Texas lost one of its premier political writers, Jim Warren.   Some of you might have followed the links to his blog Billy Clyde’s Political Hot Tub Party.  If you’ve been around the block a time or two, you understood the “hot tub” reference.   Heck, even if you only had a learner’s permit for Texas politics, you soon understood the allure of Billy Clyde. 

Raised in East Texas, he learned how to spin a yarn at a young age.  He cut his chops on his hometown newspaper, the Huntsville Item.  He headed west for more schoolin’ at The University, where he sharpened his skills and honed his wit.  Lucky for the young Longhorn, he landed a gubmit job. Lucky for Texas, he figured out the arcane rules of and practices of the lege and kept his bosses (mostly) on the up and up and out of the pokey.

We will miss his keen observations on that bunch of elected, rejected, and dejected gaggle of sticky-fingered wind bags  that make up our lege and the assorted no ‘count hangers-on and gravy trainers that add the lumps to the frosting to that pink granite cupcake up on the hill. 

Here’s his obituary in the Huntsville Item.  Nothing we can write can come close to expressing how much we will miss his charm, wit, and wisdom.

Good bye Billy Clyde.  You will be missed. 

Here’s a hat tip to your new gig as Heaven’s newest blogger.