Happy birthday, Gov! and Meet Liz Carpenter
September 1 was Ann Richards' birthday. Happy belated, Gov!
It was also the birthday of someone you might not know - Liz Carpenter. Liz is often seen at political events around Austin, and she's fabulous. Can't quite place her? Here are some of her firsts:
- First woman to be vice president of UT Austin's Student Government
- First woman executive assistant to the Vice President
- First professional newswoman to be press secretary for a first lady
A sixth-generation Texan born in Salado, Liz's energy and wit have taken her fascinating places. She covered the Roosevelt White House for the Austin American-Statesman, including covering Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, the first woman to serve in a presidential cabinet. She was a speechwriter for LBJ, most famously crafting his speech to the nation after President Kennedy was assassinated. She was press secretary and chief of staff to Lady Bird Johnson. She and her husband founded a public relations firm in Washington, D.C. President Ford named her to the International Women's Year Commission. She's a founding member of the Texas Women's Political Caucus and campaigned tirelessly for the Equal Rights Amendment. She was assistant secretary of education in the Carter Administration. She returned to Texas in 1976 and has been writing, speaking, and helping out younger folks in progressive politics ever since.
I'm tired just thinking about it, aren't you? What a dynamo.
And that's not all. She's a cancer survivor who's raised piles of money to fight the disease. She's still a very sought-after speaker, and she's written countless magazine articles and several books, including Ruffles and Flourishes, about her time in the White House; Getting Better All the Time, about her life before Washington; Unplanned Parenthood, about raising the three children of her brother, who died when they were 16, 14, and 11; and Start With a Laugh, a guide to writing good speeches.
Miss Liz has received every award and accolade under the sun. She's in the Texas Women's Hall of Fame, and received a 1977 Woman of the Year award from Ladies Home Journal, Distinguished Alumnus awards from UT Austin and from its College of Communications, the ProBene Award from UT's College of Liberal Arts, and the Frances Willard Award fromAlpha Phi. Her friends put together the Liz Sutherland Carpenter Distinguished Visiting Lectureship at UT, which has brought incredible speakers, including President Clinton, Betty Friedan, Fannie Flagg, Bill Moyers, and Maya Angelou, to campus. She is a true Texas treasure. Happy birthday, Miss Liz!
For more info:
- a day in the life of Miss Liz from the Austin Chronicle
- her bio and interviews with Evan Smith on KLRU