GREEN & GLOVER: Rain check?

Actress Lara Flynn Boyle is known for playing the tough-as-nails district attorney Helen Gamble on the hit ABC drama “The Practice,” but unbeknownst to many, she suffered in silence for years with dyslexia that made even reading her scripts a challenge.

Miss Boyle was one of three honorees at Wednesday night’s Lab School of Washington’s 25th anniversary gala celebrating the achievements of people who have conquered their learning disabilities. But the “Twin Peaks” star was a no-show, much to the annoyance of many of the gala’s 1,300 attendees at the National Building Museum.

Founded 42 years ago, the Lab School was established to answer the needs of such learning-disabled students as Quinn Bradlee, a 2001 graduate and the son of former Washington Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee and his wife, writer Sally Quinn.

Miss Quinn, who was an honorary chair of the event, was not aware that Miss Boyle was a no-show when we ran into her at the event’s pre-reception.

“Well, we did not have her on the invitation, so a lot of people didn’t know she was coming,” she nervously explained.

“I knew it,” sniffed one parent when informed Miss Boyle would not be there due to what gala organizers called “a family emergency.”

“The old standby,” quipped another, who wasn’t buying it.

“I asked if anyone died and was definitively told no,” a source close to the event told us when queried about the nature of Miss Boyle’s family emergency.

Miss Boyle released the following statement: “I am so sorry I could not be with you tonight,” she said. “I look forward to visiting sometime in the future and seeing your amazing school in person.”

Rep. Kendrick B. Meek, Florida Democrat, and his wife Leslie, whose daughter Lauren attends the school, informed us that Miss Boyle was scheduled to speak to the students earlier in the day.

“The kids were disappointed, but we hear she had some sort of emergency. These things happen,” Mr. Meek shrugged.

The long faces were lifted later in the evening when Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. addressed the gala, recounting his struggles with stuttering as a child.

The mouthwatering cupcakes stacked on each of the dinner tables didn’t hurt either.

Missing ex-Miss Cali

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