Jim Mattox, 1943 - 2008

Gardner Selby has this report at the Austin American-Statesman website.

Jim Mattox, a fiery Democrat whose career brought him from Dallas to Austin to Washington and then back to Austin, has died in his sleep, a former spokesman, Kelly Fero, said today. The former Texas attorney general was 65.

Mattox, who lived in Dripping Springs west of Austin, was born in Dallas on Aug. 29, 1943, the first of three children of Norman and Mary Katheryn Harrison. His father was a union sheetmetal worker, and his mother was a waitress.

My deepest condolence to his wife Marta and their children, his sister Janice, and brother Jerry.

It was only this morning in looking through the Statesman that I saw an obituary of Joe Cipriano.  Following the 1982 election, when a ticket of Democrats swept the state elections - and Jim Mattox was elected Attorney General, Joe led a team of Coopers & Lybrand consultants who took a top-to-bottom look at the AG's office.  That was a great assistance -- along with the full cooperation of then-AG Mark White (who was moving into the governor's office) and his First Assistant AG, John Fainter -- in making for a smooth transition of the state's law firm.

I'm hearing from many former colleagues right now, and I'll return with some more thoughts later.