Happy Trails, Judon
The most prolific author in the 45-year history of the Real Estate Center has retired.
In 39 years as the Center’s legal expert, Judon Fambrough answered thousands of emails, letters, and telephone calls from Texans seeking advice. He traveled the state delivering lectures on property rights, including oil and gas, wind power, hunting leases, and landowner liability.
Judon authored some 300 Center publications, many of them consistently among the most downloaded from the Center’s website. His Hints on Negotiating an Oil and Gas Lease was first printed in 1980. Since then, it has been revised many times and is still among the Center’s most popular. A revision of his Landlords and Tenants Guidewas posted online recently and quickly shot into the Center’s top ten downloads for the month.
Among his other "best sellers" are The Texas Deer Lease and Obtaining a Texas Real Estate License.
Who "likes" a Judon article sometimes depends on whose ox is getting gored. Landowners love his Hints on Negotiating an Oil and Gas Lease, oil companies not so much. One Texas oil baron tried to get his employment at Texas A&M terminated. As the name suggests, Judon’s Landlords and Tenants Guide also has two distinct sets of admirers and detractors.
Judon was a visionary. While researching articles, he found many discrepancies in the law and frequently pointed them out. He was among the first, for example, to discuss wind rights and wrongs.
The October issue of Tierra Grande has the final two Judon works, and they are must reads. "Navigating Watershed Changes" covers changes to Clean Water Act regulations that could potentially effect most homeowners. "Mixing Oil and Water Law" discusses a Texas Supreme Court’s ruling that applies existing oil rights law to water rights.
Judon has bought a farm in his home state of Missouri. We wish him all the best as he rides the range on his tractor. We could not let Judon ride into the sunset without thanking him for his contributions to the Center and for his service to the nation for which he was awarded two Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star, and a Silver Star while serving in Viet Nam.
Happy trails, Judon
