Remembering J.J.

Julia Jeffress taught us about integrity, honesty and doing the right thing; I wonder about why her famous son didn’t learn some of that, too

Julia Jeffress taught generations of Dallas high school students how to be good people. I often wonder why her son, Pastor Robert Jeffress, never learned those lessons. Photo: Author’s archives

Some of us work to put food on the table. Others work for inspiration. For some of us, it’s a little of both.

I was fortunate to spend part of my working life as a journalist, a line of work that is both perspiration and inspiration. A lot of my peers let the fact that sometimes we’re recognized for that work go to their heads. I prefer to think of myself as a more modest scribe. And that would be because of J.J.

Julia Jeffress toiled in the trenches of the Dallas Independent School District from the mid-’60s ’til the mid-’80s. Her service was legendary, and recognized nationwide. I stumbled into her elite Journalism Program at Hillcrest High School almost totally by accident. And I’ve learned over the years that some accidents aren’t just waiting to happen; they’re very much on purpose.

You see, I loved to read. The sections of the newspaper that Daddy wasn’t already immersed in at the breakfast table every morning. The back of the cereal box when the paper wasn’t available. Dickens — Oliver Twist and David Copperfield — the summer after fifth grade. All of Leon Uris and James Michener’s epics. Gone with…