An Extraordinary Life

Stephanie Tubbs Jones wasn't as well known as Isaac Hayes or Bernie Mac. In its own way, that's sad. She was a congresswoman representing a district that includes a big part of Cleveland. She passed away after suffering a brain aneurysm while driving in her district, Ohio's 11th. I'm writing about her because I had the privilege of interviewing her on more than one occasion. She was certainly one of a kind.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones was an American success story in the same way Barack Obama is. She was the daughter of working class parents who went to college, studied hard, graduated, and got her law degree three years later. She was a judge, and a prosecutor, in fact, Cleveland's chief prosecutor. In 1998 she ran for Congress, and she had some big shoes to fill. She was seeking to replace the retiring Louis Stokes. She ran against four opponents, and to the surprise of the political establishment, won handily. Two years ago she won re-election with 83% of the vote.

In Congress, she was a tireless advocate for poor and working poor people. She voted against emergency funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan just this past June. She even challenged President Bush's 2004 re-election, objecting to voting irregularities in her home state.

Yet more than  her accomplishments, Stephanie Tubbs Jones was a warm, funny, outgoing straight shooter who once refused to answer with anything but a laugh when my radio partner and I asked if she was taking a bath during our interview. I was trying to reach her office the other day, to see if we could talk next week during the Democratic National Convention. How sad she won't be there.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones was only 58 years old. America will miss her.