ThinkingBlue: WE LOST A GRAND LADY

Yesterday, we lost a valuable American and a great lady. Ann Richards Former Texas Governor -- the witty and flamboyant Democrat who went from homemaker to national political celebrity died at her Austin home. She was 73. She may be gone but she will never be forgotten.

She lost her bout with cancer but her battle for equality and rights for all will wage on.. As long as there are those who can carry her candle of hope. I am sorry she died before realizing her dream to bring back sanity to America. She was a fighter and a true American and was an exemplar for us all. Below you will find a few reflections of this wonderful woman's trip through life. thinkingblue

Please click here to hear Ann Richards Keynote address at the DNC 1988

Richards, Ann Willis, 1933-2006, American politician, Waco, Tex. She began her career in politics in the early 1970s after having raised four children. A Democrat, she served as county commissioner in Travis co., Tex. from 1977 to 1982. Richards was elected to the first of two terms as Texas state treasurer in 1982. A forcefully articulate and amusingly folksy speaker, she gained national prominence with her keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. In 1990 Richards was elected governor of Texas, but she did not survive the conservative Republican tide that swept the nation in 1994 and was narrowly defeated in her reelection bid by George W. Bush.

The silver-haired, silver-tongued Richards said she entered politics to help others - especially women and minorities who were often ignored by Texas' male-dominated establishment.

"I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.' I think I'd like them to remember me by saying, 'She opened government to everyone,'" Richards said shortly before leaving office in January 1995. [AP]

Please click here to hear Ann Richards Keynote address at the DNC 1988

A Look Back On Ann Richards' Life

Quotes of Ann Richards

YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS

Circa 1836; author and copyright unknown.

The following version is from the 1955 Mitch Miller rendition

There's a yellow rose in Texas, that I am going to see,
Nobody else could miss her, not half as much as me.
She cried so when I left her, it like to broke my heart,
And if I ever find her, we nevermore will part.

She's the sweetest little rosebud that Texas ever knew,
Her eyes are bright as diamonds, they sparkle like the dew;
You may talk about your Clementine, and sing of Rosalee,
But the yellow rose of Texas is the only girl for me.

When the Rio Grande is flowing, the starry skies are bright,
She walks along the river in the quiet summer night:
I know that she remembers, when we parted long ago,
I promise to return again, and not to leave her so.

She's the sweetest little rosebud that Texas ever knew,
Her eyes are bright as diamonds, they sparkle like the dew;
You may talk about your Clementine, and sing of Rosalee,
But the yellow rose of Texas is the only girl for me.

Oh now I'm going to find her, for my heart is full of woe,
And we'll sing the songs together, that we sung so long ago
We'll play the bango gaily, and we'll sing the songs of yore,

And the yellow rose of Texas shall be mine forevermore.

She's the sweetest little rosebud that Texas ever knew,
Her eyes are bright as diamonds, they sparkle like the dew;
You may talk about your Clementine, and sing of Rosalee,
But the yellow rose of Texas is the only girl for me.

Ann Richards 1933 - 2006