Liz Carpenter, author and aide to Lady Bird Johnson, dies at 89

Liz Carpenter, an author and former press secretary to First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, has died. She was 89.

Carpenter died Saturday at University Medical Center Brackenridge in Austin, Texas, said her daughter, Christy Carpenter. She had been ill with pneumonia.

Carpenter was Lady Bird Johnson's press secretary from 1963 to 1969, including the years when Johnson was first lady. Carpenter covered Congress and the White House for the Austin American-Statesman before she joined the White House staff as executive assistant to Lyndon Johnson when he was vice president.

--Associated Press

Photo: Liz Carpenter listens to then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton read from Carpenter's book during a 1994 appearance. Credit: The White House