What convinced him to write her biography, he says, was the discovery of a wealth of material in the Richards Papers at the University of Texas, along with the approval of Richards' ex-husband and children. [...] it covers Richard's entire career, beginning with her youth in Waco, her marriage at age 18 to high school sweetheart David Richards, her college years at Baylor, her frustration and boredom as a young housewife and mother, and her eventual political awakening. Along the way, there were wild parties with Austin's liberal Democrats and colorful characters, including columnist Molly Ivins and radio humorist John Henry Faulk. Reid writes about her rise from county and treasurer's offices to the governship, where she championed gun control, prison reform, environmental protection and school finance reform. Reid also takes a sobering look at her life after politics, when she commuted between Austin and New York, raking in money as a lobbyist for special interests, including Big Tobacco. What she did instead, he writes, was "to bring to positions of responsibility and power in Texas the women, African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, gay men, lesbians, and disabled persons who had been so long denied ..."
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