Jack and his buddies – seatmate and former Del. Jack was a founding father of the House’s “Sensitivity Caucus,” which perennially administered the eagerly awaited end-of-session rite that became known as the Pop-Up Award. He and a few of his partners in mischief along the back row of the House floor on the Republican side were a never-ending font of rollicking commentary and practical jokes that kept the chamber giggling, to the occasional vexation of multiple speakers of the House and its longtime clerk, the late Bruce Jamerson. I was not the only scribe covering the General Assembly who admired him for it. Predictably conservative and always accountable, unafraid to call out foolishness, including his own, notwithstanding its party of origin. And it’s what I thought of first when I learned of his passing in a social media post by his son, Richmond radio talk show host John Reid. I guess that sense of fun was what I missed about the General Assembly after Jack’s retirement in 2007. The House of Delegates was about to convene. When I heard it, I knew it was almost showtime. It echoed through the marble-floored corridors of Virginia’s Capitol and even pierced the chaotic din of the press filing room. “Jack” Reid was in the building just by his unique booming voice and Foghorn Leghorn dialect.
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