Just got the news that Liz Carpenter passed away this morning at Brackenridge Hospital in Austin. Liz was a tireless advocate for women's rights and her dazzling career began under President Franklin Roosevelt.
Gloria Steinem, a close friend who worked with Carpenter during the women's rights movement, said, "She has always been a touchstone, the kind of original, irreplaceable friend about whom one thinks in good times and bad, "What would Liz do?" or "I wish Liz were here," or "I'm going to call Liz." She continued, "I don't want to think about a world in which she's not at the other end of the phone."
Good friend Sarah Weddington (the attorney who represented "Jane Roe" in Roe v. Wade) described Liz as a political powerhouse and said, "Liz was a person who cared about politics in general. She had pictures of herself with all the Presidents, Democrats and Republicans, in her home."
But we all know how she felt about her beloved Democrats.
Born in Salado, Texas September 1, 1920, Mary Elizabeth Sutherland graduated from the University of Texas and began covering the FDR White House for the Austin American-Statesman in 1942. She went to work for Lyndon Johnson in 1961 and was in Dallas on November 22, 1963 when she suddenly had to write a statement for LBJ to make to the nation following the tragic assassination of President Kennedy:
This is a sad time for all people. We have suffered a loss that cannot be weighed. For me, it is a deep personal tragedy. I know that the world shares the sorrow that Mrs. Kennedy and her family bear. I will do my best. That is all I can do. I ask for your help and God's.
Liz was a wit extraordinaire and always reliable for a good laugh. Young liberal Texans grow up knowing the power of a good sense of humor and Liz was the queen. From 1963-1968, she served as press secretary and staff director for First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson. Of that time, Liz said, "I survived two White House weddings, five White House dogs, and raft rides down the Snake River with cabinet members. I danced in the East Room with two presidents, a king or two, and innumerable prime ministers and ambassadors. Heady stuff for a girl from Salado."
With Lady Bird Johnson and Mildred Stegall in Austin
In 1971, Liz was one of the founders of the National Women's Political Caucus and became their spokesperson. Their purpose was to encourage and help women across the country to organize, run for office and get elected. She was co-chairperson of the Equal Rights Amendment Initiative in 1976-1981 and served as secretary of the US Department of Education in 1980-1981 for President Carter.
In the 2002 book by PJ Pierce called Texas Wise Women Speak: "Let Me Tell You What I've Learned", Liz wrote the forward and has a chapter dedicated to her alongside those dedicated to other women who've succeeded in Texas politics, business and the arts. She was quoted as such regarding involvement in politics:
Lots of solutions happen around a casserole. If you can put a meal on the table, you will find that it comes in handy, even if you are planning a revolution.
With fellow speaker Granny D in Austin in 2003 for Get Up, Stand Up!
In the forward to this book, Liz writes:
Speaking personally, when she popped the question, "What have you learned from life?" to me, I quickly responded, "Not enough." That's still my answer, but my formula gets some additions. When I was twenty, I knew that a sense of humor would serve me well. By the time I was into a writing career at thirty, I added a sense of purpose to my requirements for happiness. Now - at eighty - I know that a sense of history opens your eyes to all the connections between the people you know and the things you have done. Because national politics is my favorite sport, I have known personally or professionally twelve presidents. I am stimulated by looking down that long telescope of history and seeing the ebb and flow of change, the hits and misses, through a wider lens. As John Gardner once said, "It's what you learn after you know it all that counts."
With Hillary Clinton and Ann Richards in Austin in 1993
So, today, because of Ann and Sarah (Weddington), and many others, we women assume we can do whatever it is that needs to be don. I say: Take risks, open doors for other women, and make your own performance so worthy that the doors never swing shut again.
Said Ann Richards of her friend, "(Liz is) the tilt-a-whirl at the State Fair with all the lights on and the music. The only difference between Liz and a tilt-a-whirl is that, with Liz, the ride never comes to an end."
With Lady Bird Johnson and Charles Osgood along the Hike and Bike Trail around what is now known as Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake)
Former First Daughter Luci Johnson said, "Liz Carpenter was a force of nature." She was passionate about and fiercely loyal to her gender, her family, the Democratic Party, her countless friends, journalism, the University of Texas and the President and First Lady she served with relentless enthusiasm and talent."
"Liz was Mother and Daddy’s dawn to midnight 'can do' supporter. She had boundless imagination, a rare gift for words, limitless curiosity, a rich sense of humor, a fear of flying and practically no fear of anything else. She stretched you beyond what you thought was your capacity and interest until you thought you might break and definitely wanted to put the brakes on her. But she never did it for her own benefit only for others and for you."
Thank you, Liz! You'll be missed and never replaced.
Austin American-Statesman obituary