Former US Senator Howell Heflin (D-AL) Dies

[BamaLefty]

And you know what's strange? The same day I met Johnnie Cochran, I saw Howell Heflin. He was good friends with my grandad, that is how I got to meet him. Kinda odd I thought. Same hotel. Same day.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Howell Heflin, a popular, joke-telling Alabama politician who served as chief justice before becoming an arbiter of senatorial behavior during three terms in Washington, has died, family and associates said Tuesday. He was 83.

State Sen. Bobby Denton of Muscle Shoals announced Heflin's death in a statement on the floor of the Senate, which held a moment of silence. At Heflin's home in Tuscumbia, longtime friend Joseph Ware said Heflin, who had undergone heart procedures in recent years, had been in Keller Hospital for the last couple of days, but he was not sure of the cause of death.

Heflin's son, Tom Heflin, was expected to make a statement later.

Heflin, a Democrat who spearheaded judicial reform in Alabama as chief justice, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1978 and retired after 18 years, serving on the Judiciary and Iran-Contra panels as well as chairing the ethics committee.

MORE: http://www.al.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1112140714224090.xml&storylist=alabamanews

[paineinthearse]

1. Am I clairvoyant or

...did Helfin die over the weekend/earlier in the week?

Seems I read this somewhere before.

[BamaLefty]

3. He Passed Yesterday

A great Democrat.

[Gman]

2. Heflin always reminded me of Foghorn Leghorn

but he was still our Democrat.

[9thkvius]

4. I remember meeting him...

when I was just a wee lad of 12 years. I was on a trip to Washington and someone managed to arrange for me to meet him and my Congressman. I can't remember who my Congressman was at the time but I remember Senator Heflin. He was quite intelligent and very friendly. I used to have a picture of me with him somewhere. I need to look for it.

[BamaLefty]

5. He Was A Good Friend of My Grandad's

My grandad served in the State Legislature back in the Wallace era and he had the opportunity to befriend Sen. Heflin.

I have my picture w/ Heflin in my dad's office. What's strange is that I met Johnnie Cochran and Howell Heflin on the same day, and they died withina day of each other. I thought that was interesting...