During his tenure in the Arkansas Senate, Max Howell served under nine governors: Benjamin Laney, Sid McMath, Francis Cherry, Orval Faubus, Winthrop Rockefeller, Dale Bumpers, David Pryor, Frank White, and Bill Clinton. His archival collection (UALR.MS.0238) holds his reminiscences and personal opinions of each.
Howell died on October 15, 1999, and is buried at Roselawn Memorial Park in Little Rock.