| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
|
|
WHEREAS, The Texas political scene has lost an insightful and |
|
|
articulate voice with the death of legendary journalist Sam Kinch, |
|
|
Jr., of Austin on February 1, 2011; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, A seventh-generation Texan, Sam Kinch was born in |
|
|
Fort Worth on February 18, 1940, to Sam Kinch, Sr., a newspaperman, |
|
|
and Harriet Stokes Kinch, an educator; he grew up in Austin, where |
|
|
he learned to love Texas politics at an early age, thanks in part to |
|
|
the influence of his father, who covered the Capitol for the Fort |
|
|
Worth Star-Telegram; the young Sam got his first taste of working |
|
|
under the pink dome in 1954, when he served as a page in the Texas |
|
|
House of Representatives during a special session; he graduated |
|
|
from McCallum High School in 1958; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, After serving in the U.S. Army, Mr. Kinch earned |
|
|
both a bachelor's degree in history and a master's degree in |
|
|
journalism and history from The University of Texas at Austin; |
|
|
along the way, he worked for the Daily Texan, covering his first |
|
|
session of the Texas Legislature in 1961 and his first |
|
|
gubernatorial primary in 1962 and later serving as the paper's |
|
|
editor; he also worked part-time and during the summers for |
|
|
newspapers in Austin, Temple, and Fort Worth; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Kinch married his high school sweetheart, the |
|
|
former Lilas Janice Shelby, in 1963, and the following year, they |
|
|
moved to Washington, D.C., where Mr. Kinch reported on national |
|
|
politics for the National Observer, the Dallas Times-Herald, and |
|
|
the Dallas Morning News; he and his family returned to Texas in |
|
|
1970, and for the next 15 years he served as the chief state |
|
|
political reporter for the Morning News; during that time, he won a |
|
|
number of awards, including one for a story about his ride on a |
|
|
plane that was hijacked to Cuba and another for his book Texas Under |
|
|
a Cloud, which he coauthored with Ben Proctor, about the Sharpstown |
|
|
investment fraud scandal; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Building on his experience covering the statehouse, |
|
|
Mr. Kinch founded the newsletter Texas Weekly in the mid-1980s with |
|
|
two friends; he was involved with the publication for 14 years |
|
|
before selling his interest in it and entering semiretirement; Mr. |
|
|
Kinch went on to coauthor two more books, Too Much Is Not Enough, |
|
|
about state reform of campaign finance laws, and Crapshoot Justice, |
|
|
about judicial election reform; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, While he continued writing and consulting |
|
|
part-time, Mr. Kinch also took great pleasure in traveling with his |
|
|
wife, spending time outdoors, and listening to country and gospel |
|
|
music; he especially enjoyed sharing laughs with his loved ones, |
|
|
including his daughter and two sons, of whom he was extremely proud; |
|
|
and |
|
|
WHEREAS, To the end of his life, Sam Kinch remained |
|
|
fascinated by Texas politics and history, and for more than 40 |
|
|
years, he informed and entertained the reading public with his |
|
|
passion, intellect, and expertise; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of Sam Kinch, Jr., and |
|
|
extend sincere condolences to the members of his family: to his |
|
|
wife, Lilas Kinch; to his children, Keary Anjanette Kinch, Samuel |
|
|
Sean Kinch, and Ashby McDalton Kinch; to his daughters-in-law, Jill |
|
|
Savola Kinch and Amy Fowler Kinch; to his son-in-law, Tim |
|
|
Evgenides; to his granddaughters, Amani Janice Kinch Alexander, |
|
|
Shelby Auchincloss Kinch, Katherine Victoria Kinch, and Helen |
|
|
Joanna Kinch Evgenides; to his grandsons, Griffin Ashby Kinch and |
|
|
Samuel Rice Kinch; to his sister, Ann Walden, and her husband, Jack; |
|
|
and to his other relatives and many friends; and, be it further |
|
|
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
|
|
prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of |
|
|
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Sam Kinch, |
|
|
Jr. |