ann richards, RIP

fox4 local news just broke the sad news: ann richards has lost her battle with cancer.

can't find any news links yet, but i'd just like to say this about ann.

she was a true steel magnolia.

ann is one of my role models: a strong, no nonsense woman with a heart of gold and a rapier wit.

coming of age politically with ann in the dome was a priviledge, as many women my age had a rare thing - a female chief executive and role model. ann triumphed over her own personal demons and rose to the top of her field. she did it with class, grace, and humility, and she will be sorely missed.

there will never be another ann richards, but we can all aspire to follow her example and fight for progressive texas values.

thank you ann, for the inspiration.

update: i also want to add that ann was a feminist icon. she understood that women and minorities faced institutional barriers to entry in government, and vowed to break that cycle. well over half of her appointments consisted of women, blacks, latinos, and asians. under ann, the texas government truly reflected the diversity of our state. she was especially concerned with setting an example for young women, as i alluded to earlier. this quote illustrates her devotion to advancing the feminist tenet of equality, self-determination, and opportunity:

Richards often told young girls not to try her path diverting from obedient know-no-alternative housewifery to a late discovery of personal potential.

"The only standard that truly matters is the one you set for yourself," she said at Girls State in 1993. "And you cannot count on Prince Charming to make you feel better about yourself and take care of you, like some funhouse mirror that reflects you at twice your real size.

"Because Prince Charming may be driving a Honda and telling you that you have no equal . . . but that won't do you much good when you've got kids and a mortgage . . . and he has a beer gut and a wandering eye."

On embarking on her 12-year stint as a statewide official, Richards said: "Naturally, I want it to be easier for women to get involved in politics. I want them to think of politics and public service as a good place for them, as something honorable and something worthwhile for them to pursue. And the way they are going to do that is to say, 'If she can do it, I can do it.' "

her family is requesting that donations in her memory be made to the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, scheduled to open august 2007 in the austin school district - through the austin community foundation, P.O. Box 5159, austin, texas 78763, 512-472-4483, or online at www.austincommunityfoundation.org.

ann's keynote address at the dem convention

*image via bustacap on dkos
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more texas eulogies:
commonsensetx
the agonist
texas kaos
sundance kid
esoterically
dailykos
north texas liberal
BOR
drive democracy
capitol annex
massive list of links via vince

and the best quote so far, from vince at capital annex:

For the Texas political landscape to be without Ann Richards' presence is like a field without bluebonnets.