Former Rep. Lindy Boggs, champion of civil rights, dies; also was ambassador to the Vatican

[avaistheone1]

Source: Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Lindy Boggs, a plantation-born Louisianan who used her soft-spoken grace to fight for civil rights during nearly 18 years in Congress after succeeding her late husband in the House, died Saturday. She was 97.

Boggs, who later served three years as ambassador to the Vatican during the Clinton administration, died of natural causes at her home in Chevy Chase, Md., according to her daughter, ABC News journalist Cokie Roberts.

Boggs’ years in Congress started with a special election in 1973 to finish the term of her husband, Thomas Hale Boggs Sr., whose plane disappeared over Alaska six months earlier. Between them, they served a half-century in the House.

“It didn’t occur to us that anybody else would do it,” Roberts said in explaining why her mother was the natural pick for the congressional seat. Her parents, who had met in college, were “political partners for decades,” she said, with Lindy Boggs running her husband’s political campaigns and becoming a player on the Washington political scene.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/former-rep-lindy-boggs-champion-of-civil-rights-dies-also-was-ambassador-to-the-vatican/2013/07/27/1c077c98-f6ba-11e2-81fa-8e83b3864c36_story.html

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In 1972, while he was still Majority Leader, the twin engine airplane in which Thomas Boggs was traveling disappeared over a remote section of Alaska. The airplane presumably crashed and was never found. Congressman Nick Begich was also presumed killed in the same accident..snip

The events surrounding Boggs's death have been the subject of much speculation, suspicion, and numerous conspiracy theories. These theories often center on his membership on the Warren Commission. Boggs dissented from the Warren Commission's majority who supported the single bullet theory. Regarding the single-bullet theory, Boggs commented, "I had strong doubts about it."[6] In the 1979 novel The Matarese Circle, author Robert Ludlum portrayed Boggs as having been killed to stop his investigation of the Kennedy assassination.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hale_Boggs

[kestrel91316]

1. Wondering to myself why I seem to recollect that my sister met her once in the 1970s........

I'll have to ask her. Her name is firmly linked to my sister in my mind.

[question everything]

2. R.I.P

I wonder whether, in 2053, the death of any member of the current Congress will be filled with so much accolade.

[CTyankee]

3. I remember hearing Cokie speak of her mother's appointment as ambassador to the Vatican.

She said her mother lived in New Orleans, so "she is used to seeing men in dresses." She got a big laugh from the audience...

[joanbarnes]

4. Wonder why they don't have that book at the library?

[Hekate]

7. Best-sellers that don't get read for awhile are often disposed of in favor of current best sellers.

The local library can't become a dead-letter box. They hold Friends of the Library sales, etc.

If you really want to read that Ludlum novel you can ask your public library if they do inter-library loans; check their computer system to see who else has it. Naturally, your other alternative is to check Amazon.com -- in fact, a certain percentage of older books on Amazon are ex-public library books.

[alp227]

8. My library has the book... IN RUSSIAN!

Last edited Sat Jul 27, 2013, 03:11 PM - Edit history (1)

also amazon.com says about the book: " In stock but may require an extra 1-2 days to process." wonder why

[Hekate]

12. Perhaps it was a gift. Perhaps you have a population of Russian emigres in your area.

Do you do any actual shopping on Amazon? I'm a book collector, and I can tell you this is nothing unusual. They're not taking the "extra 1-2 days to process" in order to contact the gubmint spies with all your information.

I wonder why there are so many suspicious DUers regarding the availability of a book that is ... available.

I mean I know the black helicopters are coming for our guns, but are they coming for our books now?

[alp227]

13. yes there is a significant population of Russian emigres in my area.

and i have bought books from amazon.com before but am unfamiliar with this 1-2 days to process thing.

amazon.com claims this paperback version of the Ludlum book was printed in 1983, but the cover says "bestselling author of The Bourne Identity", so it must have been printed last decade.

[Hekate]

15. Some books are now printed on demand in paperback. Publishing ain't what it used to be, at all.

There's one I want in hardcover from back in the '80's but as far as I can tell from my researches, it never was printed in hardcover at all, even though the author's other books were. I haven't figured that out yet. However, it certainly must have a steady trickle of fans, because if I wanted to replace my tattered paperback I could order one printed on demand via Amazon.

Publishing is not what it used to be.

Aside from that, Amazon has very large warehouses, as they have told me when I have inquired about specific books. As a collector I want to verify if something is or is not a first edition, whether its condition really is "very good" or not, and so forth. From individual vendors you can often get a photo of the publication page or the autograph page, but from Amazon what you get is a generic description -- which is usually adequate, but not individualized. You get your book plucked from a shelf in a vast warehouse. If they tell you up front it will take longer, it's probably because it's in the far reaches.

[pnwmom]

5. Rest in Peace, Lindy Boggs. Condolences to Cokie. n/t

[Brewinblue]

6. Lindy and Hale Boggs

New Orleans icons, and southern progressives of the highest order.

[MADem]

9. I remember that airplane accident very clearly.

Poor Cokie. It doesn't matter how old you are, it sucks to lose a parent.

[alp227]

10. Other remembrances:

New York Times: Lindy Boggs, Longtime Representative And Champion of Women, Is Dead at 97

The Times-Picayune (New Orleans) - Lindy Boggs, congresswoman, diplomat, personal ambassador for Louisiana, dies at 97; Friends, colleagues remember Lindy Boggs' career and matchless style

AP: Former Rep. Lindy Boggs of Louisiana dies at 97 (reprinted in The Advocate of Baton Rouge and The Town Talk of Monroe, and other non-New Orleans papers in Louisiana)

The Hill: Former Rep. Lindy Boggs dies at 97

WWNO public radio in Nawlins: Former Louisiana Congresswoman Lindy Boggs Dies At 97

And the full page washington post link is http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/former-rep-lindy-boggs-champion-of-civil-rights-dies-also-was-ambassador-to-the-vatican/2013/07/27/1c077c98-f6ba-11e2-81fa-8e83b3864c36_singlePage.html

[Harry Monroe]

11. I was saddened today to hear of this

I have some personal connections to Ms. Boggs. She nominated and appointed me to the United States Merchant Marine Academy and I met her before and after college. I often thanked her for her appointment and felt that I owed her a lot as she gave me a "leg up" when I was a young man. I remember her as being one of the most charming, gracious and caring individuals that I ever met and she seemed to have concern and empathy for each and every one of her constituents, something lacking in today's batch of Representatives.

The world and Washington is a lesser place today. I was saddened to hear the news of her passing, but am glad that she lived a long and fulfilling life. Ms. Boggs, may you rest in peace and I am happy that you are finally reunited with Hale in the "great beyond".

[indepat]

14. Our deepest sympathy to Cokie Roberts and family