.

Karayanis says that the talks with the world-class opera company are being assisted by So-ciete Generale, one of the largest banks in France, which opens its first Dallas office in the new LTV Center this month.

So far, he’s only received technical information about the size of the stages and the type of equipment that each opera company works with, Karayanis says. He hopes to show the Dallas Opera facilities to Paris opera personnel and French businessmen on November 26, when Societe General, in conjunction with the Trammell Crow Co., holds a reception to introduce itself to the local business community.



At the September 19 meeting of the Dallas City Council, the fourth item on the agenda was a resolution by Mayor Starke Taylor and the Council commending Dallas businessman Dave Fox and the Dallas Welcoming Committee for its service prior to and during the Republican National Convention.

But when it came time for Taylor to read the resolution, the mayor shuffled some papers in front of him and looked confused. “I thought we were supposed to have a resolution,” he said to City Manager Charles Anderson. Anderson’s eyebrows shot up, and he grabbed a nearby telephone. “No,” Anderson said, “but we can sure get one.” Within minutes, an aide brought the misplaced resolution, but it wasn’t in a form suitable for framing. Taylor apologized for the mix-up and said he hoped that Fox would hang the official version of the resolution somewhere for everyone to see.

Fox laughed off the incident and said that he was proud of the work he and his staff did for the city and even prouder of the positive response the city got from out-of-town reporters. Then, clearing his throat, he added that he hadn’t had a chance to respond to a particularly derogatory letter about the convention from a Chica-goan. “I never got to respond to the letter from Chicago, but all I can say is that when I was a kid, my parents moved here from Chicago. God bless them.”



We know that on election day, many people don’t bother to vote on the judicial ballot because they don’t know the candidates. This year, however, voters should at least take a look at which county judges the Dallas Committee for a Qualified Judiciary (CQJ) is backing. The group, chaired by Charles M. solomon, con-sists of 150 business leaders and attorneys from the Republican and Democratic parties.

The CQJ endorses Democrat John L. Hill for Supreme Court chief justice and Democrat Sam Houston Clinton for Place 1 in the Criminal Appeals Court. In Court of Civil Appeals positions, it endorses Charles Story in Place 1, Democrat Annette Stewart in Place 3 and Republican Bob Maloney or Democrat Floyd Shumpert in Place 4. (There was no endorsement for Place 2.) There is no endorsement for the 14th Civil District Court position, but Republican Nathan L. Hecht is favored in the 95th Civil District Court, and Republican Catherine Crier is favored in the 162nd Civil District Court. In Criminal District Court positions, the CQJ endorses Democrat Don Metcalfe in Court No. 2, Democrat James B. Zimmerman in Court No. 3 and Republican Frances Maloney or Democrat Fred Tinsley inCourt No. 4. In the Family District Courts, the CQJ supports Democrat Ron White or Republican Bob O’Donnell in the 301st Court and Democrat Josh Taylor or Republican Merrill Hartman in the 303rd Court.



Have you ever heard of an art exhibit at a florist studio? Well, leave it to publicist Martha Tiller and Bullard’s florist to arrange it. Tiller says that international author and artist Fleur Cowles has arranged to bring 50 flower and jungle animal paintings from England to sell and exhibit at Bullard’s through December 31.

Cowles, who is a close friend of Lady Bird Johnson, will be visiting the former first lady at the LBJ Ranch. Familiar Cowles books include Friends and Memories, Lion in Blue, The Flower Game and Tiger Flower.



For those of you who keep up with the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan Dallas Inc. (BBB/Dallas), it moved its offices last month from 1511 Bryan to Bryan Tower (2001 Bryan). The new location means that the BBB/Dallas has new telephone numbers. If you have complaints against companies or need to speak to someone in the Customer Care program, call 220-2000. To discuss complaints about General Motors, Volkswagen, Porsche, Nissan, Honda or American Motors cars, call the BBB’s Auto Line at 220-2040.