“ One of the programs of which Richards was proudest involved a retraining effort that had been entitled , ‘ Smart Jobs .’ When technology began to emerge as an economic force in Texas , and oil faltered , the governor had gotten the legislature to fund an effort to teach displaced energy workers how to

Governor Ann Richards , 1992 . Photo by Kenneth C . Zirkel via Wikimedia Commons . function in the increasingly digital economy .”

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The singer ’ s baritone bounced off the granite and igneous outcroppings and gave his voice a magisterial resonance not possible on a honky-tonk stage . Between riffs he told the story of a pivotal moment in his musical career , a call from Willie Nelson expressing interest in recording a Fromholz lyric .

“ I said yes , of course ,” he told the campers . “ Ya don ’ t say no to Willie . Then I went back on the road and forgot about it . Got home several months later and there was check on the table from the recording company . I had become a multi-thousand-aire .”

The Governor ’ s subsequent laughter sounded as much like an emotional release to me as it did an appreciation of Fromholz ’ punchline . She was anticipating a campaign against a former president ’ s son , George W . Bush ,

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