A man known for his words - both spoken and written - Don Woodard, Sr., 88, wrote the first of his passionate letters to the editor when he was 7 years old. The Fort Worth Press held a contest asking children to write how they knew there was a Santa Claus. He submitted the winning letter. "I wrote that I put some flour down by the chimney, and the next morning there was a big footprint right in that flour, and that's why I knew there was a Santa Claus," Woodard said laughing. "I haven't thought about that in a long time."
Since then, he has written more than a thousand letters to the editor in the Fort Worth Business Press and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Woodard uses quotes and poetry to emphasize his opinions about important issues in Fort Worth. Over the last decade, many of his letters have been in opposition to Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision project, which he calls "the boondoggle."
Paul Harral, Fort Worth, Texas magazine's editor emeritus, has known Woodard since 1986, when Harral was editorial page editor at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "There's a talent in being able to express yourself in just a few words, and Don is very talented," Harral says. "He never quite grasped the concept that writers were limited to one letter a month, so I often had my choice of several to choose from when his turn came up again. It was generally a difficult choice. If I believed in reincarnation, I would think that he was reincarnated as the eye of a hurricane. He likes to stir the political waters, and he does a good job of it.
I could listen to him for hours," Harral continues. "In fact, being Don Woodard, if you started a conversation, it usually did last for hours."
Woodard's favorite setting for lively conversations is his weekly Friends in High Places breakfast meetings. "We've got Republicans, Democrats, Muslims, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, atheists, all kinds of people," he says. "Our creed is "Don't say anything if it is not calculated to irritate someone else." "
Jim Wright, former U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives and friend of more than 50 years, says Woodard loves an "unfettered, freewheeling discussion with a large number of Texans of all political persuasions just to be sure and give voice to all opposing views. It is a little bit of democracy at work," Wright says.
"He has a first-rate mind, an abiding interest in this country of ours and an unrivaled capacity for making and keeping friends," Wright continues. "Don and his wife, Wanda, are both quintessential Texans. His fascinating book on the history and lore of the coal, oil and gas industry in Texas and the personalities who got it all going is a fascinating read that thousands of Texans have enjoyed."
While working as a land man for the Texas Pacific Coal and Oil Co. from 1952 to 1963, Woodard documented the history of Thurber, a town 70 miles west of Fort Worth, built by Texas Pacific. His book, Black Diamonds! Black Coal! The Saga of Texas Pacific Coal and Oil Company, recounts many stories about Thurber.
Woodard graduated from Texas Christian University in 1957. He is a past president of the TCU Frog Club.
After decades in the energy and transportation industries, he established Woodard Insurance, LLP, in 1972, as Don Woodard Insurance. In 1986, he and his sons, Don Jr. and Blake, formed the first licensed life insurance partnership in Texas. Today, he and Blake remain partners of Woodard Insurance, LLP, and Insurance Consulting Group, Inc.
Woodard says that three of his most memorable experiences involved President John F. Kennedy. Woodard was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention that nominated Kennedy in 1960. "When John F. Kennedy was inaugurated, I was standing on the steps of the Senate. I watched Robert Frost recite "Our Land," " he says.
Woodard attended Kennedy's last breakfast in Fort Worth. He and Wanda had taken Don Jr. to the babysitter. "A woman who had stopped her car on the bridge at I-20 was standing in the middle of that bridge hollering, "The president was assassinated." It was a sad time in our history," he says.
He and Wanda recently celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. "What more could I hope to have? I have a wonderful wife, great children and grandchildren, good friends, my letters and all the beauty of the world around me. I don't need anything else, and I don't dwell much on the future," Woodard says. "On my tombstone, it reads: "Everything is Beautiful." "
