[AGL] Ann Richards, R.I.P.

[Fontaine Maverick]

What a wonderful reminiscence, Gerry. Thanks. I have been struck on this sad 
day with how many funny stories and one-liner quotes that have been 
attributed to Ann. She was one of those people you always wanted to sit at 
the table with in a bar, or to hang around a campfire or the swimming pool 
with, because she could be counted on to make you laugh out loud. (I've also 
seen her "tear a new one" once or twice - but that's another story)

John Kelso's column today is no exception, and it is sweet and doesn't sound 
like something from the statesman archives.

COMMENTARY: JOHN KELSO
Ann Richards: Big hair, big heart, big sense of humor
Friday, September 15, 2006
I liked Ann Richards because she didn't suffer fools gladly. At least not 
this one.

The last time I talked to Richards, I was working on a fluff piece about 
George W. Bush for a British travel magazine. The article would include a 
mention of a University of Texas football nut who could play the "Aggie War 
Hymn" under his armpit. Realizing the piece needed an injection of class, I 
decided to call Richards for a quote about Bush, who had just been elected 
president for the first time.

Miz Richards, would you like to say something for my story about George W. 
Bush? I asked when I reached her in her office. "If I had to talk to every 
Tom, Dick and Harry who wanted to make a buck writin' about George W. Bush," 
Richards snapped, "I wouldn't have time to . . . "

I peeled myself off the floor. Then I laughed.

Richards was the last governor of Texas who I really think cared about the 
little people. When she was governor, I never got the feeling gas prices 
were going down because an election was coming soon. These days, I'm never 
sure. Besides, Richards had a great sense of humor, often at her own 
expense. She was the only Texas woman I ever met who wouldn't care if you 
told big hair jokes about her because she knew she could eat your lunch in a 
smart-ass contest. When I first moved to Austin in the '70s, around 
Christmastime you could tell where in the newsroom Travis County 
Commissioner Ann Richards' annual funny Christmas card had landed.

It was on the desk where laughter had broken out.

The card would always show Richards and her Dallas friend Betty McKool 
dressed up in outrageous costumes, up to and including a KKK hat.

There was one card in which Richards was Dolly Parton and McKool was Wonder 
Woman. "I remember the photo shoot, and it was pretty wild," said Richards' 
longtime friend Cathy Bonner, director of the Texas Department of Commerce 
when Richards was governor. "She was a pistol."

Then there was the afternoon in the late '70s when Richards made a speech to 
honor a Sixth Street beer joint while standing in the back of a pickup. The 
occasion? Don Politico's Tavern wanted to tell the world that women finally 
were welcome inside. Previously, the place had been called Benny's, the last 
men-only beer joint on Sixth Street.

So when new owners Patrick Conway and Jim Walls took the place over as Don 
Politico's, they decided to get Richards to make the announcement that the 
gals could come in. I was there for Richards' speech. Come to think of it, 
if the sun rose that day, I was at Don Politico's. Either way, Richards' 
speech was laced with gusto and raunchy humor. Even if I could remember it, 
I still couldn't run it in a family newspaper.

Yes, there was a time when this was not George W. Bush's Texas, and it 
belonged fleetingly to Ann Richards. In the '90s, when she was elected 
governor, I marched up Congress Avenue to watch the crowd, filled with women 
and members of minority groups who felt empowered by Richards' rise to the 
throne. There was a feeling in the air that the average Joe, and the average 
Joella, finally ruled the day.

My, how times have changed. But it'll all swing back around. Hey, it always 
does. And when it does, Ann Richards will be looking down from heaven, 
cussing somebody out or patting them on the back, depending on their 
particular needs at the time.

So goodbye, Ann, and if St. Peter isn't lookin' after the common folk 
properly up there, give him a piece of your mind.

John Kelso's column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 
445-3606 or jkelso at statesman.com.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gerry" <mesmo at gilanet.com>
To: "survivors' reminiscences about Austin Ghetto Daze in the 60s" 
<austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 10:07 AM
Subject: Re: [AGL] Ann Richards, R.I.P.


> The last time I saw her was in early 1996. I was spending a few months in
> Austin and the 1st Friday parties were then held at the apartment of a
> couple whose names I don't recall. The complex was near 12th and Baylor. 
> Ann
> lived in the same complex and I ran into her, quite by accident, in the
> elevator. She smiled but was shy and somewhat embarrassed. I asked her if
> she was coming to the party. "No," she said, "Can't do that anymore." 
> "Well,
> good to see you again," I said, and that was that.
>
> Molly was the big draw at these parties and late at night after most had
> left a few of us would sit on the balcony which overlooked the state 
> capitol
> and reminisce. I had been out of town during Ann's reign and had no idea 
> of
> how the social order had realigned. Dave Richards and I were still friends
> and he was in Santa Fe where he had lived "in exile" while she was 
> governor.
> I was surprised that no one wanted to talk about Ann at the late night
> sessions. So I remained in the dark and remain so to this day as to what 
> her
> life was life after Dave. Never knew Governor Richards. One night someone
> suggested that we call her and ask her to join us, but no one would.
>
> I first met them when Eddie Wilson and I went to their house in Westlake
> Hills one afternoon. It was a beautiful house and they were beautiful
> people, so smart and well informed and outgoing and stylish. Dave came 
> home
> from work, undressed, put on his swim suit and dove into the pool where he
> swam laps for a half hour or so. Then he joined us and we drank, they had
> martinis, lots of them. Boy, they could put them away.
>
> And later at the Raw Deal (before it was "Fletcher's bar") we drank more 
> and
> got to know one another better. I was surprised to learn that they were 
> from
> Waco and that we knew a lot of the same people, and that (like me) they 
> had
> fled to Dallas for a few years before discovering Austin and settling. 
> (They
> were 4 years older than me and had finished high school before I got 
> there.)
> We had lots of good times. They were my tutors, especially Dave who sat at
> my side during negotiations with the Austin Symphony (my first union gig),
> got me into the labor circle, and generally gave me good advice which I
> heeded as the gospel truth. You could say that I idolized them.
>
> Sometimes I wondered about the public drunkenness of those days. We all 
> got
> thoroughly stoned for all to see. Shrike and the Richards could really put
> away the martinis which put them into another league as drinkers. I was a
> beer drinker. Somehow we all managed to get home safely night after night, 
> a
> minor miracle...no scandals.
>
> I had left Austin to work for the union in the Southeast at the time they
> divorced. When I heard about it I was more than shocked, I was floored. I
> think it was Eddie who told me. My buddies Lopez and Rosebud were as
> clueless as me. Dave got together with Sandy and they continued to be part
> of the circle. Ann was never around after the divorce. She had become the
> State Treasurer, dried out and ran with another group of people. I missed
> her and her contributions to our gang and her incredible humor and in your
> face honesty. Needless to say I loved her a lot.
>
> The radical Texans of our age were focused on the race issues. That (a
> determination to end segregation in Texas) is what brought us together. 
> That
> is what separated us from the throng. We were fed up with the old south 
> and
> determined to change it, even if it meant bucking the system and being
> called lots of bad names, even if it meant an occasional night in jail. 
> When
> Viet Nam came along our ranks were swelled with the peace people and we
> lined up with them too but at heart it was still the race fight that kept 
> us
> together. No single individual of any color did more to end racism in 
> Texas
> than Ann Richards. She was the heavyweight champ.
> G
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Michael Eisenstadt" <michaele at ando.pair.com>
> To: <austin-ghetto-list at pairlist.net>
> Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 5:27 AM
> Subject: [AGL] Ann Richards, R.I.P.
>
>
>> It is sad to learn that Ann Richards has died. Many of us knew her and
>> partied with her, at Fletcher's bar, at the Whittens' First Friday 
>> parties
>> and elsewhere.
>>
>> She died of esophageal cancer the same that killed Sandy Lockett.
>>
>> She was 73.
>>
>>
>>