Fayetteville District Judge Rudy Moore Jr. died this morning of complications from cancer. He was 69.
Lots could be said about Rudy, whose public life included work as attorney for the Fayetteville School District and as one of the young top aides who surrounded Bill Clinton in his first term as governor. The young idealists, known as the “bearded troika,” came to be symbolic of an aggressive first term that unsettled the political establishment and helped set the stage for Clinton’s electoral defeat in 1980.
But that was long ago. Rudy checked in frequently on the Arkansas Blog, if not as a commenter, and was an invaluable source of perspective on the law, politics, education and Northwest Arkansas. He was re-elected to another term as judge last spring.
More than that, he was a proud papa. I shared his happiness in frequently e-mailed news about his son Jason’s emergence as a successful Broadway and film producer. He and his wife Rhonda also established a scholarship fund for Fayetteville schools in honor of his late son Matthew.
Moore’s Chapel Funeral Home will be handling arrangements,
Update: Former President Clinton issued a statement Thursdsy evening:
Arkansas has lost a fine judge and I’ve lost a great friend. Rudy Moore was one of my earliest supporters when I ran for Congress, my campaign manager in the 1978 governor’s race, and my first Chief of Staff in the governor’s office. Even as a young man, he was strong, smart, funny and fair. And he got better with age, never losing his enthusiasm for good causes but growing in wisdom and judgement. He was much loved and will be sorely missed. I will always be grateful for the work we did together and the decades of friendship we shared. Hillary and I send our love and prayers to Rhonda, Jason, Margaret, Rudy’s entire family, and his army of friends.