from Cincinnati News on news.cincinnati.com

When Dr. Thomas Friedman moved his family from Chicago to central Texas in the mid 1940s, who could have known the repercussions would last for more than half a century?

The doctor's son, who grew up as Richard and gained fame as Kinky, is a musician, author, politician and cultural provocateur who defines the unofficial motto of the Texas capital city: Keep Austin Weird.

Friedman visits Southgate House Sunday night as part of the Springtime for Kinky tour. If that name sounds vaguely similar to the play at the center of Mel Brooks' "The Producers," it should. This is the man who led the rollicking band of misfits known as Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys across the country entertaining fans with tunes such as "They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore."

"I don't spend much time on the road these days," said the candidate for governor of Texas in 2006. "But when I do go out, I realize that being a musician is a great thing.

"I'll play some music, tell some stories, read from the books, and then I'll sign anything that people want me to."

That might include "Heroes of a Texas Childhood," which features 23 stories about people who influenced him, including Sam Houston and Lady Bird Johnson. Kinky believes in learning from history.

"There are kids growing up in Texas today who don't know who Barbara Jordan is, who Audie Murphy is," he said, "That's just a shame."

It's no surprise that Houston, Jordan, the former U.S. congresswoman, and former Texas governor Ann Richards are high on Kinky's list, but Lady Bird might raise eyebrows. It makes sense, however, when he talks about being a personal friend of George W. Bush.

"Well, I knew Laura Bush, who was a very good librarian, and librarians are good people," said Kinky, who makes the distinction about her husband the person, from her husband the former president. "And I'm friends with Bill Clinton, too, although I think they're both probably psychotic. Ambition does that to people."

This exchange leads into a rambling - but focused - discourse on politics.

"There is not one person in this country who is a visionary or a leader today," he said. "There are only three honorable men in Congress and you (Ohio) have one of them: Dennis Kucinich, (Vermont senator) Bernie Sanders and (Texas congressman) Ron Paul."

This is a taste of what might take place Sunday night. Is it surprising that a person who draws a line from cowboy actor Murphy to Sanders, the socialist lawmaker from New England, is als

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