Goober-natorial Race Past Texas governors offer evidence of a chance for Kinky

If Richard F. Friedman – aka Kinky and the Kinkster – is elected governor of Texas, he will have some big boots to fill. Yes, he would become the first Jewish governor of the state, the first professional musician and the first composer to write songs with lines such as, “To get to hell, you have to go through D/FW Airport.” But he won’t be the first gadfly, jokester or weirdo to become president and/or governor of Texas. Actually, Friedman would join a long line of – how can I put this? – peculiar leaders of Texans.

We’ve had ranchers, lots of lawyers, a former prisoner of war, arch Rebels and equally arch Unionists, oil drillers and, worst of all, journalists: Gov. Will Hobby was editor of The Houston Post. Another governor-to-be, Ross Sterling, owned that same paper. Both Price Daniel and Oscar Branch Colquitt were newspaper publishers. Colquitt was considered a reformer when, after his election in 1910, he abolished use of the bullwhip in Texas prisons, but what else can we expect from theliberalmedia? W. Lee O’Daniel was a flour salesman turned radio star who once fired the Light Crust Doughboys, including Bob Wills. O’Daniel was the only governor who could not vote for himself, having refused to pay the required poll tax.

Dolph Briscoe Jr. of Uvalde was the largest individual land owner in Texas – and one of the richest. Bill Clements was so wealthy he paid to have the Governor’s Mansion re-done. Jim Hogg was so poor that when he left office, he had to borrow money to move his furniture out of the Governor’s Mansion. Later he invested in the Spindletop oil field and became enormously wealthy. John Connally was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald but survived. Beauford Jester, who had the perfect name for a Texas governor, was the only one to die in office. Actually, he died in a Pullman as the train came into Houston. Lt. Gov. Allan Shivers took over for Jester and had the distinction of serving as governor longer than any other person in Texas history – seven years, six months and four days. George W. Bush was the only Texas governor to become a U.S. president, but Sam Houston was elected president (of Texas) before he was elected governor.

We could say our first governor arrived in 1523, when Francisco de Garay came from Spain, but we modernists go with 1691 and the appointment of Domingo Terán de los Ríos as the beginning of Texas as a political entity. Let’s skip forward to 1836 when we were able to choose our own leaders. Counting both the presidents and governors of Texas, we’ve had a couple of Indian fighters, one of whom helped recapture Cynthia Ann Parker, who was famously kidnapped by the Comanche. Another took on a murdering Indian war party in a different way – he prosecuted the warriors in court, won and they wound up in Huntsville, a first on the Texas frontier. One lost his bid for re-election due to Mexican bandits, another governor had been a Forty-Niner but didn’t like California.

They were a feisty bunch. Gov. David Burnet challenged Sam Houston to a duel. James P. Henderson was governor when the Mexican-American War broke out. He turned the state government over to his lieutenant governor and led Texas troops in the war. Sul Ross was a Texas Ranger and Confederate general. (He was the one in the raid that rescued Cynthia Ann Parker.) Pendleton Murrah was born in South Carolina. His parents’ birthplace and date are unknown. Throughout his life, there was a rumor that Murrah was illegitimate. In a case of irony, after secession, President Lincoln offered to send Union troops to keep Houston (an anti-secessionist) in power as governor. Houston refused, and was forced out of office. Later a scalawag governor, Edmund Davis, called on President Grant to send in Union troops so that Davis could stay in power, even though he had lost his re-election bid to Richard Coke. Grant refused, but Davis wouldn’t leave. So for several days Coke and his legislature held forth on the second floor of the Capitol while Davis and his old legislature passed their own laws on the first floor.

One of our stranger stories involves James “Pa” Ferguson who was impeached for using state funds for his own expenses. He was kicked out of the governorship with the legal decree that Ferguson could never hold state office again. No problem. A few years later he ran his wife, Miriam (or “Ma”), who won, and Ferguson was back in the Governor’s Mansion.

Of the governors since statehood, only four, including our current leader, Rick Perry, have been Republicans, but all have been Protestants – no Jews, no Catholics, no Muslims. The youngest governor was Dan Moody, who was 33 years old when elected. Most of our governors received at least some higher education from Texas schools, but several held degrees from Harvard University, the College of William and Mary, Virginia Military Institute, the University of Virginia and Yale. George W. Bush was only one of three governors born north of the Mason-Dixon Line, and is our only recent governor not to have graduated from a Texas public high school. Preston Smith, who owned a string of movie theaters and was our first governor from West Texas, succeeded John Connally as governor, becoming the first lieutenant governor to go directly to the governorship by election since Hardin R. Runnels defeated Houston in an 1857 contest. Rick Perry doesn’t count because he was elevated to the governorship after Bush won election to the presidency, then Perry was elected on his own. Gov. George T. Wood rode a mule around Texas. At night Wood took a rope and tied one end to the mule and the other end to his ankle. Wood refused to wear socks.

The Constitution of 1876 put the governor’s salary at $4,000. Today it is $93,432, but there is a pay raise in the works. The governor gets to live in a big house in the center of Austin, although during visiting hours there is a constant line of strangers walking through the downstairs. When Sam Houston lived in the mansion, he became so tired of his children sliding down the banister that he drove nails into the top side. The nail holes are still there. The Texas Constitution states that the governor has the use of the mansion’s furniture – and you thought our lawmakers couldn’t handle the big problems.

While the office of governor of Texas is not as strong as in some other states, the law declares: “He shall have power to call forth the militia to execute the laws of the State, to suppress insurrections, and to repel invasions.” Alas, the governor used to have specific powers to call out the troops to chase Mexican bandits and marauding Indians. He lost that right in 1999. Yes, indeed, in 1999. Well, as we noted at the beginning, Kinky Friedman would have big boots to fill – with or without the socks. H

Lighthouse Inn

Coastal Retreat Lighthouse Inn proves a charming respite from the pace of daily life for Fred Morales

The Texas Gulf Coast offers a wide variety of environments and diversions – different depending on which part of the coast you visit. Galveston’s beaches, for example, are drastically different from the white sandy beaches of South Padre Island. Situated at nearly the center of this horn-shaped stretch of the Texas Gulf Coast is the small town of Rockport.

Historically, Rockport has been thought of as a fishing village, providing easy access to the rich bays and estuaries that are prized destinations among commercial and professional anglers. This bayside community is also a draw for families seeking a less hectic pace of leisure than the college kids flocking to SPI’s beaches.

Capitalizing on the laid-back nature of Rockport, the area is now home to the Lighthouse Inn – a Victorian-inspired boutique hotel that harkens back to a simpler time. The picturesque inn features 78 rooms and suites in a combination of bay-view and courtyard-view accommodations.

The bay side of the hotel provides paved walkways with rocking chairs and chaise lounges, a gazebo and a small lighted fishing pier. (In fact, all rooms include spacious balconies with rocking chairs, perfect for sipping morning coffee before beginning the day.) The lights on the pier are actually situated in the water, creating luminescent pools of green light after dark. It is in these pools of light where the fishing heats up when the sun goes down. Speckled trout go after shrimp and bait fish with abandon, causing the water to bubble with activity. The right angler can hook into a great deal of action, if he plays his cards right.

The courtyard features a swimming pool and hot tub, as well as arbors with patio tables and gas grills for cooking up your own catch of the day or other favorites. Hotel amenities include a fitness center, two large meeting rooms, as well as a lounge and dining room. Guests also may take advantage of a well stocked library.

Although Rockport has the reputation of being a fishing town, the community is growing into a more diverse tourist destination, featuring art galleries, boutiques and museums, as well as other outdoor activities, such as birding and kayaking. Additionally, Rockport Beach is the only certified Blue Wave Beach in the state. This designation, awarded by the not-for-profit Clean Beaches Council, signifies that the beach meets specific criteria for cleanliness, water quality and conservation efforts.

The area also offers a variety of local dining options sure to please every palate. Notable favorites include: The Big Fisherman, a happening seafood eatery, which, until a recent fire, also housed a unique collection of exotic animals; Hu Dat, a Vietnamese café operated by the family of Dat Nguyen of Texas A&M and Dallas Cowboys football fame; and Los Comales, a top-notch Tex-Mex eatery that has reached local fame.

The community also provides easy access to other coastal hot spots, including Port Aransas and Corpus Christi. Just a short drive away, Corpus Christi is home to many family attractions such as the Texas State Aquarium, the retired aircraft carrier USS Lexington and the recently opened Whataburger Field, home to the Corpus Christi Hooks, the double-A farm team for the Houston Astros.

The Texas State Aquarium, which opened in 1990, features an array of marine and aquatic exhibits, showcasing species native to the Texas Gulf Coast and other waters from around the world. You won’t want to miss the jelly fish exhibit – it gives a not-found-in-nature up-close view of these sea beauties. All in all, the Rockport area offers a variety of activities to make any adventure memorable. It’s no wonder that first-timers quickly become regular visitors, returning year after year. H

Essentials
– Lighthouse Inn, 200 South Fulton Beach Road, Rockport, (866) 790-8439, www.lighthousetexas.com – Big Fisherman, 510 Hwy. 188, (361) 729-1997 – Hu Dat, 61 Broadway St., Fulton, (361) 790-7621 – Los Comales, 431 Hwy. 35 South, (361) 729-3952 – Texas State Aquarium, 2710 North Shoreline, Corpus Christi, (361) 881-1210

Texas According to Kinky

Kinky Friedman is an author, a musician, a humorist, an animal activist and a personality. He’s a former columnist for Texas Monthly, claiming the coveted last-page position. He’s the band leader of the Texas Jewboys, spouting out more than 20 years of melodies like “Ride ’em Jewboy” and “They Ain’t Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore.” He’s an author of numerous books and novels, including his most recent “Texas Hold ‘Em.” He donated the land for the no-kill Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch, giving a home to hundreds of dogs, cats, pigs and horses and encouraging adoption. He’s great friends with Willie Nelson and decent friends with President George W. Bush. And he very well may be our next governor.

Despite his quick one-liners and quirky sense of humor, he’s serious. Darn serious, in fact. This gubernatorial race risks two things he holds dear to his heart: his reputation and Texas. In order to be included on the ballot as an independent candidate, this Houston native must collect 50,000 signatures in two months next spring – and none of the signers can have voted in the primaries, local or not. (The last time an independent was on the gubernatorial ticket was 146 years ago when Sam Houston ran.)

The “Kinky – Why the hell not?” campaign is growing in popularity. Like other famous and somewhat off-beat governors Jesse Ventura and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kinky is eager become the next occupant of the Texas Governor’s Mansion. His ideas may be a bit utopian, but really, why the hell not? Texas has recently been named last in the quality of our public education. Yes, we’re behind Louisiana, behind Mississippi, behind Arkansas. It’s hard to believe, isn’t it? The great state of Texas has the worst public education system in the nation, and what is Kinky going to do about it? He says he wants to make education the “centerpiece at the table.” He plans to focus most of his gubernatorial energies on improving our schools.

“The fact is that we’re in the toilet as far as education is concerned,” he says. “We can’t even say, ‘Thank God for Mississippi!’ anymore, ’cause we’re behind them. We’re 50th. That’s the problem; that’s what’s got to be solved.”

He continues to explain his unique educational funding system in a three-step process. First, he wants to set up a Trust for Texas Heroes to increase the salaries of teachers, police officers and firefighters. This money will be acquired through a 1 percent tax on oil and gas and a 1 percent tax on Texas’ big corporations.

Second, he plans to fund high school sports through corporate sponsorships. He wants to rid the education budget of sports funding altogether and offer corporations the opportunity to pay these schools’ sports budgets.

Third, he wants to create the Slots for Tots program, installing five or six video poker terminals in every bar in Texas. He claims that Texas is missing out in catching the poker bug, missing out on collecting this form of revenue. He asserts that Louisiana and New Mexico are winning Texans hard-earned gambling dollars – dollars Texas should keep in its own budget.

Kinky’s proposal to help pay for education through gambling has sparked some controversy. Although he claims that polls have indicated that more than 75 percent of Texans favor gambling, most leap to the question: Why take the stance of “if they’re going to do it anyway, might as well do it in their own state?” But that is the stance Kinky is taking, and, to most people, it does make sense. He readily explains how the people will have control over their destiny in the realm of casinos. “Now, legalized casino gambling – I’m for it, but I want local authority to vote on it,” he clarifies. He goes on to say that if a county votes down a referendum to have casino gambling in their area, they won’t have it; while if an area votes to adopt a casino, there it is.

Continuing his educational focus, Kinky speaks of reforming our school system further. He wants to stop the high-pressure TAKS testing that ranks our schools (exemplary, recognized and so on) and acts as the gate keeper for students trying to pass to the next grade.

“We’ve got to get rid of the TAKS test,” he pointedly says. “We’ve got to get rid of it. It’s not educating our children. It’s turning our teachers into Stepford Wives – all the good ones are quitting. The special-ed kids are treated like lepers. No one wants them in their class ’cause they drag the scores down. And the kids know about nothing but bubbling and using No. 2 pencils.”

He proposes different, less-stressful standardized tests. He asserts that intelligence isn’t wholly measured by Scantron-style examinations, citing that Einstein and Edison would have flunked the TAKS.

Additionally, he wants teachers to be able to run their own classrooms. It sounds simple; but if you ask a current teacher how much control he/she has over the curriculum, you’ll be surprised at how little. Many book lists and lesson plans are chosen by the school district or even the state, and the teaching-to-disciplining time ratio has become a real issue within the classroom, as well.

Minute Men are becoming a harsh reality in Texas. The people are fed up with paying for copious numbers of illegal immigrants to receive healthcare and education. Sadly (and frighteningly), some are taking border patrol into their own hands.

In contrast to this, Kinky applies a unique creativity to the state’s situation with Mexico: He proposes to change the rules. He feels that it is the Mexican government’s fault its people are crossing the border in search of an education and decent healthcare. He feels the mismanagement of money within the country has stripped its people of hope for a better tomorrow in their own lands. “Because of their corruptness and their greed – of the government and a few rich people in Mexico – we are financing the education and the health of hundreds of thousands of people for free. And we’re sending billions to PEMEX (Mexico’s oil and gas company) each month. So, I’m here to tell PEMEX, “We’re a few quarts low, and we’re not going to take care of these people for free anymore – unless we get a deal on the oil.” That’s Oil for Education.”

His Oil for Education proposal could possibly kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. Optimistically, Mexico may be pushed into improving conditions for the common citizen and giving Texas the opportunity to reap the benefits of lower oil prices. Either way, it brings attention to a dire situation for Texas and encourages at least a financial solution, as well as forcing Mexico to take some ownership of this problem.

Kinky is serious about our justice system, as well. He wants to reform Death Row and to beyond-a-doubt ensure only the guilty are executed. He also hopes to reduce the number of prisoners incarcerated in the state.

More than half of Texas prisoners are non-violent or drug-related offenders, and Kinky points out that we have more prisoners in Texas than the entire population of Alaska. He stresses that there should be a major distinction between sexual predators and non-violent drug offenders. While he thinks non-violent drug-related prisoners should probably receive treatment or therapy, he thinks sexual predators should be incarcerated and “throw away the key.”

Claiming to not be against the death penalty, but “anti-the-wrong-guy-getting-executed,” Kinky urges providing justice for death-penalty prisoners and reforming the system that currently exists, stating that the current government is trying to protect and preserve an unjust system.

“When George W. (Bush) was the governor, we executed a man every two weeks; and believe me, once you’re in that system, on Death Row, nobody cares whether you are innocent or not, the system doesn’t,” he argues. “We just kill ’em and let the Lord sort it out. I always like to say that 2,000 years ago, we executed an innocent man named Jesus Christ. So what have we learned in 2,000 years? The people have learned something, but the government hasn’t learned a damn thing.”

Much of the power in Texas is in the hands of the Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor. Many assert that the real power of Texas’ governor is in his/her numerous appointments. Kinky plans to use his power wisely.

He swears never to appoint political cronies or corporate lobbyists to power, helping to rid our government of the big-business politics that results in a “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” situation. “There are 3,200 appointments to make,” he says of the governor’s job. “If they are all made to people who care about Texas more than they care about the Democrats or the Republicans, that money won’t disappear in the lobbyist’s pocket.”

Refreshingly, he plans to appoint those Texans who know the issues before them. “As the independent governor of Texas, I would only appoint people (to the education system) who have seen the inside of a classroom and who have classroom time,” he promises. He pledges to appoint only “people who care passionately about Texas.”

On the other hand, he says he absolutely will not give up smoking his Cuban cigars if he becomes governor of Texas, saying, “I’m not supporting their economy, I’m burning their fields.” He wants to rid the Governor’s Mansion of such political correctness, as a part of his strengthening of the state. He plans to glorify the cowboy and lift up the teacher and suppress the coward.

“So, there’ll be a lot of political incorrect stuff happening when I’m governor, and that’s really necessary because that’s part of my anti-wussification campaign for Texas,” he says. “Setting an example, I’m more in the true spirit of Texas. I’m in tune with real Texans, more so than any politicians out there.” Kinky and his supporters believe he has a chance to become the next governor. He states that in the most recent race that elected Gov. Perry, only 29 percent of the voting population actually voted and only 18 percent of Texan voters chose Perry. He contends that his chance is based on the other 71 percent of Texas’ voters.

He admits that he didn’t vote in the gubernatorial race in 2002 because he didn’t like his choices, adding “I didn’t like the choice of plastic or paper.” He wants voters to know that he’s truly a representative of the people and hopes to ignite a flurry of not-so-often voters running to the polls. “We’re going after people, not through voter rolls like the Republicans and Democrats – we’re going at people, who they are. We’re going at teachers. We’re going at NASCAR drivers and lesbians, rodeo riders, dope smokers, musicians, people like that. We’re going after Texans.”

He knows he’s recreating a David and Goliath situation, but he trusts the system and believes in the people of Texas. “We don’t have as much money as the other guys do, but it’s becoming a classic battle of money versus ideas,” he contends. “And “no army on earth can withstand an idea whose time has come.”

“I’m here to help Texas, and with the help of my fellow Texans, who are my only special interest group, we’ll all get together and make that Lone Star shine again.” H

When Baby Makes Four

Scott and I are the proud parents of two children. Our first baby was seven weeks old when we got him. He was cute, furry and fit in the palm of our hand. The second came into this world April 19 of this year. He was beautiful, bald and fit perfectly in our arms. Before Styles’ arrival, Butkus, our English bulldog was the ruler of the roost, the king of the castle. All baby talk was directed at him. Co-sleeping was defined as Butkus in the bed, between us, snoring upside down with his paws in the air. His toys – tennis balls tossed down the hallway. His formula – a special low-fat brand of dog food. He was a good dress rehearsal.

Funny though, when you’re pregnant and have a dog in the family, the first thing people ask is, “Are you worried about how the dog will be with the baby?” Or in our case, since we babied Butkus so incessantly, the question became, “How is Butkus going to deal with the lack of love and attention.?” Our answer was always, “We’ll find more love in our hearts to make him feel as he did before.”

It was a sunny, glorious spring day when we brought Styles home from the hospital. We had a plan in place for the first baby/dog introduction, and it went into action the second we got home. I went into the house by myself and greeted Butkus, who hadn’t seen me now for a few days and looked panic stricken. His excitement and relief that Mom didn’t vanish were apparent.

I reassured him that all was fine, and then I gave him Styles’ hospital blanket to smell. He seemed disappointed that it wasn’t some colorful, plush toy with tennis balls attached. He gave it a quick sniff and then lost interest. Moments later, Scott walked in with Styles in his infant carrier. I held onto Butkus as Scott slowly lowered the carrier, only far enough so Butkus could get a whiff of Styles’ feet. He didn’t know what to make of this and didn’t give it any further thought, until it began.

As I mentioned, Butkus was our first co-sleeper, and Scott and I debated whether we wanted the baby in bed with us. After careful consideration, we decided that our fear and paranoia of rolling over onto him would rob us of whatever precious shut-eye we were going to get. Butkus kept his spot between us, lengthwise of course! Styles was in the bassinet next to me, and it started not long after he was put down to sleep that first night.

His cry was like a crescendo, until the sound became piercing. Scott and I looked at each other, white as sheets, with the realization that we’re on our own now, and Butkus looked at us as if to say, “Aren’t you going to do something about it?” What happened next was so out of character for him. Butkus jumped off the bed, at warp speed, and left the room. Yes, Elvis had left the building. We were shocked! Where was the moral support after all those years of sleeping like a contortionist? Dog gone!

The days and weeks that followed produced a similar pattern. Butkus was ambivalent to this new creature, who seemed to dominate in the attention department, and he somehow felt responsible for it, even though we reassured him countless times that he was a good boy every time it started.

Then, at six weeks, we had a breakthrough. Butkus was sleeping on the rug in the baby’s room, and I was playing with Styles. I proceeded to sit on the floor holding the baby, and Butkus immediately sat up and walked over. I had him sit at a comfortable distance from the baby; and for the first time, these two brothers really gave each other the once over. Styles flashed a big grin, realizing that he had a new stuffed animal to enjoy, and Butkus was happy to have this discovery time. It ended with Styles trying to touch his fur and Butkus just sitting there and letting it happen.

As the days meshed, their relationship continued to grow. Their closeness was evident the other day when I caught Dad, baby and bulldog sitting on the floor together watching a Baby Einstein video. Where’s the camcorder when you need it?

Now when we’re in bed, and the baby starts to cry, Butkus immediately gets up and snuggles closer, as if he’s trying to comfort us. However, once you leave the bed to tend to the baby, Butkus manages to take over your spot, flip upside down and start snoring like a sailor. It’s nice to know that the more things change, the more they remain the same. Right, dawg? H
Dominique Sachse is a news anchor for KPRC-TV Channel 2 and an active supporter and fundraiser of the Houston Humane Society.

Big Business

He routinely plays before packed NFL houses: Reliant Stadium’s Mr. Reliability, answering the call each and every Sunday of the Texans’ 3-year existence. With 48 consecutive starting assignments, Houston’s No. 76 mans the least glamorous and most anonymous of positions in the offensive line. Center Steve McKinney is rarely the center of attention for even the most astute football followers. His success is punctuated not by his own end-zone antics, but by those whose path McKinney clears. Financial survival for when the glory days are gone requires an altogether different skill set, although the very same furious and ferocious commitment. With the pro football career clock ever-ticking toward conclusion, McKinney is fast becoming his own center of business activity.

“My first four or five years in the league, I was going nuts in the off season. I didn’t know what to do,” says McKinney, who is now entering his eighth NFL season. “When I finally made enough money to open my own business, I was ready to go. I needed something to keep me busy and definitely fall back on after football.”

When McKinney was positioned to spread his entrepreneurial wings, he remembered back to a Texas A&M game-day gathering tradition and began to bank on biting off a bit of the booming burrito business. “Freebirds is a huge part of the atmosphere in College Station,” says McKinney, a 3-year Aggie starter and All Big 12 performer in 1997. “You find out about it pretty quick, and I did – and I found out about it a lot.”

Specializing in build-your-own burritos slightly smaller than the logs once used for the annual Aggie bonfire, pizza-size tortillas are rolled with your choice of meat fixins and sauces that run the gamut from mild to wild (habenero death?). Freebirds World Burritos are foil-wrapped meals in a hand, big enough to fill the tummies of McKinney’s Texan line mates.

“I called Freebirds and said, ‘I would like to get involved with you guys,'” McKinney says. “‘I think you have a great business. I would like to buy a franchise.’ They told me they don’t sell franchises. They’re only company-owned. So I bought 10 percent of the entire company.”

McKinney has since seen that company and its profits bulge like their signature Monster burrito. Still headquartered in College Station, the chain has grown from the single location where McKinney routinely feasted to 13 across the state, including the company’s first location in San Antonio and two here in Houston.

“I definitely did a lot of due diligence,” McKinney says. “I’m not going to jump into anything just because I like the product. I looked at their business numbers, and they do surprisingly well. It’s amazing they can sell that many burritos.”

But the Freebirds enterprise didn’t satisfy McKinney’s hunger for franchise income. Research discovered a way to meet that appetite as well as another in the market place. “Today, sports have become so competitive,” McKinney says, “that in order to succeed you have to get an edge over your competition.”

McKinney is trying to provide such an edge – for kids, for potential professionals, for any and all guys and gals in between. McKinney owns and operates a pair of Velocity Sports Performance facilities, part of a fast-growing national chain where the emphasis is on getting faster, stronger and more agile. “It’s not a health club, first of all,” McKinney explains. “It’s a performance training center. We work with athletes of all ages and skill levels to help them maximize their potential. We’re going to make them faster, quicker, stronger. We’re going to reduce the likelihood of injuries.”

A heady claim to be sure, but Velocity has proof of performance, and McKinney has put muscle behind the pitch. Since 2003, he’s opened two spacious facilities that measure between 20,000 to 30,000 square feet, utilizing state-of-the-art equipment and techniques. Each facility employs 15 to 20 full- and part-time trainers and instructors, headed by Executive Sports Performance Director Steve Kellar, the former strength and conditioning coach at the University of Houston under Dana Dimel.

During McKinney’s own formative years in Clear Lake, off-season training and conditioning was all about playground battles and backyard brawls. Generation Next is now put through the paces once reserved for only the most elite performers. “We start as young as 7-years-old all the way up to professional athletes and weekend warriors,” McKinney says.

“That’s one of the great things about Velocity”, he says. “It makes me a part of the community, which I enjoy. I get to know a lot of people who live in these communities and their kids and get to be a part of their lives instead of a professional athlete who no one can touch.”

Calendar Girls

What do exotic race cars and gorgeous women have in common? Answer: The 2006 Liver Wellness calendar. A bevy of gorgeous ladies, ranging in age from 40 to 75, have taken it (almost) all off for this worthy cause by posing in a fine-art photography, 15-month calendar (October 2005-December 2006) benefiting the Hepatitis Support Association.

Featuring tastefully discreet women against the backdrop of the finest in automotive design, these calendars highlight the importance of liver wellness. Barbara Veres, president of the Hepatitis Support Association, a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization, says, “We hope to gain a lot of ‘exposure’ on the importance of liver health and liver disease prevention. We are going to the ‘bare limits’ to raise public awareness of the unfortunate prevalence of and risk factors for hepatitis A, B, C and other liver diseases.”

Today, more people in the United States have hepatitis C than have AIDS, and it is the No. 1 cause of liver failure and transplant.

All proceeds from the sale of the calendar will go to the Hepatitis Support Association, which was created to disseminate educational information to people (and their families) who have contracted hepatitis B or C. It publishes Hepatitis, a quarterly magazine that is distributed worldwide (www.hepatitismagazine.org).

Hepatitis specializes in providing accurate, up-to-date information for hepatitis patients, their friends and their families. As the only magazine in the field, it provides one-stop shopping for the hepatitis-affected community. There will be a special autograph party with the models to launch the sale of the calendars from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 22 at Cahill’s, 903 Durham. H

Making a Mark

From paintings to drawings, poems to short stories, sculptures to crafts, photographic works to collages, the Making a Mark exhibit will be on display from Sept. 11 to Oct. 7 at Texas Children’s Hospital. In addition to a variety of artwork, guests will be able to enjoy live music, face painting, arts and crafts and much more.

Presented by The Periwinkle Foundation and the Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Making a Mark provides artistic opportunities for hundreds of children undergoing cancer treatment in Texas and all over the world. In its 15th year, this exhibit includes artwork from children in Brazil, England and Australia.

According to Carol Herron, the arts in medicine coordinator, most of the artistic pieces are by children who live in Texas. In fact, several pieces are from children who live in the Houston area. “This year, we have many pieces from children who live in Alvin, Baytown, Port Arthur, Pearland, Sugar Land and in other Houston areas,” says Herron.

In February of each year, children in clinics get their creative juices flowing with help from professionals and volunteers. By September, a public, judged art exhibit of all of the submissions takes place. Making a Mark is a traveling exhibit that makes its way throughout the nation to raise awareness of cancer while also giving the children a chance to share their creativity.

Judges, who represent different organizations that promote cancer awareness, select winners from three age groups for the Blue Ribbon competition. Each child is able to tell his/her story while also receiving a Making a Mark T-shirt.

There will also be a public art display created by patients of the Cancer Center. With the assistance of this year’s talented and featured artist Michelle Barnes, the young artists worked nine consecutive days to create nearly 100 collages. With ribbons, glitter, different fabrics and found objects, a tapestry banner filled with an explosion of color and creativity will demonstrate the children’s dedication and the fun they had making the art. H

Coastal Retreat

The Texas Gulf Coast offers a wide variety of environments and diversions – different depending on which part of the coast you visit. Galveston’s beaches, for example, are drastically different from the white sandy beaches of South Padre Island. Situated at nearly the center of this horn-shaped stretch of the Texas Gulf Coast is the small town of Rockport.

Historically, Rockport has been thought of as a fishing village, providing easy access to the rich bays and estuaries that are prized destinations among commercial and professional anglers. This bayside community is also a draw for families seeking a less hectic pace of leisure than the college kids flocking to SPI’s beaches.

Capitalizing on the laid-back nature of Rockport, the area is now home to the Lighthouse Inn – a Victorian-inspired boutique hotel that harkens back to a simpler time. The picturesque inn features 78 rooms and suites in a combination of bay-view and courtyard-view accommodations.

The bay side of the hotel provides paved walkways with rocking chairs and chaise lounges, a gazebo and a small lighted fishing pier. (In fact, all rooms include spacious balconies with rocking chairs, perfect for sipping morning coffee before beginning the day.) The lights on the pier are actually situated in the water, creating luminescent pools of green light after dark. It is in these pools of light where the fishing heats up when the sun goes down. Speckled trout go after shrimp and bait fish with abandon, causing the water to bubble with activity. The right angler can hook into a great deal of action, if he plays his cards right.

The courtyard features a swimming pool and hot tub, as well as arbors with patio tables and gas grills for cooking up your own catch of the day or other favorites. Hotel amenities include a fitness center, two large meeting rooms, as well as a lounge and dining room. Guests also may take advantage of a well stocked library.

Although Rockport has the reputation of being a fishing town, the community is growing into a more diverse tourist destination, featuring art galleries, boutiques and museums, as well as other outdoor activities, such as birding and kayaking. Additionally, Rockport Beach is the only certified Blue Wave Beach in the state. This designation, awarded by the not-for-profit Clean Beaches Council, signifies that the beach meets specific criteria for cleanliness, water quality and conservation efforts.

The area also offers a variety of local dining options sure to please every palate. Notable favorites include: The Big Fisherman, a happening seafood eatery, which, until a recent fire, also housed a unique collection of exotic animals; Hu Dat, a Vietnamese café operated by the family of Dat Nguyen of Texas A&M and Dallas Cowboys football fame; and Los Comales, a top-notch Tex-Mex eatery that has reached local fame.

The community also provides easy access to other coastal hot spots, including Port Aransas and Corpus Christi. Just a short drive away, Corpus Christi is home to many family attractions such as the Texas State Aquarium, the retired aircraft carrier USS Lexington and the recently opened Whataburger Field, home to the Corpus Christi Hooks, the double-A farm team for the Houston Astros.

The Texas State Aquarium, which opened in 1990, features an array of marine and aquatic exhibits, showcasing species native to the Texas Gulf Coast and other waters from around the world. You won’t want to miss the jelly fish exhibit – it gives a not-found-in-nature up-close view of these sea beauties. All in all, the Rockport area offers a variety of activities to make any adventure memorable. It’s no wonder that first-timers quickly become regular visitors, returning year after year. H

Essentials
– Lighthouse Inn, 200 South Fulton Beach Road, Rockport, (866) 790-8439, www.lighthousetexas.com – Big Fisherman, 510 Hwy. 188, (361) 729-1997 – Hu Dat, 61 Broadway St., Fulton, (361) 790-7621 – Los Comales, 431 Hwy. 35 South, (361) 729-3952 – Texas State Aquarium, 2710 North Shoreline, Corpus Christi, (361) 881-1210

Cell Phone Donations

Most people replace their cell phones when the service contract expires, if not sooner. With the cell phone industry adding new features regularly, customers often look for a more advanced phone with photo, video and internet capabilities to replace their current outdated one. Whether you trade in your phone often or rarely, your used cell phone can go to help a good cause.

Many of us are unaware of the options when getting rid of a cell phone. We simply throw it in the garbage and forget it. Unfortunately, this creates an abundance of electronic garbage that is filling our landfills. Fortunately, there is another way. Today many organizations are happy to take your used cell phone and use it to aid a wide variety of causes, ranging from domestic violence abuse victims to breast cancer research.

Houston Area Women’s Center
At the Houston Area Women’s Center your used cell phone can help the victims of domestic violence. The non-profit organization is taking donations of working and non-working cell phones, as well as cell phone components. The collected phones will be recycled, and the proceeds will be used to buy new phones that are programmed to call 911 and the HAWC Hotline and then given to domestic abuse victims.

The Houston Area Women’s Center works in conjunction with the Verizon HopeLine to bring aid to domestic abuse victims. (You may also drop your phone off at any Verizon Wireless Communications Store, and the proceeds will benefit domestic violence abuse victims across the country.) Donations for HAWC may be dropped off at the Louise Strauss Ablon Counseling Building, located at 1010 Waugh Drive at West Dallas. This location is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit www.hawc.org for further details.

Recycle for Breast Cancer
Your used cell phone can actually help aid cancer research! Recycle for Breast Cancer enables your used cell phone to raise proceeds for breast cancer research. This organization collects used cell phones, pagers, Palm Pilots, inkjet/toner cartridges, laptops, cameras and the corresponding supplies – and a donation is made to the breast cancer foundation for every item recycled. Recycle for Breast Cancer is dedicated to keeping electronic waste out of landfills and using these used items to benefit cancer research today. With one in eight women diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, research is vital. Recycle for Breast Cancer will send you a prepaid shipping label for your donations, so donating is free and easy. For further information, visit www.recycleforbreastcancer.com or call (800) 315-9580.

Gabriel’s Gifts
Gabriel’s Gifts is a great way to use your old cell phone to aid missing children. Located in Bellaire, Gabriel’s Gifts is a non-profit organization for missing children. The charity receives up to $10 from the Wireless Foundation for each cell phone donated, and the proceeds aid child abduction awareness, prevention and educational programs. Gabriel’s Gifts helps to administer the Houston Regional Amber Plan and helps coordinate the Southeast Texas Search &Rescue Alliance. They provide free child identification kits in both English and Spanish, as well as giving referrals for Family and Volunteer Support Services. Gabriel’s Gifts also provides many publications to educate parents on how to keep their children safe. There are drop locations in and around Houston, making donating your cell phone easy. All donations are tax deductible. Visit www.gabrielsgifts.org for details, or call (713) 521-2694.

Bat Conservation International
Go batty! By donating your cell phone to the Houston Zoo, your old phone can aid Bat Conservation International. For every phone donated, the Houston Zoo receives funds from The Wireless Foundation. All of these collected funds are then donated to Bat Conservation International, an Austin-based organization that aids one of the world’s most misunderstood and endangered wildlife: bats. This organization is committed to educating the public about bats and their value, protecting bat habitats, advancing scientific research and finding solutions that benefit both bats and people. For further information, visit the Houston Zoo at www.houstonzoo.org or Bat Conservation International at www.batcon.org. H

Gridiron Glory

Head North Shore football coach David Aymond doesn’t require an internal TiVo device to recount the specifics from that December judgment day at Rice Stadium. Now, more than 18 months removed, he continues to possess total recall. No need to rewind to reacquaint with the colors, the halcyon rush. Each and every particular remains permanently imprinted on his memory bank.

In Texas, football state championships tend to make a lasting impression, especially when the conquering head coach caps his first successful quest for the high school Holy Grail.

“It was a dominate afternoon to finish a magical year,” says Aymond, recalling North Shore’s title-clinching win over The Woodlands in 2003. “It was more than mere talent. That team became more confident and more close-knit with each win. They were on a mission, a crusade; and when they had the opportunity to cash in, to finish an undefeated season, they did.

“There hasn’t been a day since that I haven’t relished in that moment.” Aymond’s Mustangs again appear primed to ride into the championship chase and reclaim the crown that was unceremoniously stripped last season by Spring Westfield in a stunning upset. North Shore’s 26-game streak was not simply snapped; it was spindled and mutilated in a 56-14 second-round stunner. But North Shore doesn’t rebuild, they simply reload. The program has reeled off four consecutive undefeated regular seasons and 49-3 record since 2000. Prior to Aymond seizing the head coaching reins in 1994, the varsity hadn’t made the playoffs in more than 30 years.

Pacing the Mustangs and their usual stable of thoroughbred offensive talent is senior quarterback Terrance Cain who wrestled the starting job away from Kevin Rutland in the spring. Rutland’s game-altering skills have moved to wide receiver. Allen Sims becomes the workhorse in the Mustangs’ backfield. Tight end Earl Mitchell is a crushing blocker. Cornerback and Texas Longhorn commitment Chykie Brown is one of the dynamic defensive talents in the state. If North Shore can avoid the hangover of the worst loss of the Aymond Era, the Mustang machine appears positioned for another roll for playoff riches.

Westfield returns a dozen starters from the team that rocketed last fall from preseason anonymity onto the final 5A stage before falling to Tyler Lee in the Division I title game.

Senior quarterback Pierre Beasley again promises to pull the trigger on a quick strike offense that has the potential to be one of the state’s most balanced and most exciting.

Beasley threw for 1,361 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2004. He is surrounded by a warehouse of weapons with wide receiver and senior tailback Terrance Sweeney, who rocked for 1,400 rushing yards and averaged seven yards a carry last year. The defense is anchored by heavy-hitting strong safety Danny McCray. Westfield’s meteoric rise has covered territory from winless to remarkable. As recently as 1999, the program went 0-10. By the time Corby Meekins took over last year, the foundation for success had been laid by Ron Lynch before he stepped aside. Now, the only way for Meekins to improve in his encore is to win the state title, and that destination will likely include another collision-course encounter with North Shore.

Katy and The Woodlands represent two traditional powers that have not merely survived recent head coaching changes, but continued to thrive.

Last season, Katy’s Gary Joseph had the unenviable task of succeeding longtime Coach Mike Johnson, following the Tigers’ third 5A state title. Joseph debuted with 12 wins, two losses (by a combined three points) and a deep run into the playoffs. For his second go-round, Joseph will rely on talent and depth in the trenches – three starters return in the offensive line and all five in the defensive front. Senior Andy Dalton is a first-time full-time starter at quarterback (although he’s seen extensive playing time), and mighty running back Brandon King is a big-time game breaker housed in a compact 5-foot-8-inch package.

At The Woodlands, Mark Schmid broke the cardinal rule of coaching – replacing the legend, rather than replacing the replacement for the legend. In his first season, Schmid didn’t make people forget Weldon Willig, but he did make sure the winning didn’t stop simply because Willig had retired. And there’s no reason to think the Highlanders won’t improve on eight wins and a second round playoff spot. The chief reason is senior receiver Kyle Drabek, the son of former Astros all-star pitcher, Doug Drabek. The younger Drabek is regarded by many major league scouts as the nation’s No. 1-rated baseball prospect in his class. And Drabek does serious damage in his second sport as well – a second team all-state wide out, after grabbing 1,000 yards worth of passes and 12 touchdowns. And he averaged 41 yards per punt. No matter who emerges as Highlanders slinger, he’ll know where to fling the ball.

Schmid will learn quickly if his Highlanders will be living on high ground in his second season. There’s the daunting task of an opening date with Katy at Reliant Stadium – and later, a stare-down with North Shore before district play arrives. In the 4A ranks, La Marque is the preseason favorite for a second state title in three years. Following in the shadows of their 2003 triple overtime thriller that cemented the Division II championship are a Cougar threesome as lethal as any in the state. Quarterback L.J. Castile, wide receiver Jared Perry and running back J.J. Mullins combined for more than 4,000 yards of offense last year. And La Marque seems to have rediscovered their swagger after that mind-numbing stretch of six consecutive state final appearances from ’93-’98. H

Remembering Leon Jaworski

© Clifford Crouch, 2005

This summer’s revelation of the identity of “Deep Throat” – perhaps the most notorious anonymous source in American history – has made the 1970s Watergate affair into headline news once again in 2005. The unmasking of furtive FBI official Mark Felt (in the July 2005 issue of Vanity Fair) as the long-elusive journalistic informant has forcefully reminded Americans of an extraordinary national scandal that led to years of political and legal battles, imprisoned or disgraced more than a score of men, and brought down a U.S. president. Even many of the people charged with righting the bitterly divisive situation came to be viewed by the public as opportunists with their own self-serving agendas, whether private or partisan. Among the few figures to emerge with his honor and reputation intact was longtime Houston attorney Leon Jaworski, who was born 100 years ago this month.

While future generations may remember him best as the special prosecutor of the Watergate scandal, Jaworski led a remarkable life almost from its start on Sept. 19, 1905 in Waco. As the first native-born (American and Texan) son of an Austrian mother and a Polish father, Jaworski was the product of a wave of German-speaking immigrants who settled in central Texas during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He would later recall studying by the light of a kerosene lamp and riding in a horse-drawn buggy alongside his father, an evangelical pastor, through the streets of such small towns as Geronimo, Seguin and New Braunfels.

Bright and doggedly ambitious, he graduated from high school in three years at age 15, earned a law degree from Baylor University, and was admitted to the state bar at the age of 19. He learned something about prejudice by virtue of being a German-speaking American boy during World War I, and had an additional chance to observe its effects when the Ku Klux Klan became a significant political force throughout America for a few years during the 1920s. Nonetheless, once he obtained a master’s degree from George Washington University and settled down in Waco to practice law, his legal specialty seems to have been not civil rights, but trial work defending Prohibition-era moonshiners and bootleggers.

What drew the young Jaworski to Houston from the security of a successful practice and the company of family and friends? As may be true for many of the readers of this magazine, for him the city seems to have represented a greater sphere for the full exercise of still-untapped talents and relentless ambition.

“Something about Houston nagged me,” he later wrote.

“All I could see was a big unknown. And yet, something beckoned in that unknown, a glimmer of a larger vista of opportunities and new challenges … a frontier town sparked by the go-getting wildcatters and pioneering oilmen who had succeeded the old land, cattle, and cotton barons.”

He moved to Houston in 1929 (only weeks before the Great Depression began), married his hometown sweetheart Jeannette Adam, and spent much of the subsequent decade raising a family and often working, in his words, from “the dark of early morning [to] late in the evening, having never seen the sun all day.” In 1931, he joined the firm that would eventually be called Fulbright &Jaworski, now the 25th largest law firm in the nation. Among his clients was the independent oilman Glenn McCarthy, today remembered as the model for the fictional character Jett Rink (portrayed by James Dean) in the Hollywood film “Giant.”

Feeling the call of duty after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Jaworski enlisted in the Army a few months later, joining the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, the legal branch of the service, as a captain. He began his military service by prosecuting U.S. servicemen accused of crimes against civilians and fellow soldiers. In 1943, he prosecuted German prisoners of war, being held in a POW camp in Arkansas, who had murdered one of their own “for failing to observe the Nazi code.” Finally, as the Allies began to liberate Europe, Jaworski was sent overseas to prosecute war criminals: first, a lynch mob of German civilians who had murdered six captured U.S. aviators in the town of Russelsheim; then, the staff of a medical sanatorium in Hadamar – a supposed hospital that had initially euthanized mental patients and later become, over the course of the war, an extermination site for hundreds of Russian and Polish slave laborers; and finally, 40 guards, officers and doctors in charge of the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau. He was discharged with the rank of colonel in October 1945. Returning to civilian life, Jaworski turned down a proffered appointment to the Texas Supreme Court, choosing instead to re-establish his career as a top trial lawyer in Houston. In the 1950s he won a multimillion-dollar settlement in a lawsuit involving the Galveston-based Moody family’s business empire. (He also acquired, in true Lone Star tradition, a ranch outside Wimberley in central Texas – not far from the rural scenes of his childhood days – which he promptly named the Circle J.) By 1960, his clients included then Sen. Lyndon Johnson. In 1962, at the behest of the Kennedy administration, he was involved in prosecuting Gov. Ross Barnett for criminal contempt after the segregationist politician openly and repeatedly defied federal court orders mandating the admission of a black student to the University of Mississippi – acts that had contributed to an extremely violent riot in the town of Oxford, during which two men were killed. Jaworski, who viewed himself as a “Southern moderate” on matters of race, took the assignment despite widespread criticism, later calling the event “the gravest conflict between federal and state authority since the Civil War.” In 1971, he was elected president of the American Bar Association.

It may have been Jaworski’s reputation as a supposed “establishment” lawyer and conservative Southern Democrat that led White House Chief of Staff Alexander Haig to seek him out as a replacement after President Nixon fired Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox in the infamous “Saturday Night Massacre” of Oct. 20, 1973. Ironically, however, where the younger, left-leaning Professor Cox had proceeded like an academic stickler, the 68-year-old Jaworski proceeded like the tough Texas trial lawyer he still was.

Jaworski later wrote that he had accepted the position believing the president to be innocent of criminal wrongdoing. However, it was Jaworski’s deft maneuvering that led a grand jury to name Nixon as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in a sealed report, thus encouraging the pursuit of the Watergate case both in court and in Congressional impeachment hearings.

And it was Jaworski who, in a gamble, sought successfully to bypass lower courts and appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of United States v. Nixon. (He also, incidentally, scandalized his staff by threatening to wear cowboy boots to that highly formal proceeding.) The court’s unanimous decision on July 24, 1974 – that Nixon was required to surrender subpoenaed tape recordings of White House conversations involving the Watergate cover-up – marked a crucial step in bringing the scandal-ridden presidency to its conclusion the following month.

An independent thinker until the end, the longtime Democrat would later endorse fellow Houstonian George H.W. Bush in his campaign for the presidency in 1979. When Bush received the Republican vice-presidential nomination instead, Jaworski supported the Reagan-Bush ticket in the 1980 election. He died of a heart attack while working in a field of his Wimberley ranch on Dec. 9, 1982, and is buried in Houston’s Memorial Oaks Cemetery.

Ironically, although his book of Watergate recollections “The Right and the Power” (1976) was a national bestseller for months, Jaworski’s personality comes through far more clearly in two lesser-known memoirs: “Confession and Avoidance” (1979), which highlights his professional career; and “Crossroads” (1981), which vividly reveals his small-town Texas upbringing, his personal crises and the Christian faith that sustained and guided him throughout his life. In a kind of valedictory essay, written for The New York Times only a few years before his death, Jaworski concluded:

The greatest reward that can come to a lawyer is not measured by wealth or social position or popularity. It lies in the inner satisfaction that comes with the faithful discharge of duty. H

Goober-natorial Race

If Richard F. Friedman – aka Kinky and the Kinkster – is elected governor of Texas, he will have some big boots to fill. Yes, he would become the first Jewish governor of the state, the first professional musician and the first composer to write songs with lines such as, “To get to hell, you have to go through D/FW Airport.” But he won’t be the first gadfly, jokester or weirdo to become president and/or governor of Texas. Actually, Friedman would join a long line of – how can I put this? – peculiar leaders of Texans.

We’ve had ranchers, lots of lawyers, a former prisoner of war, arch Rebels and equally arch Unionists, oil drillers and, worst of all, journalists: Gov. Will Hobby was editor of The Houston Post. Another governor-to-be, Ross Sterling, owned that same paper. Both Price Daniel and Oscar Branch Colquitt were newspaper publishers. Colquitt was considered a reformer when, after his election in 1910, he abolished use of the bullwhip in Texas prisons, but what else can we expect from theliberalmedia? W. Lee O’Daniel was a flour salesman turned radio star who once fired the Light Crust Doughboys, including Bob Wills. O’Daniel was the only governor who could not vote for himself, having refused to pay the required poll tax.

Dolph Briscoe Jr. of Uvalde was the largest individual land owner in Texas – and one of the richest. Bill Clements was so wealthy he paid to have the Governor’s Mansion re-done. Jim Hogg was so poor that when he left office, he had to borrow money to move his furniture out of the Governor’s Mansion. Later he invested in the Spindletop oil field and became enormously wealthy. John Connally was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald but survived. Beauford Jester, who had the perfect name for a Texas governor, was the only one to die in office. Actually, he died in a Pullman as the train came into Houston. Lt. Gov. Allan Shivers took over for Jester and had the distinction of serving as governor longer than any other person in Texas history – seven years, six months and four days. George W. Bush was the only Texas governor to become a U.S. president, but Sam Houston was elected president (of Texas) before he was elected governor.

We could say our first governor arrived in 1523, when Francisco de Garay came from Spain, but we modernists go with 1691 and the appointment of Domingo Terán de los Ríos as the beginning of Texas as a political entity. Let’s skip forward to 1836 when we were able to choose our own leaders. Counting both the presidents and governors of Texas, we’ve had a couple of Indian fighters, one of whom helped recapture Cynthia Ann Parker, who was famously kidnapped by the Comanche. Another took on a murdering Indian war party in a different way – he prosecuted the warriors in court, won and they wound up in Huntsville, a first on the Texas frontier. One lost his bid for re-election due to Mexican bandits, another governor had been a Forty-Niner but didn’t like California.

They were a feisty bunch. Gov. David Burnet challenged Sam Houston to a duel. James P. Henderson was governor when the Mexican-American War broke out. He turned the state government over to his lieutenant governor and led Texas troops in the war. Sul Ross was a Texas Ranger and Confederate general. (He was the one in the raid that rescued Cynthia Ann Parker.) Pendleton Murrah was born in South Carolina. His parents’ birthplace and date are unknown. Throughout his life, there was a rumor that Murrah was illegitimate. In a case of irony, after secession, President Lincoln offered to send Union troops to keep Houston (an anti-secessionist) in power as governor. Houston refused, and was forced out of office. Later a scalawag governor, Edmund Davis, called on President Grant to send in Union troops so that Davis could stay in power, even though he had lost his re-election bid to Richard Coke. Grant refused, but Davis wouldn’t leave. So for several days Coke and his legislature held forth on the second floor of the Capitol while Davis and his old legislature passed their own laws on the first floor.

One of our stranger stories involves James “Pa” Ferguson who was impeached for using state funds for his own expenses. He was kicked out of the governorship with the legal decree that Ferguson could never hold state office again. No problem. A few years later he ran his wife, Miriam (or “Ma”), who won, and Ferguson was back in the Governor’s Mansion.

Of the governors since statehood, only four, including our current leader, Rick Perry, have been Republicans, but all have been Protestants – no Jews, no Catholics, no Muslims. The youngest governor was Dan Moody, who was 33 years old when elected. Most of our governors received at least some higher education from Texas schools, but several held degrees from Harvard University, the College of William and Mary, Virginia Military Institute, the University of Virginia and Yale. George W. Bush was only one of three governors born north of the Mason-Dixon Line, and is our only recent governor not to have graduated from a Texas public high school. Preston Smith, who owned a string of movie theaters and was our first governor from West Texas, succeeded John Connally as governor, becoming the first lieutenant governor to go directly to the governorship by election since Hardin R. Runnels defeated Houston in an 1857 contest. Rick Perry doesn’t count because he was elevated to the governorship after Bush won election to the presidency, then Perry was elected on his own. Gov. George T. Wood rode a mule around Texas. At night Wood took a rope and tied one end to the mule and the other end to his ankle. Wood refused to wear socks.

The Constitution of 1876 put the governor’s salary at $4,000. Today it is $93,432, but there is a pay raise in the works. The governor gets to live in a big house in the center of Austin, although during visiting hours there is a constant line of strangers walking through the downstairs. When Sam Houston lived in the mansion, he became so tired of his children sliding down the banister that he drove nails into the top side. The nail holes are still there. The Texas Constitution states that the governor has the use of the mansion’s furniture – and you thought our lawmakers couldn’t handle the big problems.

While the office of governor of Texas is not as strong as in some other states, the law declares: “He shall have power to call forth the militia to execute the laws of the State, to suppress insurrections, and to repel invasions.” Alas, the governor used to have specific powers to call out the troops to chase Mexican bandits and marauding Indians. He lost that right in 1999. Yes, indeed, in 1999. Well, as we noted at the beginning, Kinky Friedman would have big boots to fill – with or without the socks. H

Fertile Hope

Headquartered in New York City, Fertile Hope is a national nonprofit organization that provides reproductive information to cancer patients whose medical treatments present the risk of infertility. With members and doctors in Houston, this organization is helping cancer survivors have families of their own.

Fertile Hope was founded in October 2001 by Lindsay Nohr, a cancer survivor who sought to preserve her fertility when she was undergoing critical cancer treatments. Partnered with the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Fertile Hope is also dedicated to providing hope and support in fertility matters with cancer patients.

Chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and other possible medical treatments all have the potential to cause permanent infertility. The world-class team of business, medical and scientific professionals aims to help patients through programs and services that focus on awareness, education, financial assistance, research and support.

With Fertile Hope, there are several ways to get involved. By becoming a member, you can gain free educational resources and information about educational initiatives, the latest research and much more. Members are also given information about volunteering and fund-raising opportunities. The four types of membership include patients and survivors; friends and family; healthcare professionals and Fertile Hope supporters. H