Original maverick
Editor - I'm a descendant of the original maverick, Sam Maverick.
In fact, I have one of his personal books right next to me in our bookcase.
Being his descendant and a Democrat, I was a little miffed at the Republicans for trying to benefit from his memory, but let's look into this a little bit more - in some ways it's very appropriate.
Sam Maverick was a cattle rancher in Texas. What did he do to make his name a household word? Was it his dashing good looks and cavalier attitude (as played by Mel Gibson)?
No, it was his sleazy business practices.
The story goes that he never branded his cattle, while all of the neighboring ranchers did. After a rainstorm, flood or stampede, all the ranchers had to sort out their cattle. Maverick would claim any unbranded animal must be his, ending up with any young or newly acquired cattle that really belonged to his neighbors.
His name came to stand for someone who didn't play by the rules, but eventually morphed into a positive connotation.
If Sen. John McCain and Sarah Palin want to declare their Maverick-hood, I fully support it, but only under the original definition - no good cattle rustlers out to benefit from other people's losses.
ELIZABETH MINOR
Berkeley
