re: #73 William Lewis

His widow is still alive though:

wiki.

Maria Elena has been zealous about safeguarding Buddy’s legacy. In particular, she has not given the City of Lubbock many breaks on the use of his name and likeness. They can cash in, but they have to pay for the privilege. The back story here is that the Lubbock establishment had little use for Buddy during his lifetime, treating him as an embarrassment at best. Indeed, they started paying attention to him only in the 70s when it finally dawned on them that there was real money to be made.
The reason for that lies in the politics of the time. Ever since the Brown vs. Board decision in 1954, Lubbock conservatives (segregationists) had been gaining the upper hand in their decades-long struggle with local progressives. The far right of the Republican Party, energized by the Hunt brothers, was beginning to make inroads and the segregationist faction among local Democrats met the challenge by doubling down on Jim Crow. Like Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly was seen as a fellow traveler of “negro music,” and a menace to the social order.
With the help of the newly founded John Birch Society, the whackos did gain control and they have not relinquished it to this day.