Ann Richards (1933-2006)

I was stunned to read about Ann Richards' death. She had all but disappeared from public life in the last few years, but I had no idea she was ill. She was a great Governor of Texas, and she will be missed.

She does have the somewhat dubious distinction of being the first Governor of the State of Texas I ever saw. In the early 90s, I was living in Austin, and my uncle was a Democratic Representative. He invited me to dinner one night and asked me to meet him at a downtown hotel. I arrived early, and was reading a book in the lobby when Ann emerged from an elevator and walked past me.

Parenthetically, I saw Dubya a few years later when he and his dad were at the V+50 celebration at the Nimitz Museum here in Fredericksburg, during a parade for WWII veterans when then Governor Bush was Grand Marshall, which also makes him and his dad the only presidents I have seen (and I met GHWB when he was running for the senate when I was a wee lad.) And once, on a cub scout trip to the state capitol, I was looking the other way when then-Governor Dolph Briscoe walked by.

I liked Ann Richards. I didn't always like her politics, but she was always fun!

Godspeed, Ann.