PREVIOUS ISSUES : NEWS : Outtakes Last Updated: April 30, 2008 - 10:51 AM   There's Something About Bill: Stand By Your Man By Nathan Dinsdale Published: June 27, 2007   Email this article   Printer friendly page   This week: Something about Barbara. In the News: Barbara Richardson, the first lady of New Mexico (and FLOTUS hopeful), rarely makes public appearances without her husband. June 22 was an exception. That’s when she attended a memorial service in honor of nine firefighters who perished in a June 18 blaze in South Carolina, a crucial early presidential caucus state. But Barbara Richardson wasn’t alone in representing a presidential campaign at the service. Presidential candidates in attendance included Republicans Rudy Guiliani and Mike Huckabee and Democrats John Edwards, Joe Biden and Chris Dodd. Personal: Barbara (Flavin) Richardson was born in Gardner, Mass., on March 25, 1949 and raised in nearby Concord.  She is the eldest of five children born to John Francis Flavin and Evelyn Mary Kaplan. Education: Barbara Richardson received an associate of arts degree from Colby Junior College before graduating magna cum laude while earning her bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Wheaton College in 1971. Barbara & Bill: The Richardsons met during their high school years in Massachusetts. They were married in 1972 at the Goddard Chapel on the Tufts University campus (Bill Richardson’s alma mater) in Medford, Mass., The couple will celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary on Aug. 5 of this year. General interests: Gardening, reading and antiques. Political interests: Barbara Richardson has made literacy, domestic violence and child immunizations her pet political projects. She served as the New Mexico chairwoman for Read Across New Mexico in 2003 and has served the past four years as chairwoman of the First Lady’s Bowl for Kids Sake fund-raiser. She served as chairwoman of the state Domestic Violence Advisory Board and helped establish the state Office of Domestic Violence. Richardson has also been involved with the New Mexico Coalition for Literacy, the Read to Feed Program, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum’s Education Committee, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Santa Fe and the Muscular Dystrophy Association. © Copyright 2000-2008 by the Santa Fe Reporter Save This Page to del.icio.us Top of Page