Two short anecdotes, one political, one personal:

This is the second Salon story which uses the Clayton Williams' rape joke as explanation for how she won, and that helped. But what really sank his campaign was his refusal to shake her hand at a joint appearance. Even the good old boys of Texas couldn't reward that breach of etiquette back then. Luckily the Era of Rove has freed us of such outdated notions.

I had the pleasure of receiving mail from the governor's office during her tenure, unexpectedly. I had just acquitted my Texas education on Jeopardy, and her office sent me a letter of congratulations. ALmost certainly an autopen signature, but it was on the stationery. I went back later for the tournament; by then, she had been replaced by Dubya. For whatever reason, I did not receive mail from that governor's office. I guess his crowd weren't big fans of the show.

Goodbye, Ann. You were a hell of a lady, and more of a gentleman than most of the jokers who sat in that chair.

I wept when W took Texas out of the hands of Ann's competent governorship, and I wept Wednesday night when I heard she passed away. What a tremendous human being, and a great inspiration to me.

And now we have four more years of Good Hair Perry to look forward to, continuing the downward slide that W began so his white rich cronies can get richer.

May the spirit of Ann Richards rise again so that many of us who call Texas home can once again be proud to say we're from here without having to end that statement with "and no, I didn't vote for him. Either time."

Ann Richards lit up the room with her clear talk and wit. I'm redoubling my effort to elect outspoken progressive candidates in her honor.

Ann Richards had a heart as big as Texas. I remember her for her generous spirit as well as her feistiness and brilliance. She is the very inspiration of many women I know, several of whom were drawn into activism by her indomitable spirit and courage. It is altogether fitting that she would leave behind a school for leadership dedicated to women. She was an iconoclast who showed many young girls and women that it was ok to be beautiful, sassy, and smarter than most of the boys.

What I remember most about Ann Richards was her accessibility. I would often run into her at the original Whole Foods on Tenth Street in Austin when she was State Treasurer, before she was the celebrity she is now. We chatted about who knows what (I don't remember),- what I do remember is the way she looked into my eyes when she spoke to me. Over twenty years later, in 2004, my girlfriend and I ran into her in DC at the march for women's reproductive rights. She was the bright star of the Texas delegation, and even at the height of her celebrity she was as open and as accessible as could be, throwing her arms around the shoulders of her many anonymous friends and admirers, posing for pictures, and spreading that Austin love.

God, Annie, this is a cruel blow to those of us who came of age wanting to make a difference, losing the candle of your brilliance at this dark hour. We cherish your memory and hold you up as The Lone Star of this benighted age.

I was a freshman at the University of Texas when Ann Richards won her election and I voted for her with great pride. I remember a particularly conservative, uptight plaid-shirt kid in my English class that fall and we had bickered about the election for some time. On the morning after the election, it was with great glee and some malice that I left a copy of the university paper depicting the election win on his desk before he came to class.

My decade for politics was the 90's. I look around now and read the news and wonder how in the hell we got so far from what was real and good. Ann Richards was a pillar of good sense and true grace and I will miss her presence terribly.

God (and the Goddess) bless her. I cried when I heard she'd passed. They broke the mold when they made her.

As a 9th generation feminist Texan, and teacher, Ann was always a role model for me. She would shake your hand and look you in the eye at campaign rallies, and her grace and humor were evident in all that she did. I too cried at her defeat to shrub and at her passing, but it is time to celebrate her life now. Her spirit lives on, and I will honor her with my continued fight for young women to please care, and get involved in the political process. Hurray for Ann's new school for women's leadership! Hurray for her being in a place of no pain and no traffic! Hurray for the feisty and the untainted in Austin, which today means go vote for Kinky!

I am so sad to learn of Ann Richards passing. She was a great leader. I live in California and only witnessed Ann's charisma on television. She had the kind of genuineness seldom seen in a political figure. She was a brilliant leader with a sparkling and fiesty personality. She fought Rove and his demon team courageously, but who could have known at that time how successful such a dark firgure as Rove would be at manipulating the American public. History will ultimately be the judge. I know that her descendents will be celebrating her achievements, while Rove's success will be recalled as a bleak reminder that evil does exist. My sympathy to her family.

I have been an expatriate Texan since I left for college in 1986, but when Ann Richards was elected I was proud to talk about my home state and the progressive political direction Ann led it in for those four years. I was crushed when she lost her re-election campaign to "Shrub" (as Molly Ivins calls him) and since then I have mourned for the Texas that Ann shepherded. The post-Ann era has seen such a sad regression in Texas, one that unfortunately has been transplanted tenfold onto the country as a whole by George Bush. I am still proud to say that Ann Richards WAS my governor, the one true leader of that great state in this generation. But I am no longer proud to be a Texan. So much has been lost. Hopefully her example will continue to teach all of us even though she is no longer with us. We miss you Ann.