Senator James Clark Jr. Has Passed Away After a Full and Distinguished Life
He was particularly proud of creating legislation that formed the Maryland Farmland Preservation Foundation and Program Open Space.
As Charles Feaga said of Senator Clark in the Sun obituary:
It could be said he is the father of our land preservation programs.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Sept. 2 at St. John Episcopal Church,
posted by Evan | 8:37 PM
2 Comments:
I used to work for Senator Clark's son, Jamie, at ClarkNet. When our data operations were still located in the old dairy barn, I had the midnight to 8am shift.
Looking back, one of my fondest memories was Senator Clark's daily morning visit, around 5AM, where he would bark at me, "Does Jamie know you're here?"
He was sort of gruff, most of us lived in a sort of fear of him. I eventually read his autobiography - he truly did lead a full and distinguished life. His legacy will remain preserved in all of the open spaces of Howard County.
Although we weren't always in full agreement, I always got along well with Senator Clark on a personal level. He would occasionally comment on my visits to his office in Annapolis and obviously considered me the exception to the rule on that.
He was at the peak of his power locally when he was THE ONLY Senator representing Howard County in Annapolis and had the say on who got what appointments. I remember lobbying him on school board appointments at a time when the then-appointed county school board seemed reluctant to desegregate the county schools. And I believe he did come through on that to the effect that the pace was accelerated. He didn't seem all that pleased when we went to an elected school board. I'm sure he thought he was doing just fine in effectively choosing the members.
Senator Clark was very fiscally conservative, but great on civil rights and a worthwhile Senate President. If only we had such a one now.
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