I was very sad to hear that my friend, Jodie Mahony, died on Saturday. Even though we were not friends in the traditional sense of the word, we were friends nonetheless. At times he was my nemesis, arch-rival, opponent, and adversary—but only in a political sense. For Jodie, political battles were never personal.
When our paths intersected at the State Capitol 20 years ago, I’m sure he thought I was a Bible-thumping fundamentalist, and I thought he was a wild-eyed-liberal. Well, we were both wrong—and maybe a little bit right as well.
Even when we disagreed, there was a refreshing honesty about Jodie that made him easy to work with. If I needed to know where he stood, all I had to do was ask and he would tell me. That’s priceless! While he was passionate about his work as a lawmaker, he never took himself too seriously. He would probably take issue with me if he heard me describe him as “kind,” but he was; not in a mushy sense, but in a just and fair sense. Jodie had an innate sense of fairness that I believe guided his decision-making and his law-making.
Jodie has received well-deserved credit for his work in crafting public education laws, but we cannot overlook his influence on Arkansas’ home school laws as well. Some people might be surprised to know that Jodie and I agreed on home school issues a lot more than we disagreed. And when we disagreed, we worked it out. Not once did I ever have a “knock-down drag-out” fight with Jodie Mahony over a home school bill. For this I am grateful.
I pray that God’s peace that passes all understanding will abide with Jodie’s entire family during their time of grief. I know they will miss him immensely. But for me, imagining the State Capitol without Jodie Mahony is a little bit like imagining the building with one of the front columns missing. Things just won’t be the same.
