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February 14, 2007

Remembering Governor Ann Richards:
A special edition of Special Session

AUSTIN, Texas – Tune in the week of February 25, as Special Session, the weekly statewide public affairs show,  takes a look back at the life of Governor Ann Richards with a short documentary, featuring never-seen-before footage and interviews.  This very personal portrait is followed by a discussion with people who knew her and covered her political career: Mary Beth Rogers, her former chief of staff; Chuck McDonald, her press spokesman; and Wayne Slater, longtime political writer for The Dallas Morning News.  The short film will reveal a side of Governor Richards she kept private. 

Special Session airs in Austin on KLRU-TV, Austin PBS, Sunday at 11 a.m. (repeated on KLRU2, Wednesday at 9:30 p.m.), in Dallas on KERA Sundays at 1:30 p.m., Houston on KHUT Wednesdays at 11 p.m., and in San Antonio on KWBU Sundays at 11 a.m.  The air times for broadcasts on Texas PBS stations around the state are listed below.

 

ABOUT THE PANEL:

Paul Stekler, Host of Special Session, has won Emmy, Peabody and duPont-Columbia Journalism Awards for his many PBS documentaries on American politics.  Those films include George Wallace: Settin’ the Woods on Fire, Last Man Standing: Politics, Texas Style, and Vote for Me: Politics in America.  He also teaches at the University of Texas at Austin in both the Radio-Television-Film Dept. and at the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

Mary Beth Rogers is a writer and consultant, a television executive, college professor, government official, and civic leader with almost 30 years experience in public service.  She also served as President and CEO of KLRU-TV, the PBS affiliate in Austin.  Rogers served as chief of staff for Governor Ann Richards, and was the Deputy Treasurer of Texas from 1983-1988.

Chuck McDonald is co-founder and co-owner of McDonald Public Relations, Inc.  From 1990 to 1994 McDonald worked as a press secretary and spokesman For Governor Ann Richards, including stints in the '90 and '94 campaigns. Prior to that he worked as a newspaper reporter and editor.

Wayne Slater, Senior Political Writer for The Dallas Morning News, has appeared on numerous network news shows, is co-author of The New York Times bestseller, Bush’s Brain: How Karl Rove Made George W. Bush Presidential, and has reported seven sessions of the Texas Legislature and the administrations of Texas Govs. Clements, Richards, Bush and Perry.

 

Special Session statewide on PBS stations at the following times:

Austin – KLRU: 11 a.m. Sundays, KLRU2: Wednesdays at 9:30 pm,
KLRU-G: Thursdays at 6:30 pm

College Station – KAMU:  12 noon Sundays

Corpus Christi – KEDT: 11 a.m. Sundays

Dallas – KERA: 1:30 p.m. Sundays

El Paso – KCOS: 10 a.m. Sundays

Houston – KUHT: 11 p.m. Wednesdays

Killeen – KNCT: 10:30 p.m. Sundays

Lubbock – KTXT: 11 a.m. Sundays

San Antonio - KLRN: 1 p.m. Sundays

Waco -  KWBU: 11 a.m. Sundays

About Special Session:

Each week, journalists, politicos and other notable Texans take on the issues and politics confronting this year’s 80th session of the Texas Legislature in this Lone Star Emmy-nominated half-hour series. Special Session is a production of KLRU, in association with Midnight Films. Funding for the series is provided in part by the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Foundation, Public Strategies Inc., The Meredith Family Foundation and the Nowlin Family Fund at the Austin Community Foundation. Additional support is provided by Garrett and Cecilia Boone. For more information about Special Session, visit www.klru.org/specialsession.  Each episode will be available for video-streaming at that site after its broadcast.

About KLRU

KLRU-TV, Austin PBS, reflects, celebrates and inspires Central Texas through creative excellence,
community engagement and lifelong learning. Although primarily a television station providing locally produced and quality national programming, KLRU is also a non-profit organization helping to build a stronger community through five areas of focus — KLRU Presents, KLRU Explores, KLRU Creates, KLRU Connects and KLRU Educates.  Get more information about KLRU at klru.org.

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