When I moved to Austin, TX in the late 1980s I had not heard of John Henry Faulk. It didn’t take long before I heard about him though. He was a comedian and entertainer from the previous era, and local hero. He had fought, and won, a lawsuit against the McCarthy era blacklisters in the 1950s. I read his book Fear On Trial about his fight, but today reading his Wiki page I find he was a more interesting character than I had realized. I had no idea, for instance, that he was in the movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

We often think the freedoms we enjoy as Americans were secured a long time ago. If fact they are never secure. They are fought for over and over again, by every generation. Here’s to Mr Faulk and everyone who fought the good fight for all of us.