A GREAT LADY IS "UP THERE" , AMIDST ETERNAL WILDFLOWERS Last week saw the passing of a great American: Lady Bird Johnson. Not only remarkable because she gave perspective and balance to one of America's most dynamic and driven political leaders -- another "LBJ" /Lyndon Baines Johnson, President of the United States who suddenly assumed office upon the tragedy of the Kennedy assassination and carried the huge burden of the Vietnam War 1963 - '69.

Lady Bird was remembered for many things -- but one of her most significant legacies was land conservation and the encouragement of wildflower planting along American highways and public parks. There were two direct impacts that I will never forget. They make her departure one of sadness and, at the same time, celebration of a real life of hard work and service.

The first impact was right in the home state of Maryland during the battle to get billboards from cluttering our highways, including those funded through the Federal interstate system. Lady Bird Johnson's driving force was felt by several "grande dames" who ran the Federated Garden Clubs of Maryland, including my mother who was an active committed opponent of the billboard clutter that had gone way beyond the country scenes of small "Burma Shave" signs. Margaret Wills and others had been fighting the "billboards intrusion" on Maryland highways, including U.S. Interstates within and connecting our borders to the Nation's Capitol, Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania.

When the then 1st Lady undertook the national battle to beautify interstate hghways, my mother, as Md. Federated Garden Clubs President, got members to join her and stand at intersections along the Ritchie Highway between Baltimore and Annapolis -- holding flowers with tasteful posters:

"JOIN LADY BIRD JOHNSON AND THE GARDEN CLUBS IN MAKING MARYLAND BEAUTIFUL !
WILDFLOWERS , NOT BILLBOARDS ON OUR ROADS ! "

The other special memory of this quietly dynamic person was when she, Laurance Rockefeller and others served on the Board of Trustees of the American Land Trust (ALT), a 2-year project during the American Bicentennial, 1976-'78. I got to know Mrs. Johnson , during those 2 years as executive director of this national initiative that raised $300 million in gifts of land or funds to preserve land for the Nature Conservancy.

An example of Mrs. Johnson's "gentle firmness" is reflected in working with her to protect the national treasure "Enchanted Rock" , a Texas wilderness rock outcropping. In the process, Lady Bird "encouraged" a reluctant Texas parks commission to reverse an initial decision not to follow ALT's challenge grant to preserve this remarkable wonder of nature. Suddenly the Texas group reversed its initial decision and unamiously approved funding a match to the challenge grant ! When I asked Mrs. LBJ "what happened ?", her soft reply, with a wink of the eye :

" I just reminded the commissioners of a few things that Lyndon and I remembered about them"

That is a legacy of quiet , but firm work and leadership , as Lady Bird Johnson joins her husband amidst eternal wildflowers.

Labels: Lady Bird Johnson, Maryland, Wildflowers

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