This amazing woman, from the time I first became aware of her in 1988, gave me a good perspective on Texas women. She was so like the Southern women I grew up knowing and adoring. Strong. Outspoken. Passionate about those things she believed in. Flawed and perfectly willing to admit it. A bit of a devil. A realist who still held on to her ideals. These are all characteristics I hope to emulate.
I remember being shocked after I moved to Texas to discover that not everyone here realized what a treasure they had in Ann Richards. I’m so glad that the outpouring of praise for who she was and what she stood for is not partisan now that people are hearing of her death.
Because I don’t think Ann Richards was just a Democrat. Or just a Texan. Or just a woman. She was an original, and I’m so very sad to see her go. I love this Texas Monthly cover so much that we even included a reference to it in THE DEAL. The irony is that only Ann Richards’s face was used for the shot; the body was a model’s. But that just sums up how I feel about her; what mattered was the spirit of the person, not the body.
But that face! Those intelligent eyes that could listen so intently one minute and twinkle with mischief the next. The genuine smile that brightened everything around her. The lines of her history that etched themselves into her skin and only made her more beautiful. All crowned by that stunning white hair.
Oh, I will miss her and hearing what she has to say about our crazy world of politics in that wonderful accent of hers.
Raise hell, Governor Richards.
I like to think that she and Barbara Jordan are up there having a helluva reunion and planning making heaven an even more inspirational place.