reading room

reading room
Tinsel
The Washington Post’s
Hank Stuever may be on
Santa’s naughty list
H
ank stuever packed his bag—J. Crew,
Banana republic, nordstrom’s labels, and all—and left
his two-story apartment in Washington, D.C., in search
of america’s “biggest” Christmas. He landed on Preston
road, traveling north to “Plano’s Plano.”
frisco’s population was 90,000 when Hank arrived in the fall of
2006. “i was looking for a suburb with new neighborhoods, new roads,
new schools—new everything,” said the oklahoma City native. “i saw
Stonebriar mall, endless strip malls, and neighborhoods with huge
houses and thought, This is the
perfect place to do a story about
Christmas in america.”
a Craigslist post and 1,300 miles
later, Hank was renting a downstairs
room out of a home in lakes at Preston Vineyards. Before long, he was
following three families (and their
Visa cards) to their day jobs, to the
mall, and to church. (He laughs out
loud at how “creepy” it all sounds.)
Tinsel: The Search for America’s
Christmas Present opens with the
Cavazos family camping out in the
Best Buy parking lot on Black friday.
Caroll Cavazos, a single mother of
three with a budget of $1,200, is purAuthor Hank Stuever. Profile photo
chasing a computer for her mother, a
laptop for her son, and a washer and dryer for her oldest daughter. Her
youngest girl wants a pink iPod nano.
“is it going to be a big Christmas this year?” Hank asks Carol.
“Well, i don’t know, what’s big?”
it’s not Caroll’s budget that fascinates Hank though; it’s her zealousness for Jesus. She becomes Hank’s spiritual muse.
Tammie Parnell lives in Stonebriar Country Club estates and decorates homes. like Hank, she’s chasing after america’s Christmas present. But, said the author, she’s “always about to miss it because she’s
so busy looking.”
The third family that Hank follows is famous in frisco. Jeff and
Bridgette Trikoski’s home illuminates 4015 Bryson Dr. in Hillcrest
estates every year. it sparked the City of frisco’s interest, which had
just unveiled the new city hall, so Jeff became the man in charge of
stringing 150,000-plus lights at frisco Square. The Trikoski home is on
the cover of Tinsel.
74 Plano Profile December 2009
AUTHOr, AUTHOr
So why these families? “i knew i would approach the book looking at my Christmas past in
search for Christmas present. But it could not have
been more about opening myself up to the chance
encounter,” Hank says, “and really, were these families willing to have me?”
The challenge for Hank was looking beyond
the surface, beyond the tinsel. ““i came to frisco in
search of something behind the presentation, and
i was faced with having to bring it some depth,” he
says and refers to the title. “Tinsel is shiny, yet flat;
it’s synthetic, yet irresistible.”
Since completing Tinsel, Hank has returned to
frisco 12 times and finds that it is “always pregnant,
expectant, abloom with signs that say Coming
Soon,” which, he points out, is analogous to the
Christmas Story—“The child is coming.”
The author didn’t set out to write a book about
Christmas. He wanted to paint “a broad brush
stroke survey of modern american society and its
endless choices.”
Consumerism and lavish spending are prominent
themes, and Hank doesn’t deny that he participates.
Pointing to his attire, he jokes, “Most of the reporting in this book is brought to you by Capital one.”
The author continues, “We are trained to [overspend]. The media tells us every year that we didn’t
spend as much as retailers hoped. You think, look
at all these bags in the trunk of my car. and then
you hear on the radio, ‘retailers are glum. Ho ho
hum.’ What? Really?”
Upon examining the nation’s most over-the-top
celebration—the Clark Griswold homes, the towering Christmas trees, the Department 56 collectibles,
and the extravagant Christmas pageants—Hank’s
conclusion is that “people want their children to be
happier than they ever were.”
He was skeptical as a child, not only about Santa
Claus but Christmas itself. “i was always a questioner, an introspective child, and the world has always
struck me as slightly sad. i might be a glass-halfempty kind of guy,” he says. “and my mother would
probably add drama queen.”
That’s why he enjoys watching Christmas happen to other people. “i finally realized at 40, you
are the ultimate voyeur. You live vicariously through
people,” he says in third person.
Vicarious thrills favor Hank because he’s a
journalist; that’s what he does and has been doing
for 10 years at The Washington Post. He’s written
profiles on nicole Kidman, Will Smith,
Halle Berry, Craig ferguson, alec
Baldwin, and arnold Schwarzenegger,
and he covers the oscars every year,
rubbing elbows with stars at the Vanity
Fair party afterwards.
T
he spotlight at Christmastime
may bring out the Scrooge in
Hank, though. He explains, “if
there is one thing i get cranky about,
it’s when i see people doing good in order to get publicity. We live in a culture
where it’s not simply to do good, but to
be seen doing good. although i’m not
a super-religious person, that is sort of
counter to the Scripture.”
He continues, “People can come
back and say, ‘Publicity inspires others
to do good.’ But,” he whispers, “i don’t
quite buy that.”
The author’s unconventional take
on Christmas has left him feeling a bit
overprotective of the families that he’s
portrayed. Their reactions have been
mixed, or “nuanced.” Says Hank, “if
people are going to criticize this book,
i’m here to answer any questions, but
please don’t be cruel to the people in
the book. i don’t think i’m cruel to them.
i tried to show them as they truly are.”
He continues, “i was changed by
this book. When i was hanging out with
these families, their stories took over
my project, and my heart melted in a
way i did not expect. The one thing i
had not counted on was heart.”
for more about the author, visit
hankstuever.com. — brit mott
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excerpt
from Tinsel
The Christmas I grew up with
(and away from) looked a lot like
yours, regardless of your race or
creed or income, because sooner
or later, everyone’s Christmas is
put into the great pop-cultural
compactor machine that Mannheim
Steamrollers all holiday imagery
and thoughts into the same flat
shape and size.
read more of this excerpt
on planoprofile.com
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Wills & Probate
Janet P. Hope
Attorney at Law
(972) 208-2300
Plano Office
email: [email protected]
www.planowills.com
December 2009 Plano Profile 75