My old friend, Andrew Jefferson passed away. Fred Hofheinz would not have been elected Mayor without Andrew. Barbara Jordan and Mickey Leeland would have had been in Austin instead of Congress without the help of the Judge. I sent many Anglo candidates to go talk with Judge Jefferson. He was my friend and occasionally my critic. He left a mark on Houst on and will be missed. The following is from the Houston Chronicle:

Andrew L. Jefferson Jr., the first black state district judge in Harris County, died from a kidney ailment Monday. He was 74. Jefferson's legal career took him from the University of Texas law school, where he was the only black in his class, to judgeships of local civil and criminal courts, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans.