Can you describe the foliage? What is the color (blue, green, ?) and does the plant have needles or scale-like foliage?
I'm guessing that the tree is a Chamaecyparis (Xanthocyparis or Callitropsis) nootkatensis cultivar. The botanists are not quite sure what the correct name of this plant is, but Chamaecyparis is the most commonly used name. There are quite a few cultivars of this plant and if the trunk is curved, then the propagator has trained the plant to look like this prior to the plant being sold.
Here is a link to a picture of Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Jubilee' which is a narrowly weeping form of Nootka falsecypress:
http://www.iseli-nursery.com/images/pho ... ubilee.jpg
Another option is that the plant is Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca Pendula'. (My dream tree, but I can't grow the plant here in zone 4 - bummer). Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca Pendula' is a weeping cedar and people sometimes get the names mixed up and call the plant a cypress.
Here is a link to a picture of Cedrus atlantica 'Glauca Pendula' (on the right side of the photo with the curved trunks):
http://www.mchutchison.com/images/vends ... la(26).jpg
Do you have the magazine article and a scanner? Could you scan the picture of the plant and post it here. I could tell you what it is, for sure, if I could take a look at it.
Thanks,
Mike