One Side Trip at a time!

Meet “Mr. Buda”

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Written by Christie L. Smith

If you spend any time around the booming town of Buda, Texas, sooner or later, you’ll run into T.J. Higginbotham, the man I think of as “Mr. Buda.” A resident of Buda since 1981, any newcomer to town, especially one with political aspirations, would be wise to pick T.J.’s brain. There’s a load of info in there as T.J. has been involved with the town on some committee or other the entire time he’s lived there, including an elected stint on the Hays County Water and Soil Conservation Board (he served as President).

The way I always picture T.J. in my mind is the way he looked when I first met him a couple of years ago, gruff, shaggy hair and beard, soggy cigar hanging out of the side of his mouth, battered cowboy hat and a look that can only be considered intimidating.

That was 80 pounds and one health scare ago. After a serious illness last fall and winter (he credits local doctor Linda Carney with saving his life), he dropped the 80 pounds, chopped the hair, trimmed the moustache, eschewed the cigars and traded in the cowboy hat for a ball cap.These days he looks pretty respectable. His voice even became less gruff. Although he can still give “the look” when he wants to.

How to explain the enigma that is T.J.? That’s not even his real name. Born Taliaferro Strickland Higgonbotham IV, for years he went by either “Tol” or “Tolliver.” A late night romp in a swimming pool with his then-wife and best friend had his best friend exclaiming, “You know, you should be Tolliver J!” It wasn’t long before “Tolliver J” got shortened to “T.J.” and that’s who he’s been ever since.

Not only is his name not really his, but the way he presents himself can be deceiving as well. He comes across as a humble small-town guy, who drives a 16-year old Isuzu Trooper, and whose house needs a coat of paint (more on that later!)

The reality is, though the stipend he lives on is not excessive, he doesn’t have to work (yet he does take on land consulting work). For over a hundred years, his family has owned over 100 acres of land in west Texas, land which is currently being considered for wind farming. The family land in Buda, owned since the 1930’s serves as his homestead. He’s recently sold off a portion of it (under market value) to the Buda Lion’s Club.

He is arguably though, an expert on land issues, having testified before Congress in 1995 on property rights. He melds his stance on property rights with an unquenchable interest in historic preservation. Currently he serves as chair of the Historic Preservation Committee in Buda. That’s not his only volunteer service, however.

But let him tell it. “I’m an Ambassador to the Chamber of Commerce - on their Nominating Committee, I’m on the Texas Downtown Association Board of Directors, on the Hill Country Trail Regional Board, Committee for the Buda Fine Arts Festival, chair of Art After Dark….”

That’s not all. He’s a founding member of Take Back Texas, the property rights group that pushed a property rights bill through the Texas Legislative in the 90s (thus the trip to Washington, Congress wanted to know about the bill).

All these committees and boards cap a life-long curious nature. Born and raised in the Highland Park area in Dallas, he graduated from the University of Texas in 1964 where he majored in business and finance.

“I didn’t want to go back to Plano and do business with my dad and his buddies,” he said. So instead, he spent six months in Paris, France doing a comparative report for his dad’s business (so he says), then ended up moving to Austin for a career in advertising. By 1968 he was the captain of publicity for the Austin Aqua Festival. By the mid-70’s he was a restauranteur. Then he was a food broker. A stint as a volunteer firefighter led to another company being formed, “Ensulcap,” that designed fireproofing and asbestos insulation.

“When the Capitol burned, we did the fireproofing,” he said.

At some point, he even had a record company, Sundown Records/ Starz Productions, wherein he produced Townes Van Zandt’s “Rearview Mirror.” “I still have that company,” he says, though he doesn’t do much with it right now. He has another company, H Bar H Development, which will be helping the Buda Lions Club develop the land for their new club.

I asked him what he was going to be when he grew up, he laughed, “whatever floats my boat and I can make money from.”

Back to the house needing paint. T.J. is in the middle of restoring the old Craftsman-style home on his Buda property. He is currently doing the inside, and he spent quite a bit of money on a new metal roof and fencing. Well, the town wags started gossiping and word of it got back to T.J.

“They were saying, ‘he spent all that money on a roof and fence, you’d think he’d paint it!’, so I did,” he said. Thus solves the mystery as to why a weather-beaten old house has the word “PAINT!” on it. He’s thinking of commemorating that act, as his artwork is fading. A local artist has proposed painting “PAINT!” over and over in different colors, and is working on a mock-up for him. His attitude, “...see how they like that!”