This is the first part of a two-part interview
Where does one even begin in introducing an interview with someone as… as… eccentric and interesting as Kinky Friedman?As leader of the Kinky Friedman and The Jewboys in the 1970s he sang off-beat songs like “I’m Proud to Be An Asshole From El Paso” and "They Ain't Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore."
In more recent years he switched from writing songs to writing books, with a series of mystery novels that are offbeat – think Florida novelist/columnist Carl Hiaasen but more wacky.
For some, Friedman first came across their radar when he ran for governor in 2006, marking the first time an independent candidate got on the ballot since Sam Houston in 1859. Running as a third-party candidate was not easy, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
He was friends with the late great Texas Governor Ann Richards and one of my favorite columnists, Molly Ivins, as well as more Texas and country singers and musicians than I could possibly list. Ivins, in fact, provided him with his campaign slogan: “Why The Hell Not?” More on her in part two.
In his new book,You Can Lead a Politician to Water, but You Can’t Make Him Think: Ten Commandments for Texas Politics , he writes about his run for governor, his life, what he has learned and what is messed up with state and national poly-ticks (which is how he spells it, saying it stands for multiple parasites).
Where to begin? I guess when in doubt one can begin with the book’s dedication:
This book is dedicated to the 170,258 Texans, four times the number required by law, who stayed out of the primaries in order to sign our petition to get on the ballot. This archaic law, forcing people who wish to support an independent candidate not to vote in the primaries, is part of the reason no independent has gotten on the ballot for governor since Sam Houston one hundred and fifty years ago.Thanks to you folks, the “Save Yourself for Kinky” campaign was a big success and modern Texas history was written.I dedicate this book to every one of you, including the memory of Lucille O’Brien from Breckenridge, who saved herself for Kinky, signing the petition on her 100th birthday.”
What was it like to have Lucile O’Brien sign the petition on her 100th birthday?
I never got to meet Lucille O’Brien, though we did carry on a number of animated phone conversations. She was, not surprisingly, in rather fragile health at the time, but we talked about the old days. For me they were back when doctors drove Buicks; for Lucille they went back to the horse and buggy. She told me she’d never missed voting in an election or a primary in her life until this one. This time she was saving herself for Kinky to help us get on the ballot. We both agreed that politicians of today had reached an all-time low. One of my most trusted aides, Lt. Governor Chicken Dick, was all for making the Lucille petition-signing into a giant media event, but after talking it over with the family, we all decided, I think appropriately, simply to let it be. I was honored beyond words to have someone who’d witnessed a century of life sign the petition to put my name on the ballot as the independent candidate for governor of Texas. Blessed is the match that kindles the flame. And so the torch is passed.
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