At BookSpring, we recently lost someone near and dear to our hearts, P. Clift Price. Born in 1924 in Bonham, Texas to Lucie Clift and Pinckney Bryan Price, P. Clift Price, MD was a retired Pediatrician with both private practice and public health careers, and a founding member of the University Area Rotary Club. His list of accomplishments and community service is impressive.
Clift was a founding member of the BookSpring Board – which eventually merged with Reading is Fundamental (RIF). He, along with fellow BookSpring Champion Karen Hayward, Ph.D., is one of the visionaries that established the Reach Out and Read program in the Austin area. Clift was responsible for securing its endorsement by the Texas Pediatric Society. He gave young children a book and a prescription to their parents’ to read every day to their child before pediatricians across Texas and the US began following this practice.
“Clift was the light of so many BookSpring gatherings. He would sparkle with questions and suggestions and be supportive through times of change. He was so committed to the idea that reading books together created a lasting bond between parents and their child, and was as concerned about emotional as well as development and academic benefits. I considered him a mentor and one of our top supporters, and I will miss his warmth and wisdom,” said Executive Director Emily Ball Cicchini, Ph.D.
Clift’s selflessness and compassion will live on through the work of the numerous nonprofits he supported.
