"I picked up Indomitable Sarah and couldn't put it down. It's terrific.
Sarah T. Hughes deserved a special book to be written about her
and Darwin Payne has captured her drive, her smarts—her being, in a
page-turning way that her page-turning life demanded."—Jim Lehrer

    "If you want to know how awesome Sarah T. Hughes was, she
passed a state income tax through the Texas House of Representatives
in 1932, something no one has done before or since. Darwin Payne
gives us a full account of her decades-long struggles against racism,
sexism, poverty and injustice. We are lucky to have this splendid
account of one of Texas's greatest freedom fighters."—Molly Ivins

    Judge Sarah T. Hughes is best remembered as the woman who
swore in Lyndon Johnson as president aboard Air Force One on
November 22, 1963, after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
But long before then, she had been making headlines as the foremost
woman Democrat in Texas. She was a legislator, judge, political 
leader, and feminist who devoted her life to liberal causes. As a
federal judge she presided over the three-judge panel that overturned
Texas's abortion laws in a decision upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court
in Roe v. Wade, a decision that has rocked American society and 
politics to this day. Indomitable Sarah is an energetic, well-
researched biography that shows the many dimensions of this 
important figure in Texas' history as well as the nation's.

    "A terrific saga of an extraordinary woman and of an era in 
Texas politics that no longer exists. Sarah T. Hughes would have 
been the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court had she been ten 
years younger."—Congressman Martin Frost

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DARWIN PAYNE, professor emeritus of communications at Southern 
Methodist University, has published biographies of Frederick Lewis
Allen and Owen Wister as well as many other books. He holds a
Ph.D. in American civilization from the University of Texas at Austin.
He is currently working on a biography of Erik Jonsson, a founder of
Texas Instruments and former mayor of Dallas.



What people are saying about this book

"A fascinating chronicle of one of my heroes. She led the way for
all of us."—Former Texas Governor Ann Richards