Let the People In

by Jan Reid

  For Ann’s descriptions of her parents’ origins, her birth, her childhood in Lakeview, her adolescent years in San Diego, and her move to Waco, see Straight from the Heart, 33–57. David Richards described his parents’ arrival in Waco in several conversations with the author. He confirmed and added to the story of his father’s participation in the navy in both world wars and his coaching career at Clemson University, which I had gleaned from histories of that school’s athletic programs; he likewise confirmed his mother’s indignation at the provincialism of Waco and Baylor University. Ann reminisced about her high school romance with David and her introduction to the sophistication of his family in Straight from the Heart, 69–81. On the fascination that the story of Robin Hood held for David and Ann, see Straight from the Heart, 74, and Once Upon a Time, 7. In conversations with the author, David described the nights of dancing and music on Waco’s segregated black east side.

  For their brief drifting apart and Ann’s conversion in response to a sermon by Billy Graham, see Straight from the Heart, 74–78, and Once Upon a Time, 8–9. Their involvement in the Young Democrats’ liberal politics is recounted in Straight from the Heart, 83–88, and Once Upon a Time, 8–13. Ann’s year of teaching history in junior high and her return to Waco to give birth to their first child, Cecile, is recounted in Straight from the Heart, 89–91, and in David’s conversations with the author.

  Chapter 2: New Frontiers. Ann’s isolation as a young mother in Dallas, David’s bewildering plunge into labor law, and the oppressive atmosphere of Dallas in the 1950s are conveyed in Once Upon a Time, 16–19, and Straight from the Heart, 90–97. I learned more about the Dallas years in conversations and interviews with David, Cecile, and Dan Richards and Gary Cartwright. For the effects of the 1960 presidential election on Texas, see The Handbook of Texas Online. For the experience of Ann and David in Washington, see Straight from the Heart, 96–110, and Once Upon a Time, 20–26. Both books describe the effects on them of LBJ’s tirade at a private party.

  Chapter 3: Lovers Lane. In Once Upon a Time, 16–21, and in several conversations with the author, David Richards related his high regard for labor union members as leaders of the progressive political movement. For the race to fill Lyndon Johnson’s Senate seat in 1961 and the election of John Connally as governor, see The Handbook of Texas Online. For Ann’s involvement in the North Dallas Democratic Women, see Straight from the Heart, 110–118. Interviews by Ruthe Winegarten are archived in the Richards Papers. Numerous copies of the irreverent Christmas cards of Ann Richards and Betty McKool are there also. The summary of the cashiering of General Edwin Walker and his near assassination by Lee Harvey Oswald is drawn from Dallas newspaper accounts and the report of the Warren Commission. David Richards described the near mob scene at a Dallas appearance by U.N. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson in Once Upon a Time, 32, and in conversations with the author. David told me about his alarm at seeing the motorcade of President John F. Kennedy with so little apparent security. Ann wrote about waiting at the luncheon where Kennedy was scheduled to speak and then the mass fright in Straight from the Heart, 120–122. Cecile Richards told me about hearing the news that the president was dead over an intercom at a school where older students cheered. David recalled the chaotic aftermath of the assassination, his desperation to have his family all together, and the shock of Jack Ruby’s murder of Lee Harvey Oswald on live television in Once Upon a Time, 33–34. Lynn Whitten told me about the families’ frigid escape to a camping ground north of Dallas.

  For the troubled pregnancy and two grand mal seizures Ann suffered, see Straight from the Heart, 123–125. They were described in more detail in conversations with David Richards and Lynn Whitten, whose mother, Virginia, was in the car Ann was driving during one of those episodes. Ann’s diagnosis of epilepsy followed her in medical records, and her prescribed use of the drug Dilantin is confirmed in the Richards Papers. In interviews, Cecile Richards and Lynn Whitten relayed memories of the elaborate parties for children and their mothers’ political engagement in boycotts of nonunion produce. David told me about their friendship with Stan Alexander, a North Texas State University professor of English and sponsor of a storied folk music club in Denton, and the night Alexander brought to a Lovers Lane party Eddie Wilson, who later was a figure of great importance in Austin’s burgeoning music scene and remained a close friend of both Ann and David. David told me about his brief term as a Democratic precinct chairman and his friendship with Shel Hershorn, a neighbor and noted freelance photographer whose papers and images are in the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. I learned more about Ann’s talent and vaudeville-style showmanship in an interview with, and images taken by, the photographer Tad Hershorn.

  In correspondence archived in the Richards Papers and through my conversations with David, I learned details of their early friendship in Dallas with Bud Shrake and Gary “Jap” Cartwright. I learned about Bud Shrake’s early life from conversations with Gary Cartwright and in compiling Bud’s obituary in the Austin American-Statesman. For the madcap gymnastic act the Flying Punzars, see Cartwright’s HeartWiseGuy, 25–26, and for their frequent encounters with Jack Ruby and Shrake’s affair with one of Ruby’s strippers, see HeartWiseGuy, 16–20. David recounted John Connally’s urging of his ouster as a Democratic precinct chairman in Once Upon a Time, 35, and in conversations with the author. I learned about the many whitewater expeditions and campouts in conversations with David, Dorothy Browne, Sue Sharlot, and in Once Upon a Time, 188–195, and Straight from the Heart, 126–129. For David’s brief employment by Senator Ralph Yarborough, see Once Upon a Time, 56–58.

  For the Dallas Notes lawsuit and Supreme Court argument, see Once Upon a Time, 65–73, and Straight from the Heart, 136–137. For the farmworkers’ march to Austin, see Once Upon a Time, 48–49.

  Chapter 4: Mad Dogs and First Fridays. For the Richardses’ move to Austin and early months there, see Straight from the Heart, 134–137, and Once Upon a Time, 77–84. David, Cecile, Dan, and Clark Richards, and Eddie Wilson, told me about their arrival in West Lake Hills. Cecile, Dan, and Clark told me in detail about their parents’ changes in lifestyle in liberal Austin. Lynn Whitten told me about the roaring arguments that their fathers would engage in for sport. David remembered the march to protest the Kent State killings in 1970 as a pivotal moment in the politics of Austin. For the Richardses’ involvement in First Fridays, Mad Dog, Inc., and the Armadillo World Headquarters, see Straight from the Heart, 196–201, and Once Upon a Time, 173–187. Conversations with David, Eddie Wilson, and Gary Cartwright added more details about this period. Also see Steven L. Davis, Texas Literary Outlaws, 228–238, and his Land of the Permanent Wave, 175–185.

  The columns of New York Times editor Abe Rosenthal about Ann and the parties on Red Bud Trail are in the Richards Papers; also see Once Upon a Time, 77. In many conversations, David, Gary Cartwright, Doatsy Shrake, and Mike and Sue Sharlot shared memories of their lives in Austin in the early 1970s. Cecile, Dan, and Clark Richards added their perspectives in interviews. David, Cartwright, and Doatsy Shrake recounted the night when the Flying Punzars showed up on the Richardses’ deck hours past midnight, voicing hopes that Ann’s Santa Claus costume from an earlier party would enable them to obtain prescription drugs from a pharmacist at that hour.

  Members of the Richards family, Gary Cartwright, Sue Sharlot, and other friends told me about her alcoholism and affection for marijuana in the 1970s. A conversation with David led me to the literature of the National Center for Biotechnological Information and stark accounts of the side effects of Dilantin; see also Once Upon a Time, 215–216.

  Chapter 5: The Hanukkah Chicken. Ann’s accounts of the canoeing armadas in the canyons of the Rio Grande and the campout at Sam Rayburn Lake are in Straight from the Heart and in the Richards Papers. David, Gary Cartwright, and Sue Sharlot added details about these episodes in our conversations. I attended the wedding of Gary and Phyllis Cartwright in the back room of an Austin bar called the T
exas Chili Parlor. During this time, I came to know Bud Shrake and his wife Doatsy. For Ann’s battles with the schools of West Lake Hills, see Straight from the Heart, 147–151. In interviews, Cecile, Dan, and Clark Richards described their experience in those public schools and at the private St. Stephen’s Academy. Dan told me about a comic performance that Ann, Molly Ivins, and Maury Maverick, Jr., staged around the Richardses’ swimming pool, reading from transcripts of the Watergate hearings. Sue Sharlot told me about what a beautiful and generous person Ann was in those wild days. Ann’s collected letters concerning her family’s trip to England and France in 1973 are in the Richards Papers.

  Chapter 6: Problem Lady. For the institutional contempt that Ann felt for the Democratic Party because of its treatment of women, see Straight from the Heart, 111–112 and 136. Garry Mauro told me about how his friendship with Bill and Hillary Clinton began when they were campaign workers for George McGovern in 1972. Don Roth, who taught history at St. Stephen’s, told me about Ann guiding him in his role as their Democratic precinct chairman in the camp of McGovern. See The Handbook of Texas Online for a summary of the Sharpstown scandal of 1972. For Ann’s experience as Sarah Weddington’s campaign manager, see Straight from the Heart, 137–145. The chastening and telling letter from Maury Maverick, Jr., concerning his support of that year’s lieutenant-governor candidate, Bill Hobby, is in the Richards Papers.

  In recounting the history of birth control in the United States, I relied on multiple online accounts of the lives and careers of Margaret Sanger, the physiologist Gregory Pincus, the gynecologist John Rock, and the Polish émigré and inventor Carl Djerassi. Particularly useful as an overview is David Allyn, Make Love, Not War: The Sexual Revolution: An Unfettered History (Boston: Little, Brown, 2000). The landmark legal cases are examined in History Blog: Scholarship News and New Ideas in Legal History (www.legalhistoryblogspot.com). Though the subtitle incorrectly slights the role of Linda Coffee, Sarah Weddington’s memoir of the legal battle is balanced and incisive: A Question of Choice: By the Lawyer Who Won “Roe v. Wade” (New York: Penguin, 1993). For Cecile Richards’s stature as an adult, see Jill Lepore’s “Birthright: What’s Next for Planned Parenthood?” in the New Yorker, November 14, 2011.

  In an interview, Richard Moya told me how Ann and Claire Korioth raised money for his race for the Travis County Commissioners’ Court and the legislative race of Gonzalo Barrientos. For Ann’s description of her experience when asked to serve as Weddington’s legislative chief of staff, see Straight from the Heart, 144–145. Doug Zabel granted me access to the priceless correspondence he carried on with Ann when they were legislative aides.

  Chapter 7: Landslides. For Ann’s recruitment to run as a Travis County commissioner and the campaign, see Straight from the Heart, 152–161, and Once Upon a Time, 151–153. In conversations, Gary Cartwright and Carlton Carl contributed their perspectives about that race. The how-to workbook published by the National Women’s Education Fund is in the Richards Papers. For how David’s federal court-shopping and Bob Bullock’s testimony enabled the student voting that helped Ann’s campaign, see Once Upon a Time, 154–160, and Dave McNeely and Jim Henderson, Bob Bullock, 68–69. Clark Richards told me about the last day of his mother’s winning campaign. Ann’s note of thanks to Bud Shrake for a contribution is in the Richards Papers.

  For Ann’s story about the resentful road crew and how she broke the ice by asking about their ugly dog, see Straight from the Heart, 163–165. Jan Jarboe Russell wrote about Ann’s change in apparel and style on being elected commissioner in “Ann’s Plans,” Texas Monthly, July 1992. Jane Hickie’s descriptions of the early days of working for Ann at the county are in the Richards Papers. Gary Cartwright wrote about the pitched battle between Austin developers and environmentalists in “High Noon at the Circle C,” Texas Monthly, May 1984. The most reliable information on the construction of the Percy Pennybacker Bridge on Austin’s Loop 360 is found in the archives of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. The bridge won the Excellence in Highway Design award in the first year of competition. Evelyn Wanda Jackson’s work with Ann on the bridge project was noted in her Austin American-Statesman obituary in December 2011.

  Chapter 8: Raw Deals. In an interview, Mary Beth Rogers told me about the National Women’s Conference. For Ann’s perspective on that conference, her enlistment in President Jimmy Carter’s Advisory Committee for Women, and her unpleasant experience with Carter over the Equal Rights Amendment, see Straight from the Heart, 174–185. A concise and valuable chronology of the history of the ERA is on the National Organization for Women’s website (www.now.org/issues/economic/cea/history.html).

  David and other sources told me about Ann’s affection for marijuana. David told me about the Chattooga River expedition and his growing alarm about Ann’s drinking; also see Once Upon a Time, 215–216. Ann’s letter to Bud Shrake about David’s possible appointment to a federal appeals court is in the Shrake Papers, the Wittliff Collections. For the Richardses’ reflections on their troubled marriage, see Straight from the Heart, 183–184, and Once Upon a Time, 213–216. Documents related to the Women in Texas History project and her correspondence at the commissioners’ court are in the Richards Papers. The elaborate profile “Ann Richards: Laughing All the Way to the Bank: A Personal Account” was written by Roberta Starr for Third Coast, February 1984.

  McNeely and Henderson’s Bob Bullock is a well-researched biography and good portrayal of the mercurial career and personality of the comptroller and lieutenant governor. I also learned much about him from his former aides Chuck Bailey and John P. Moore and from stories relayed by David Richards. For the Richardses’ very different experiences with Frank Erwin, see Once Upon a Time, 125–136, and Straight from the Heart, 202.

  Chapter 9: Capsized. Dan Richards told me about Jane Hickie’s insistence that Ann’s drinking had reached a point requiring intervention, and Sue and Mike Sharlot added their perspectives. The Sharlots and David Richards allowed me to read painful narratives that participants in the intervention had to compose and read aloud to her; also see Straight from the Heart, 203–211. Sue Sharlot shared Ann’s fearful letter from Minnesota. Clark Richards told me that the “Family Week” at the hospital was torturous for him, as well. Dave McNeely, a participant, told me about the Richardses’ last canoeing expedition through canyons of the Rio Grande. Ann’s unsparing notes about her alcoholism for a speech are in the Richards Papers. Clark Richards told me about his then-troubled relationship with his mother and the “rage attacks” when she was drunk and he was a child.

  Chapter 10: The Class of ’82. I learned a great deal about the Democrats’ surprising sweep of the elections in 1982 while working for land commissioner Garry Mauro. For a summary of George W. Bush’s losing congressional race to Kent Hance, see Dubose, Reid, and Cannon, Boy Genius, 14–17. Bill Cryer, who worked in Bill Clements’s campaign with Karl Rove, conveyed the shock of the GOP on losing every statewide office. For Bob Bullock’s conduct as secretary of state and comptroller, and his eventual enrollment in “Drunk School,” see McNeely and Henderson, Bob Bullock, 134–149. For the call from Bob Armstrong urging Ann Richards to run for treasurer and the ensuing scramble, see Straight from the Heart, 213–217. Dan Richards told me about his experience as her travel aide in that campaign. In the Richards Papers, campaign documents and in-house interviews of Jane Hickie at the Treasury describe the campaign and the surreal transition to the agency and office held by Warren G. Harding. A memo from Hickie detailing the financial contributions that enabled Ann’s first statewide race is in the Richards Papers. The colorful history of the Treasury, including its eventual demise, is told in The Handbook of Texas Online.

  Chapter 11: Raise Money and Wait. Nadine Eckhardt shared her correspondence with Ann about projections of her long-range political future. Ann’s letter to Gary Cartwright is in the Richards Papers. A Dallas Morning News story related Ann’s performance at a Dallas fund-raiser
for Congressman Jim Mattox. Several staffers at the attorney general’s office told me about David Richards’s role when Mattox was fending off an indictment for commercial bribery; also see Once Upon a Time, 227–241. Bill Cryer’s memo about Ann’s prospects for higher office is in the Richards Papers. Ann’s moving eulogy of Sam Whitten is in the Richards Papers.

  Chapter 12: Cheap Help. Mary Beth Rogers told me about the extent of the staff’s ignorance of finance when Ann won the election. Jane Hickie was the force behind in-house interviews conducted by both Lynn Whitten, a graduate student and intern at the Treasury, and the historian Ruthe Winegarten. Third Coast published several articles about Ann—in one, she shrugged off being known as an Austin liberal and professed to be serene about her separation and pending divorce from David. But Rogers told me about the weeping, screaming outburst in their adjoining offices when Ann learned David had filed the papers, which were withdrawn that time.

  Interviews by the Houston Chronicle’s Barbara Karkabi and Ruthe Winegarten are in the Richards Papers. One interview, conducted by Winegarten as Ann was preparing to move out of her house on Red Bud Trail, relates her wariness toward the press, her exasperation with Walter Mondale and other Democratic presidential contenders in 1984, and her dismissal of press suggestions that she might be a vice presidential nominee that year. The letter that Ann wrote to her divorce lawyer is in the Richards Papers.

  Chapter 13: Poker Faces. For Governor Mark White’s explanation of his loss in the 1986 rematch with Bill Clements, see Brian McCall, The Power of the Texas Governor, 81–83. Dave McNeely, then a reporter for the Austin American-Statesman, told me about Clements’s embarrassing involvement in the SMU football scandal. Having started writing speeches for Garry Mauro, I gained an unexpected outlook on the practices of the FBI and the fear that investigation struck even in the heart of Bob Bullock; I contributed these conversations and impressions to Boy Genuis, 38–41. Mary Beth Rogers and Bill Cryer shared their differing views of Ann’s plans for the election of 1990. Steve Hall told me the story and shared his diary entry of the day Jim Mattox had reason to believe he had bluffed Bill Hobby out of the governor’s race. Bob Bullock’s friendly note of advice to Ann is in the Richards Papers.