Kirk Watson

Kirk Watson (born March 18, 1958) is a Texas attorney and Democratic politician from the capital city of Austin. He served as Austin mayor from 1997 to 2001. He ran unsuccessfully for Texas Attorney General in the 2002 election, defeated by the Republican Greg Abbott, who in 2015 became governor of Texas. In 2006, Watson was elected to the Texas State Senate from District 14.

From 2011 to 2015, Watson was the Senate Democratic Leader. In October 2015, he announced that he is stepping down from the leadership post but will remain in the Senate. José R. Rodríguez of El Paso, a former county attorney who has served in the chamber since 2010, is expected to succed Watson in the minority leadership. A rules change implemented in 2015 no longer allows Democrats to block Republican-led legislation from coming to the floor of the Senate for a vote.

Early life and career

Kirk Preston Watson was born March 18, 1958 in Oklahoma City and grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, attending Boswell High School. Watson attended Baylor University in Waco where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1980 and a J.D. in 1981. While attending Baylor Law School Watson was editor-in-chief of the Baylor Law Review and graduated first in his law school class. He subsequently clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Kirk Watson (actor)

Kirk Watson is a Scottish director, cameraman, editor, filmmaker and mountain instructor. While working for the British Antarctic Survey as a field assistant, he directed, filmed, edited and starred in South of Sanity, using other winter residents of the research base as cast and crew. This was picked up for cinematic release in 2012 and is the first ever fictional feature film to be filmed entirely on location in Antarctica.

Kirk was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1976. He grew up in Torphins and went to school at Torphins primary before going to Aboyne Academy, then onto Glasgow University to study geology. He has had several mini careers from working in the building trade from age 12-23 at Frank Burnett's. He has managed farms in Kenya for the Ulyates/Wood's and spent a few years working in geology as a geo-technical engineer before becoming a mountain instructor (MIC).

With several years spent in Antarctica working as a polar guide, he spent his spare time teaching himself to make films. Film-making has now become part of life alongside working in the mountains.