[Quixote]

Harry S Truman—I was associate editor of a weekly trade journal covering an event at which President Truman was the keynote speaker. He was a bigger man than I had thought, very down to earth, with a beefy handshake and a broad smile (in contrast to his daughter Margaret Truman Daniel who accompanied him, who was aloof bordering on unpleasant). This took place about ten years after he left the Presidency.

Nelson Rockefeller—He made an appearance at the same company as above (different occasion) while campaigning for the governorship of New York State. All smiles and hand-shaking, he struck me as THE consummate politician. He was not that tall, but he had the broadest head I had ever seen on anyone (could not imagine what his hat size must have been)!

Pete Seeger—I sat opposite him in an airport terminal waiting area and kept glancing at him until I thought I knew who he was. I caught his eye and asked, "I know you, don't I?" to which he pointed at his banjo case and replied, "You know this." We had a chat that was both delightful and serious, ended up on the same flight, and when I was returning a few days later, sure enough we were on the same flight again. It turned out that back in the 1940s, when he had first come to California, he had stayed with the parents of the cousin there whom I was visiting who were friends of his (another "small world" story)!

Lt. Gen. Howard Graves, Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, at his and his wife Gracie—I attended their yard sale at the Point when he was retiring. He later became chancellor of the state university of Texas. (The Point still has an annual community-wide yard sale, though security is greater now after 9/11 than it was before.) We talked very frankly for about a half hour, and I was very moved by what I learned. I even bought a military memento from them which, on my request, he documented a few days later with a note on West Point stationery.

Lester Pierson, Prime Minister of Canada in the 1960s—He was standing and chatting with two other men on the front portico of the Parliament building in Ottawa. My cousin, who lived there and had just given me a tour of the building different from the one available to the public, introduced me as his "cousin who is visiting from the States." He was very approachable and politely cordial. I was frankly awed that there was no security a la "secret service" and that he made himself so freely available to the public.