Atlanta civil rights activist, political pundit, and commentator Tom Houck has died at 79.
Houck, who came to Atlanta from Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1966, worked as a close aide to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his younger years. Those years, when he was a driver and personal assistant for King, helped shape him as a warrior for social justice and civil rights. He was the youngest member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference executive staff and helped organize anti-poverty, anti-racism, and get-out-the-vote campaigns.
He was heavily involved in lobbying for the expansion of voting rights during the ’70s. He was a field director for the Voter Education Project, working with future congressman John Lewis and fellow civil rights leader Julian Bond.
He also helped future Atlanta mayors Maynard Jackson and Andrew Young, Congressman Lewis, and Georgia governor Zell Miller get elected.
As the ’70s came to a close, Houck set his sights on Atlanta media. He joined news and talk radio station 920 (later 640) WGST in 1980, and stayed there for eleven years as a talk show host and commentator. He participated in two long-running local news discussion shows, Sunday News Conference (on WSB TV) and WAGA’s The Georgia Gang. He contributed to local print media as well by writing features for Atlanta Magazine and Creative Loafing.
In 2000, Houck ended his media career and founded the Civil Rights Tour of Atlanta.
The Atlanta City Council released a tribute to Houck, which states, “The entire Atlanta City Council is saddened by Mr. Houck’s passing, and we extend our deepest sympathy to his friends, family, and loved ones. To pay tribute to Mr. Houck’s tremendous contributions to Atlanta, the Atlanta City Council will hold a moment of silence at our next Full Council meeting on November 2.”
Funeral plans have not yet been announced as of this writing.
Image credit: Civil Rights Tours Atlanta.