Bill Text: TX HR1163 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: In memory of Julian Otis Read of Austin.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-05-25 - Reported enrolled [HR1163 Detail]
Download: Texas-2021-HR1163-Enrolled.html
H.R. No. 1163 |
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WHEREAS, The State of Texas lost a communications pioneer and | ||
wise political counselor with the death of Julian Otis Read of | ||
Austin on May 8, 2021, at the age of 93; and | ||
WHEREAS, Born outside of Fort Worth on June 8, 1927, Julian | ||
Read was the son of Tillie Naomi Swaim and James Otis Read, who | ||
moved into town to provide educational opportunities for their son | ||
and his sister, Opal; when he was just 18, Mr. Read began his career | ||
as a copy boy and hard-charging cub reporter for the now-legendary | ||
Fort Worth Press; he also took freelance work, including publicity | ||
for a promising young singer named Elvis Presley; in 1951, at the | ||
dawn of the advertising age, he launched a public relations and ad | ||
agency out of a one-room apartment, and only later did he complete | ||
his economics degree at Texas Christian University; and | ||
WHEREAS, His company, Read-Poland, grew into a powerhouse | ||
with five offices in Texas and another in the nation's capital; its | ||
host of business clients included the San Antonio HemisFair, | ||
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Southwest Airlines, and | ||
Disney's World on Ice; during the Cold War, Mr. Read helped the | ||
skating show part the Iron Curtain to perform in Eastern Europe; he | ||
was instrumental in wearing down decades of resistance to the | ||
revolutionary Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft, leading | ||
to its successful implementation by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps; | ||
by transfiguring the television show of University of Texas | ||
football coach Darrell Royal, he created a national model for such | ||
sports programs; and | ||
WHEREAS, In 1954, he guided the congressional campaign of the | ||
mayor of Weatherford, Jim Wright, who scored a major upset and went | ||
on to become speaker of the House; Mr. Read advised the campaigns of | ||
six U.S. presidents, from both parties; in 1961, John Connally | ||
asked him to run his first gubernatorial campaign, and his | ||
victorious strategy incorporated five-minute "Coffee with | ||
Connally" TV spots, an innovative use of the medium; he formed a | ||
lasting bond with Governor Connally's family, and as his press | ||
secretary, Mr. Read was liaison to the White House press corps | ||
traveling to Dallas with President John F. Kennedy on November 22, | ||
1963; having witnessed the assassination from his place in the | ||
motorcade, he rushed to the side of the governor's wife at Parkland | ||
Hospital; he received her account and delivered to the | ||
international media the first briefing from a perspective inside | ||
the presidential limousine; and | ||
WHEREAS, Mr. Read completed the merger of Read-Poland with | ||
global communications giant Burson Cohn & Wolfe in 2001, and he | ||
maintained a presence in the Austin office until his passing; in | ||
addition, he wrote a book, JFK's Final Hours in Texas, published by | ||
UT's Briscoe Center for American History in 2013; and | ||
WHEREAS, Over the years, Mr. Read often proclaimed himself | ||
the luckiest man in the world for having married Mary Anice Barber, | ||
on April 12, 1952; they became the parents of two daughters, Ellen | ||
and Courtney, and their treasured family eventually grew to include | ||
three grandchildren, Faye, Katherine, and Clark, as well as three | ||
great-grandchildren, Anice, Juliana, and Asher; the couple shared a | ||
deep interest in historic preservation, and Mrs. Read was the | ||
founder of the Texas Main Street Program at the Texas Historical | ||
Commission, while Mr. Read served as a member of Friends of the THC, | ||
the Austin History Center, the LBJ Presidential Library, and the | ||
Briscoe Center, where his extensive archives are housed; he | ||
continued his efforts following Mrs. Read's death in 1999; and | ||
WHEREAS, Julian Read left his imprint on Texas history and | ||
earned the admiration of all who knew him, not only for his | ||
remarkable accomplishments, but also for his kindness and | ||
generosity, and he will forever hold a special place in the hearts | ||
of his loved ones and legions of friends; now, therefore, be it | ||
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 87th Texas | ||
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of Julian Otis Read and | ||
extend sincere condolences to all who mourn his passing; and, be it | ||
further | ||
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be | ||
prepared for his family and that when the Texas House of | ||
Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Julian | ||
Read. | ||
Hinojosa | ||
______________________________ | ||
Speaker of the House | ||
I certify that H.R. No. 1163 was unanimously adopted by a | ||
rising vote of the House on May 23, 2021. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||