Clara and David Harris were married on Valentine's Day. Young and in love, they developed a thriving dental business, built a half-million-dollar mansion, and raised the perfect family. Then whispers of an affair between David and his beautiful secretary drifted through their exclusive Houston social circle. A private detective confirmed the rumors. When Clara saw her husband with his mistress, she climbed behind the wheel of her luxurious car and put an end to their charmed life together-by crushing her husband to death underneath the wheels of her silver Mercedes-Benz.
What the headline-making trial ultimately revealed was: a high-profile marriage running on empty, marital infidelity, a woman's deadly passion, and the private hell behind a public life of the rich and privileged.
Steven Long literally wrote the book on catastrophic failure in a nursing home. His award winning non-fiction work Death Without Dignity, Texas Monthly Press, 1987, prompted the Austin American-Statesman to call the book the "literary equivalent of the movie Platoon. Frances Humphreys, the national director of the Gray Panthers wrote, "Steven Long presents a horrifying account of conditions that can exist when the profit motive takes precedence over healing and compassionate care." The book won the State Bar of Texas Gavel Award for distinguished journalism. The work is found in the libraries of most medical and nursing schools. However, it is not a dry factual tome. Instead it is true crime writing at its best, reminiscent of the style of the late Tommy Thompson.
For 11 years, he served as editor and publisher of Galveston's In Between Magazine, an award-winning alternative weekly. After closing the publication, he carved out a significant career as a feature writer with the Houston Chronicle producing more than 700 stories in six years. One highlight was his investigative work, which resulted in the indictment, conviction and disbarment of the late Houston adoption lawyer Leslie Thacker for buying and selling crack babies in the Harris County Jail. Another series of investigative stories ultimately resulted in the indictment and conviction of the head librarian of the oldest medical school west of the Mississippi for stealing rare and historic medical texts, some dating to the sixteenth century.
Steven Long covered the Andrea Yates murder case for the New York Post from the scene to conviction. He is covering the ongoing Enron scandal, as well as the Robert Durst murder case. Now under contract with St. Martin's Press, Steve's book on the Clara Harris case will be released in March 2004. He has recently appeared on Inside Edition, the CBS Early Show and Catherine Crier Live on Court TV.
An avid horseman, he is a regular contributor to Western Horseman magazine. Long also serves as editor of Texas Horse Talk. His work has appeared frequently in the Houston Press. Another freelance client is Agence France Presse. He covered the criminal trial of Arthur Andersen LLP from charge to conviction for the French news agency.
Besides his writing career, Steven Long holds a certification in corporate community relations from the Center for Corporate Responsibility at Boston College.
He is a co-founder of the National Alliance of Urban Literacy Coalitions, and recently completed three terms on the national board of CASA, the Court Appointed Special Advocates Association, based in Seattle, WA.
Steven Long lives in Houston, Texas, with his wife Vicki.
For more information, check out: www.stevenlongwriter.com
