NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The East Texas Historical Association will present the 19th Georgiana and Max S. Lale Lecture at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, in the Baker Pattillo Student Center Grand Ballroom at Stephen F. Austin State University.
Dr. Robert (Bob) Krueger of Texas Tech University will be the guest speaker. This event is free and open to the public.
Krueger, a native of New Braunfels, has been a university professor and dean, businessman, and chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, as well as a U.S. congressman, U.S. senator, U.S. ambassador on three occasions, and special representative of the U.S. secretary of state.
Krueger graduated from Southern Methodist University and received a Master of Arts from Duke University. He then earned a Master of Letters and a doctoral degree in English literature from Oxford University.
In 1961, he began teaching at Duke University, and after nine years as a professor, he became Duke's vice provost and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Krueger returned to Texas in 1973 to take over the family businesses. In 1974, he won the election to be the U.S. representative from the 21st District. Following two successful terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, Krueger became the Democratic Party nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1978, an election he lost to John Tower. He next became U.S. ambassador-at-large and co-coordinator for Mexican affairs in 1979.
In 1993, Texas Gov. Ann Richards appointed Krueger to serve out the unexpired term of U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen. When Krueger lost a special election to that seat in 1993, he became and still remains the last Democrat to serve as a U.S. senator from Texas.
Following his Senate tenure, President Bill Clinton appointed Krueger ambassador to Burundi, which began a defining point in Krueger's life. His experiences witnessing the Rwandan genocide, and his outspoken defense of human rights led to an attempt on life in 1995. His book, co-authored with his wife Kathleen, titled "From Bloodshed to Hope in Burandi: Our Embassy Years During Genocide" details his involvement in this historic event.
The lecture series is named for Max and Georgiana Lale in honor of their support and beneficence. The couple married in 1938. Max served as the publisher of the Marshall Herald-Banner and was a tireless advocate of print journalism. He also wrote extensively on East Texas history and served as the president of the Texas State Historical Association and the East Texas Historical Association.
Max passed away in 2006. Georgiana volunteered and supported historic preservation efforts throughout Marshall and East Texas. She died in 1982.
For more information, contact Dr. Scott Sosebee, executive director of the East Texas Historical Association, at sosebeem@sfasu.edu or (936) 468-2407.
Axe ’Em, Jacks!