Former MLK aide and civil rights activist Tom Houck dies at 79

Tom Houck, who served as a driver and personal assistant to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the 1960s, has died at the age of 79, Atlanta News First reported. Houck was one of the youngest members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and played a significant role in the civil rights movement in Atlanta and the South.

Houck contributed to the passage of the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age to 18, and worked to mobilize minority voters throughout the southern United States. He was involved in political campaigns for prominent Atlanta figures including Andrew Young, Maynard Jackson, and John Lewis.

After his political work, Houck became a familiar media presence in Atlanta, serving as a regular panelist on the television program 'The Georgia Gang' and hosting a radio show that featured elected officials as guests. The Atlanta City Council noted his dedication to preserving the city’s civil rights history in his later years.

Houck's efforts helped shape Atlanta's political and social landscape, ensuring that the causes of the civil rights movement remained prominent in public memory, according to Atlanta News First.