Clarence B. Jones, a civil rights icon and longtime Palo Alto resident who helped write Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'I Have a Dream' speech and smuggled the 'Letter from Birmingham Jail,' died earlier this month at an assisted-living facility in Cupertino.
He was 95. - Jones was Martin Luther King Jr.'s attorney, speechwriter, and close advisor.
- He secretly took King's handwritten note from the Birmingham jail and distributed it, turning it into a historic document. - He also tried to negotiate the end of the 1971 Attica Prison revolt.
- In 2017, the Palo Alto City Council honored him as one of the city's 'most esteemed residents.' Jones continued to champion civil rights into his 90s, speaking at events and urging Silicon Valley to address inequality. He looked forward to the 2027 release of FBI documents on King's life and death.