Stephanie Tubbs Jones

I was really sad to hear that Stephanie Tubbs Jones died today-- she was the first African-American woman elected to Congress from Ohio.

I met her when I was in fifth or sixth grade--I can't remember which--when my elementary school class took a field trip to the Cleveland courthouse. At that time, she was a Cleveland municipal court judge.

I remember this encounter vividly. She called me her "namesake" because we had the same first name.

What a loss.