Some remembrances of 1984
Twenty four years ago, I attended the Republican National Convention as an Alternate Delegate for Ronald Reagan's re-nomination.
Last night, as Hillary came to the podium in her bright orange pants suit, I had a flashback to the Dallas convention of nearly a quarter century ago.
The Illinois delegation to the 1984 convention included nearly 150 delegates and alternate delegates, combined.
A prominent Chicago Republican in our group was W. Clement Stone, a highly successful insurance mogul. Mr. Stone graciously provided a gift to everyone in the Illinois delegation so that we would be easily identifiable in the convention hall.
In tribute to Ronald Reagan's western roots, Mr. Stone provided each of us with a large cowboy hat. In tribute to either the Chicago Bears, or the U of I, the hats were a bright orange! Talk about visibility. The only thing more attention grabbing would have been to be wearing Hillary's orange pants suit.
Frankly the delegates from Texas were a little put off by our orange cowboy hats. In that day, the only orange cowboy hats in Texas were found in the closet, if you know what i mean.
In 1984, I wasn't as "muscle bound" as I am today. In fact, I carried about 140 pounds on my 6'2" frame.
(I'd been approached to be an extra in "Schindler's List", but the directors ultimately decided I was TOO thin.) So, with the abnormally large ORANGE hat perched atop my bony frame, I looked like a #2 pencil, with a jumbo eraser at the top.
One more story related to my "thin" appearance involved Illinois Congressman Henry Hyde. Hyde was a long serving member of House and was the leading Pro-life voice in Washington. When given an opportunity to have a picture taken with Congressman Hyde, I jumped at the chance.
Henry Hyde was a large man. In fact, he likely tipped the scales at somewhere near 300 pounds. And I'm pretty sure it was north of that number.
So, for the photo, Congressman Hyde threw a friendly shoulder around me and the picture was snapped. The resulting picture, which I didn't get back for several days, shows a beaming Henry Hyde with what appears to be my head........growing out of his armpit. Ah, those were good times.
Last night, as Hillary came to the podium in her bright orange pants suit, I had a flashback to the Dallas convention of nearly a quarter century ago.
The Illinois delegation to the 1984 convention included nearly 150 delegates and alternate delegates, combined.
A prominent Chicago Republican in our group was W. Clement Stone, a highly successful insurance mogul. Mr. Stone graciously provided a gift to everyone in the Illinois delegation so that we would be easily identifiable in the convention hall.
In tribute to Ronald Reagan's western roots, Mr. Stone provided each of us with a large cowboy hat. In tribute to either the Chicago Bears, or the U of I, the hats were a bright orange! Talk about visibility. The only thing more attention grabbing would have been to be wearing Hillary's orange pants suit.
Frankly the delegates from Texas were a little put off by our orange cowboy hats. In that day, the only orange cowboy hats in Texas were found in the closet, if you know what i mean.
In 1984, I wasn't as "muscle bound" as I am today. In fact, I carried about 140 pounds on my 6'2" frame.
(I'd been approached to be an extra in "Schindler's List", but the directors ultimately decided I was TOO thin.) So, with the abnormally large ORANGE hat perched atop my bony frame, I looked like a #2 pencil, with a jumbo eraser at the top.
One more story related to my "thin" appearance involved Illinois Congressman Henry Hyde. Hyde was a long serving member of House and was the leading Pro-life voice in Washington. When given an opportunity to have a picture taken with Congressman Hyde, I jumped at the chance.
Henry Hyde was a large man. In fact, he likely tipped the scales at somewhere near 300 pounds. And I'm pretty sure it was north of that number.
So, for the photo, Congressman Hyde threw a friendly shoulder around me and the picture was snapped. The resulting picture, which I didn't get back for several days, shows a beaming Henry Hyde with what appears to be my head........growing out of his armpit. Ah, those were good times.
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