Best of Extra >>

• Boys Will Be Girls
  Richard Curtin, entertainment director, Caven Enterprises
  When Richard Curtin talks about overseeing the activities of "the girls and the boys," don't mistake him for a kindergarten teacher. As entertainment director for Caven Enterprises, Dallas' largest owner of lesbian and gay bars and clubs, it's Curtin's responsibility to coax, pester, nudge and... More >>
• Out on a Limb
  Pierre Bradshaw, bird rehabilitator with On the Wing Again
  Pierre Bradshaw's life is for the birds. Literally. Bradshaw and his wife, Anne, operate On the Wing Again, a sort of halfway house dedicated to wild bird rehab. And this is no small matter. Bradshaw says he took in some 3,000 birds last year--everything from songbirds and ducks to soaring birds... More >>
• Human Nature's Peculiar Side
  Beverly Henley, owner, director and RA specialist, Forest Lawn Funeral Home
  "I put the fun in funeral home!" declares Beverly Henley, one of the few funeral directors and embalmers in Texas who also owns her own business. Lest anyone take offense, Forest Lawn's silver-haired impresario insists she encourages all her employees to have a sense of humor. It balances out... More >>
• He Pee Freely
  Bryan Higgins, test technician, Lone Star Park
  Sports talk-show hosts have long debated whether horses know when they win a race. Do they, in other words, experience the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat? It is an interesting question but one we'll likely never have a definitive answer to because the horses won't talk. One thing... More >>
• Slammer Mess
  Captain Ray Daberko, chef to Dallas County inmates
  Cooking is grueling. Just ask any professional chef. It's tedious work getting recipes right, nudging flavors into balance and grooming entrČes into optimum presentability--especially when this work has to be done for a couple of hundred diners. But if this is tedious, what do you say about... More >>
• He's Got the Hook
  Carl Savering, actor and repo man
  By purely stereotypical standards, Carl Savering looks like a repo man: shaved head, burly stature, belt buckle, work boots. That's his day job (or late-night job, depending on the assignment). But he's also co-founder and artistic director of Theatre Quorum, one of Dallas' small but ambitious... More >>
• "Keep It In Your Pants"
  David Cohen, matrimonial investigator
  Comedian Chris Rock once made a statement that private investigator David Cohen says he has considered framing on his desk: "Men are as loyal as their options." Cohen founded his own private investigation firm, Investigative Resources of Texas, in 1994 after assisting collection agencies in... More >>
• Best Job Done of a Job No One Wants
  Maria Frenkel, crime-scene cleanup
  For years Maria Frenkel couldn't talk about why she launched her own business. Her reasons for doing it were too personal, and if asked she would simply say, "I wanted to be able to help people." Only recently has she felt comfortable explaining why she started Crime Scene Clean-Up Services of... More >>