GramAnne

Just Call me Lucy

2011-10-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

Funny how every day tasks can trigger huge flash backs into our past!

Just recently I was whipping up a truck load of noodles and meat balls for our grandson, Hugh's, school pot-luck dinner. It made me think back on another time when I was cooking huge amounts of something. Back then, it was spaghetti, and we were living in Dallas. Our daughter Lisa was on the swim team. The team was having their end of the season dinner and the coach asked me to make spaghetti. I was given the recipe. I bought the stuff. I don't know what I was thinking, but clearly I was not thinking . . . . clearly. I opened all the boxes of spaghetti noodles and dumped them in a big pot of water. As they cooked, they grew. Imagine that! Soon I was putting some of them into another pot. Then another. And then another, again. Soon every pot in the kitchen was piled high with spaghetti noodles. I was panting and sweating from the stress of running around the kitchen, searching for more containers to hold all the hot growing things. It was total chaos and I was all by myself. HELP! I wanted someone to help me.

Then, I had to stop and laugh. I even looked around my kitchen to see if this was a "you're on candid camera" moment. I felt just like Lucy Ricardo on "I love Lucy."

Now this blog won't surprise my friend, Claire Scott Alcindore, one tiny bit. She always laughed and said I reminded her of Lucille Ball, and she never even saw my cooking piles of spaghetti act. Hey, my middle name is LUCILLE!

Busy Mom's need help. During those days of juggling the kids schedules, homework, shopping, driving, cooking and the endless laundry that I used to be convinced the neighbors brought in when I wasn't looking. There is NEVER enough hours in the day to get it all done. I sure could have used the help of my Mom with that spaghetti project. She would have laughed too. We would have had fun!

It makes me happy to help Lisa with projects like the meat balls and noodle dish. I see it as a fun and rewarding part of finally being a grandma.

And . . . news flash! Our Mighty Might, football playing grandson, Jake, scored his first touchdown on Saturday. He is eight. I asked Ron if he remembers scoring his first touchdown, but he said NO. I hope Jake remembers his. When he was asked how he felt afterward, he said that he felt "really good. It was awesome. Now we are going to be in the playoffs. Then next it will be Pee Wee, and then high school and college, baby."

Yeah, it sure will be here before we know it, Jakie, baby. You go, Mr. Touchdown!

Ron and I have been singing, "You Gotta be a Football Hero" to Jake, but The Crew Cuts we're not!

Weird But True

2011-09-18T09:28:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have cramps in your feet at night? Or Charlie Horses? Wouldn't you love to find out how to not have them any more? (Drum Roll) I've got the answer. It is Weird but true. Just tuck a bar of unwrapped Ivory Soap at the foot of your bed, under your fitted sheet. Huh?

My friend Marty read about the cure in her newspaper. She assured us it worked. Ron scoffed. Said it was "stupid". I hurried to the store and bought the magic little bars. At first I just put them at our feet, but Ron took his out and said the the little brick bothered him. So I re-arranged them under the sheet at the end of our mattress, the end that faces the foot board. Magic happened. We haven't had any foot cramps, or the dreaded charlies, since. I don't know what is in Ivory Soap, but I remember that their slogan used to assure us that they were 99.9% pure. And "It Floats." Now, the slogan on their bar says, "IVORY, Joy is in the sharing."

What a great thing to share with all our friends, an end to the excruciating foot cramps and charlie horses that strike in the middle of the night and make us want to scream with the pain.

I called this blog "Wierd but True" after the segment that is in THE DAILY every day. If you have an I-Pad and are not getting THE DAILY, you don't know what you are missing. It is an amazing combination of high quality, articles, pictures and videos. I turn it on every morning while the coffee is brewing. I love it.

Wild, Wonderful, Welcoming Wyoming

2011-06-18T09:15:00.000-07:00

We are getting settled in our cowboy cabin. A summer tradition for us that was interrupted when himself flunked retirement. This is an amazing little piece of heaven that can be wild and peaceful at the same time. The Grand Tetons jut straight up out of the land, always surprising because they have no foothills. The clouds roll down the Grand, heading for Yellowstone, and spreading the ever-changing dancing lights and shadows. They never look the same and one never gets bored with the looking.

The first morning we were here, I had coffee with a large herd of elk, as they enjoyed their breakfast across the street on the Bar-B-Bar. The beautiful mountain blue birds fly in and out of their home on our fence rail. The magpies squawk their welcome that reminds us to get out the bird feeders. Maggies must be perpetual two year olds because they spend most of their time throwing temper tantrums over one thing or another. They, also, are just about the only birds that hang around the Hole all winter, a sure sign of their toughness and ability to survive. They are beautiful as well as brutal. I saw one grab a shrieking bird right out of the air and gobble it up. When I screamed, "shame on you, maggie," she wasn't the least bit ashamed. It is interesting to note that Lewis and Clark were so amazed by the magpie that they built a cage and took one back to President Thomas Jefferson. I can just imagine what that bird probably had to say to that President.

Ron has always said that this little place, dubbed "The Director's Cabin" by our girls, gives you a hug when you come through the door. How nice!

The Nixon connection for this blog is that we enjoyed a delightful visit with David and Suzy Young. I always thought that David was responsible for naming the White House Plumbers, but Suzy told me the originator of the name was actually David's grandmother. When she found out that David had been asked to head the effort to stop the leaks in the Nixon White House, a very important goal in light of the damaging Pentagon Papers release, she wrote to David. "Your grandfather would be so proud today to know you have followed in his footsteps. He was the plumber that worked on the Waldorf-Astoria, and now you are a plumber,too."

Isn't it too bad that the term has been forced to take on a sinister meaning, rather than the very vital and important National Security role that it had in the beginning?

The Youngs live in England. They did before and after his White House years. All of their children were born in the UK. On this trip, they toured many National Parks with their friends, Keith and Carol Leaman. It was fun to show them around the fabulous Grand Teton National Park Vistor Center and then enjoy a delicious buffalo burger at Dornan's in Moose. Buffalo is probably not found on too many pub menus in the UK.

As I have said many times, one of the biggest benefits of Ron's flunking retirement and serving as President of the Richard Nixon Foundation, was the opportunity to reconnect with so many wonderful former colleagues and friends. Ron encouraged David and Suzy to join us in November when Geoff Shepard's Domestic Council joins the February Group, under the new name of "White House Reunion". We are looking forward to it!

BLUE HEART

2011-04-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that the RN Library Docent newsletter is called the "Blue Heart." I wondered about the origin of the name and asked a few folks, but no one I asked knew too much about it. While working on an upcoming blog, "The World in the Time of Watergate," I re- read RN's Memoirs. (A really good read if you haven't opened it recently.)

RN writes in the chapter about 1970:
I knew that those days in April and May were as hard for my staff as they were for me. Haldeman, Ehrlichman, and Kissinger, in particular had borne the brunt of the Cambodian crisis. I wanted to do something to show how much I appreciated their strength and support. While we were were in Key Biscayne over the weekend of May 15, I asked Bebe if his girl friend, Jane Lucke, would mind doing a little sewing for me.

On the plane back to Washington I asked Haldeman, Ehrlichman and Kissinger to come to my cabin. When they arrived, I thanked them for all that they had done. "In fact," I said, "you deserve something like the Purple Heart for all the wounds you have sustained in the line of duty over the past week."

They all laughed and said that they had only done their jobs.

"No," I continued, "you have done more than your jobs, and I have devised a new award - a Blue Heart, for those who are true blue."

I gave them each a small heart made from blue cloth. "This will be our secret," I said, "but I wanted you to know how much I appreciate what you have done."

You can imagine my surprise when I found this tucked in the back of our autographed copy of the book.

Most of the readers of this blog undoubtedly consider themselves "Blue Hearts." If you have something to add to this snippet of the legacy of President Nixon, please add a comment.

The New Watergate

2011-04-04T10:50:00.000-07:00

Where I stand depends on where I sit . . . . or in this case . . . . where I used to sit. It is so true.

Those of us who lived through the days of what came to be known as "Watergate", the days of reading about our pals in the Washington Post every day, seeing them accused and vilified, hauled in front of a grand jury for countless hours while their legal bills sky rocketed, go to trial, and be convicted of perjury, not wrongdoing, and end up in prison. Those were tough times. I think anyone would eventually perjure themselves after countless grand jury sessions, under oath, that were spread out over several days. How much you paid for a ham sandwich on a specific lunch hour could eventually land you in the pokey if your answers failed to line up.

It was so unfair. It really hurt.

I used to have a pretty complete opinion of it all, but as I seem to deal with most things unpleasant, I pulled a shade. Now I don't remember too many details of that terrible time. I wish I could call on my old brain and have a visit with it today.

Because today the Richard Nixon Library has a brand new Watergate Exhibit. The old one had been called a white wash among other things. When the National Archives joined the Nixon Library and Birthplace in 2007, almost the very first thing that the new Director, Dr. Tim Naftali, did was rip out the old Watergate Exhibit and put up a sign that said, "COMING SOON: New Watergate Exhibit". The sign sat on a temporary easel for three long years. The worst thing about the sign was that Dr. Naftali chose to use a picture of the Watergate Apartment/Hotel complex that looked like Armageddon. It featured a scary red sky, that made one think the whole place was on fire, perhaps the results of being bombed. I did not like the image at all, but it is used on everything! The coming soon post cards, the press passes, and there is probably many other places people can see it.

I am sure that Dr. Naftali really believes that President Nixon did every single bad thing that has ever been suggested. In his opening remarks for the new exhibit, I don't think he missed using one accusatory buzz word; abuse of power, dirty tricks, whitewash, cover up, etc. Several of these same buzz words now scream at the visitors to the Library the President's friends built. The letters are huge, the colors are bright. No one can miss seeing them.

I happened to be present when Dr. Naftali was asked point blank, if he really believed President Nixon was anti-Semitic. He didn't give us a direct answer to the question, but later I told Ron that I could just picture all the researchers directed to search for ANYTHING that the President had ever said that could be considered in that light. Sure enough, a very few days later, several news stories contained newly released quotes on that very subject. Coincidence? I don't think so. Let me take readers of my blog back to the days of daily Watergate revelations.

Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein had a story every day in the Washington Post. We dreaded looking at the paper every morning, and yet we had to see what and who would be next. An amazing parallel form of harassment was happening at the Walker front door every day, too.

The morning edition of the Post was always sitting on top of a fresh pile of warm dog poop. Honest, I could not make up such a thing. Not only was the story icky, so was the actual paper. We really thought someone was harassing us. Ron took to laying in wait and watching. He had his trusty Red Ryder BB gun at the ready. One day, a little white dog, came jaunting up to OUR front door and left a fresh, warm pile on OUR welcome mat.

Ron let fly with a hail of BB's that sent the pup yelping back the way he came and soon the paper boy let fly with the POST, and his aim was as spot-on as the little white dog. Mystery solved, but the whole scenario sure had added to our anxiety during this very stressful time. I did, however, feel relieved to learn that it was not a dirty-tricking human who was behind the whole thing.

In our Walker family folk-lore this time as come to be known as "the days of the phantom shitter."

Eight years later we read SILENT COUP by Len Colodony and Robert Gettlin. We desperately hoped that the premise was true. We were shocked to learn that a military spy ring, opposed to the President's foreign policy goals had penetrated the White House and an attempt to cover up a call girl ring at the Democratic National Committee was the real reason behind the break-in. John Dean was described as a pathological liar who duped everyone. These are just a small sampling of the shocking revelations in the book, but they gave us hope. Alas, only staunch Nixon supporters embraced it. Most others didn't want to see the super-scooping young reporters criticised.

The book was dismissed as not credible at all. John Mitchell said it best when he wrote to the authors in 1988, "It's just the way you put it. It was his (Nixon's) personality and his mode of operation that did him in." Sad, huh? Now, all the visitors to the Richard Nixon Library will just have to make up their own minds about the "Watergate" aspect of the Nixon Presidency.

The Foundation fought to have the exhibit be fair and balanced, and be consistent with the approach taken on other controversial subjects at the other presidential libraries. It did not come out that way. As Bob Bostock, who authored the Library's original Watergate exhibit and headed the review team of the new exhibit said, "It is as much designed to demonize Richard Nixon as the previous exhibit was designed to advocate for Richard Nixon. At least the old exhibit never claimed to be "objective," as the curator of the new exhibit claims his exhibit is."

I hope visitors will take to heart what President Clinton said at RN's funeral and judge the 37th President on the whole of his remarkable life and career. And I am still holding on to the hope that another cover up will be revealed. Proof of the silent coup that Silent Coup uncovered.

Nixon in China, the Opera

2011-01-22T10:07:00.000-08:00

"Nixon in China", the Opera? HUH? When it opened in 1987, I thought the idea was laughably silly. Susie Chapin and I went to see it at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and still thought it was pretty far fetched and silly. Guess we weren't very sophisticated, because now it is back and opening at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. They, (the sophisticated, artsy folks) are calling it the most important new opera of the last thirty years.

Because President Nixon asked Ron to be his "responsible person" in China to make the final preparations for his historic visit, the trip was a game changer for us, his family. China was so far away and so much about it was mysterious and unknown. Ron's first advance trip to China in January was a chance to learn some important lessons for the long stay required to prepare for the President's visit. He had found it almost impossible to read anything by the light of the thirty watt light bulbs furnished in all Chinese hotel rooms, but every room, every day, at every moment, had a thermos of steaming hot water. Since he was never much of a Chinese food fan to begin with, we knew that an extended stay dining on the local fare was problematic. So we had to do something to make his upcoming trip more comfortable. We decided to pack him a "survival suitcase." The girls and I went to the local grocery store a couple of days before his departure to stock his survival suitcase. We had talked a great deal about what should go in it, and our girls did not want to miss the adventure of putting the assortment together. We waited until the last minute to make sure things like snickers and fritos would be really fresh. It seemed logical for him to take along some tasty instant packages that only needed hot water: instant coffee, oatmeal, tea (he preferred Lipton to Jasmine) and hot chocolate. Since ice cubes didn't come with room service, and since they were going to be in-country in the middle of winter, he decided to take along a couple of ice trays so he could make his own ice cubes on his hotel window sill. (To see how well that plan worked, I refer you to CHINA CALLS, Paving the Way for Nixon's Historic Journey to China, by yours truly. We also bought fritos bean dip, chips, peanut butter, crackers, toothpaste, kleenex, pepto-bismol, Kaopectate, and Marlboro cigarettes, (he preferred them to Chunghwas).

The check out clerk appeared appalled at the junk food the woman with the three little girls was buying. The $264.59 grocery bill did not include anything fresh or perishable, but it did include six GE 150-watt light bulbs and six four-packs of squeezably soft toilet paper.

We probably should have tried explaining it to the check-out clerk, but I really didn't know what to say. Looking back, the whole advance for the advance was pretty overwhelming for all of us. And that must be why the thought of turning it into an opera was and still is surprising.

Ron and I were among those invited to the dress rehearsal of the re-opening of "Nixon in China" at the Met in late February. We were joined by our pals Dwight Chapin and Jerry Warren. Ray Zook from the White House travel office. Ambassadors Richard Solomon and Winston Lord from the National Security Council. Bette Bao Lord joined us for lunch. Ambassadors J. Stapleton Roy and Nicholas Platt represented the State Department. Most of the others were from the press corps, including Dan Rather and Helen Thomas. At the luncheon, folks were asked to share a memory from the trip and Helen, clearly forgetting where she was and why, told an LBJ anecdote.

When the opera first opened in 1987, television critic Marvin Kitman has been quoted as saying that it would take 50 years to sort out what happened when President Nixon went to China and the same was true of the opera, Nixon in China. He said "There are only three things wrong with 'Nixon in China,' One, the libretto, two the music, and three the direction. Outside of that, it's perfect." I couldn't have said it better myself.

Peter Sellers came up with the idea of the opera and John Adams composed the music. The production was lavish. The cast was huge. My favorite part, as I told set designer Adrianne Lobel, were the stage sets. I found the music to be quite boring and laborious. I longed for just one hummable tune. And just one memorable one would have been good, too. Alas, both were missing from the interminable long, double intermission marathon.

But some positive aspects are certainly worth mentioning, Baritone James Maddalena, who was also the original Nixon, was amazing as the President. He captured his walk and other mannerisms perfectly. Janice Kelly portrayed a kind and gracious Pat Nixon. Thank heavens for that. And what can I say about the portrayal of Henry Kissinger? He was a horny, lecherous and cruel villain. Why, one has to wonder. What was the point of THAT? Dwight Chapin had a chance to ask that question and the response was that while doing research, he (I won't mention his name because I don't know if he told Dwight in confidence) read Kissinger's book. He found Henry to be arrogant and self serving so he decided to do something to get even. (Do you suppose that was Oliver Stone's motivation in NIXON, or the the reason the folks who brought us Nixon/Frost did what they did? They just didn't like RN?) That's a fine way to document history, and I think it is wrong. I have read that "Nixon in China", the opera, will be around for years to come. So future audiences will think that's what Henry Kissinger was really like? That seems unfair.

Now lets talk about the portrayal of Chairman Mao. His was another interesting on-stage character. His interpreters, three women, were ready willing and able to offer ANY assistance he wanted. Some reviewers have referred to it as "servicing Mao." It was embarrassing. I actually didn't want to look. Perhaps that was what he actually required of his handlers. Shocking behavior! If true, he, Mao should be ashamed of himself.

I should mention that there were other good parts, too. Air Force One landing from the sky, the famous hand shake between the President and Chou En-lai, and Mrs. Nixon, dressed in red. She was the perfect bright spot in a drab landscape with the Chinese people all dressed monotonously the same.

A supposed re-enactment of the Chinese State Dinner followed the dress rehearsal at the Shun Lee West restaurant. It was an elaborate presentation of many, many dishes. I kept hoping to be pleased with every one that I tasted. I never was. A red wine was served and the traditional Mao Tai. Evidently Mao Tai is very rare these days and quite expensive. You may remember that Dan Rather called it "liquid razor blades." Ron returned from his trip with several bottles and it was always quite a moment as our pals sampled a sip. Poured into a saucer, and touched with a match, it burns. It always presented quite a display of good lamp or heater fuel.

President Nixon's trip to China in 1972 was truly a week that changed the world. Scholars and students will study it, probably forever. It was important. It was significant. It should never be trivialized.

The February Group

2010-11-28T06:48:00.000-08:00

If you are a February Group groupie, you know very well how important the gatherings have been to all of us over the years. Us Nixonites needed each other, and the February Group became the place where we could get together for fellowship and commiseration.

It's not everyone who can get a group of people together on a continuing basis for more than thirty five years, and yet Dewey Clower has done exactly that.

Like most things "Nixon" if we don't document it, someone else will invariably distort it. That's why I asked Dewey to give me a "history" of how The February Group came about.

Here is W. Dewey Clower's story:
It was January of 1975 when he submitted his letter of resignation as Assistant Director of the Domestic Council in the Gerald R. Ford White House. It was because of President Nixon that Dewey had the opportunity to work in the White House and he decided he wanted to see the former President and thank him for the honor of working for him as a senior advance man and member of the domestic council staff.

Dewey called Jack Brennan and asked for an appointment. Then he flew out to San Clemente. The President greeted him warmly and they spent forty-five minutes together, talking about the Ford Administration, world events and the 1976 presidential election. But, Dewey said the President was most interested in what his former staff people were doing. Dewey remembers that they talked about Ron Walker, Steve Bull, Bill Henkel and others on his advance and travel staff. The President said he wished there was some way a network could be established so he could stay in touch with the members of his White House Team. He asked Dewey if he could establish such a network? Dewey said he had not really thought about such a group, but promised to look into the idea.

When he returned to Washington, everyone he talked to, liked the idea. Dewey decided to host a luncheon on February 10, 1975 in the China room at the Mayflower hotel. The people who attended were: General Larry Adams, Pat Buchanan, Steve Bull, Henry Cashen, Red Cavaney, James Clausen, Michael Raoul-Duval, Michael Farrell, Dave Forward, Gerald Gilbert, John Gartland, Dave Gergen, Ashton Hardy, Bill Henkel, David Hoopes, Tod Hullin, Noel Koch, Tom Korologos, Anne Morgan, Pat O'Donnell, Terry O'Donnell, Dave Parker, Jack Pettit, Bill Rhatican, Howard Roycroft, Mike Schrauth, Geoff Shepard, Bill Timmons and of course, Dewey.

President Nixon sent a telegram saying how glad he was that they were getting together, and loved the symbolism of the group being in the China Room. Those listed above are the FEBRUARY GROUP CHARTER MEMBERS.

More gatherings were held and the group got bigger with each event. People suggested other people they wanted to invite. At first it was mostly limited to those who had served in the Nixon administration ,and then to those who had remained in the Ford White House. Dewey would send out a notice, saying, "The next gathering of the February 10th luncheon group will be . . . . " They went to cash bars and Dewey could usually talk the hotel into serving some food.

After about a year, they decided to ask for donations to cover mailings and they decided they needed a treasurer to keep track of donations. And, they needed a proper name for the group. The February Group was what everyone had come to call it, and that was the name they wanted to keep. The purpose of the group, as Dewey understood it, would be to provide a forum for like minded former Nixon Administrations members to be able to keep in touch with each other through social events and written communication. They held at least two events each year and established the FEBRUARY GROUP NEWS.

The February Group met regularly from 1975 to 2003. Jack D'Arcy, at the time working for a bank, volunteered to be the treasurer and he, along with Steve Bull and John Gartland, asked for volunteer contributions and the membership was very supportive. The group grew rapidly, especially during the Carter years. Ron and Dwight Chapin were kidding when they threatened to stand at the door and eyeball the arrivals. If neither of them recognized someone wanting to come in, they would send them to the room next door. They never did that, of course, recognizing that "The February Group" was no longer made up of just former Nixon staff members. It had become much bigger than that.

Dewey and Melinda Maury Thompsen managed the mailing list and the newsletters. The February Group News always included news and updates about the members. That's what President Nixon wanted to hear about. For instance, in a 1977 edition, it was announced that the "Walkers and Chapins had been invited to the People's Republic of China by Han Hsu, the chief of protocol and Ron's counterpart on the President's trip to China. They planned an around-the- world trip in the spring of 1978." Another 1978 edition talked about President Nixon's plans to travel to Paris and London, accompanied by Tim Elbourne.

The May, 1979 newsletter announced the birth of Christopher Nixon Cox.

The June, 1980 edition reported on a gathering at the 21 Club in New York where President Nixon met with Dave Bottoms, Steve Bull, Henry Cashen, Dwight Chapin, Dewey Clower, Ken Cole, Mike Duval, Jack Goldsborough, Roy Goodearle, Bill Henkel, Mike McManus, Bill Moeller, Bill O'Hara, Nick Ruwe, and Ron Walker.

These are just a few examples of Dewey's collection of back editions of the February Group NEWS and I believe he plans for those to end up in the Nixon Library someday.

The February Group reached a peak of more than 400 members just prior to Ronald Reagan's first campaign in 1980. It was about this time that Jack Anderson, a liberal political writer for the Washington Post, wrote an article that labeled the February Group, a "government in exile." That caused a lot of former Nixon/Ford folks to want to join the group and the result was that the membership list became a valuable document for Republican candidates. Dewey was constantly being asked to provide the mailing list to various campaigns, but he always insisted that members "vetted" the requests before he released the information. In June of 1981, the newsletter announced that 47 February Group members had joined the Reagan Administration, nine more administration members were listed in the next edition.

In September, 1986, it was noted that group members had raised $132,000 toward a goal of $200,000 for the Nixon Library and Birthplace. Many members attended the dedication in July of 1990. One year later it was reported that the Group donated $5,099.00 to the Camp David Chapel fund in honor and memory of Ron Jackson, a long time member of the Group.

At some point Ron Walker realized he could no longer attend the gatherings. He had opened the Washington, DC office for Korn/Ferry International in 1981. He was a "headhunter." Because of this he was usually given several resumes of people looking for jobs. It was better to stay away than say no to old pals from the ranks of the party faithful, and even worse to be hounded for jobs by people he didn't even know.

April Noland took over the duties from Melinda and was involved in the 25th Anniversary of the February Group in 2000.

When Dewey retired in 2002 and moved out near Fredericksburg, Virginia, the February Group seemed to retire too. Then, about the time that NARA's Tim Naftali invited John Dean to speak at the Nixon Library, all the stalwarts from the old guard woke up, shook their heads and went to work again. Steve Bull, Kay Bulow and Barbara McCaffrey lit a fire under the old FEBRUARY GROUP membership, and they came roaring back. It was time to circle the wagons and fight again. Then Ron Walker was persuaded to "flunk retirement" and assume the Presidency of the Richard Nixon Foundation. The February Group and the Foundation had a mission. Everyone was energized and they wanted to re-invigorate the base and enhance the President's legacy.

It's not clear why John Taylor, the former executive director of the Richard Nixon Foundation didn't want any of the Nixon folks involved with the Library. One can only guess and assume that he felt that since he didn't work for the President while he was President, anyone who did trumped his expertise. Now it was a new day. A new leader was at the helm and he wanted all those who had been a part of it to lend a helping hand. The re-energized staff at the Nixon Foundation liked to say, "There is a new sheriff in town." The response was amazing.

Legacy panels were put together. The people who worked in the White House, came together to talk about what they had done "back in the day." C-span loved the idea and they covered the panels. Now it's "in the can" and years from now, the panels can be watched and studied. The people doing the telling are not historians interpreting their personal opinions of what happened, it's the people who lived it who are doing the telling! That's the most exciting thing about it!

The February Group members played a huge role in all that has happened. Not just during the last 18 months, but ever since that February day in 1975 when they gathered for lunch in the China Room at the Mayflower hotel. What a historic day that was. What a lasting tribute to a former President that so many people would stay so loyal for all these years. Dewey described the February Group this way, "We are unstructured. There are no officers and no dues. We just get together several times a year and tell war stories."

Now that Ron Walker is being replaced by Sandy Quinn as President of the Richard Nixon Foundation, the February Group will move under the umbrella of the Foundation as well. That's where they belong and they will continue to support and tell the story of the Legacy of the 37th President of the United States. I predict they will be involved until the day comes when there is a last member standing.

Thank you President Nixon for asking that such a group be formed. Thank you, Dewey, for leading the group and thanks to all who stayed involved for so long and helped in so many ways.

Long live the February Group and the positive Legacy of President Richard Nixon.

Painted Sky

2010-10-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

I love that description. It is SO Arizona! The Great Creator thrills us many evenings with beautiful colors splashed across the western sky. The school that our grandsons Hugh and Jake attend is Painted Sky Elementary School. I think whoever is responsible for the naming should be extremely proud. I'd even like to nominate her or him for a naming award, if there is such a thing.

So often schools are named after people. I love it that there is a Patricia Nixon elementary school near the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace. There is a Lulu Walker elementary school near us in Arizona too. The only Lulu Walker I know is our princess girl doggie, and I knew she wasn't the namesake. So I googled Lulu Walker and found that she got her teaching credential in 1909, taught for 44 years and was a principal for 16 years. Now that is one lulu of a lady!

Just think, if the Painted Sky name selector, had felt strongly about naming schools for people, our grandsons could be attending the Mrs. Doubtfire, er, I mean the Janet Napolitano Elementary School. After all, she was governor of this state before the Obama Administration put her in charge of Homeland Security. Aren't we all reassured when she gives us a briefing about the latest terrorist threat to our homeland? Personally, I think she was separated at birth from her fraternal twin Judge Andrew Napolitano of Fox News. NPR swore all the family members and the Obama folks to secrecy because they don't want anyone to know about the Fox connection. Even the Judge goes along with the farce. He and Ron were once both guests of Don Vinsons' at the Bohemian Grove. Ron asked him about his twin sister, but he denied the connection. I guess he had to.

Speaking of wonderful Arizona names, the street we live on is another great example. Placita Montanas de Oro. It means, the place of the mountains of gold and it is true to the name. Even though it won't fit on most address forms, and people from elsewhere can never pronounce it, we put up with it because every morning when the sun comes roaring up over the Catalina mountains, everything is painted a glorious gold. In the evenings everything is golden once again, except when the sunset turns the mountains pink. Here in the land of many snowbirds, there is a wonderful saying, "when the mountains turn pink, it's time to drink." Yep, it's that time of day when we should stop, take a deep breath, watch the wonder take shape, and enjoy the
Great Creator's painted sky. I'll drink to that!

Goodbye Coyote Base, Hello Rattlesnake

2010-09-18T09:48:00.000-07:00

Coyote Base is closed!

Most of you know that we rented the behemoth for a year. The date was August 22, 2009. We wanted to stay in Yorba Linda through September of 2010 and asked for an extension of our lease. The landlord said NO!

So we scrambled, packed, cleaned, sorted, and gave stuff away. Then we went to an "extended stay" place for several days. The movers came and took everything else to Tucson. They had to make three stops, Marja's house, our house and the Harts. The good news is that it's over, and we are back in Tucson. The bad news is our Tucson home is a mess and bursting at the seams. We bought beds in California, but mostly all the furnishings in Coyote Base were garage and estate sale treasures. Five dollar tables, two dollar lamps, you get the idea. Saturday mornings became the days we went hunting, not Ron of course, but Marja and me and whoever else was camping out with us. Then, everyone was so thrilled with their super, valuable finds, that we had to bring them back to Tucson. Therein lies the overload problem.

You can't leave a house for a year and expect things to remain as you left them. This morning at 6:30 am, I was greeted by the rattle of a rattle snake when I went into the garage. After I did the superman leap in a single bound over the Escalade, I called the fire department and they came to get the sucker. Interesting to find out that Arizona Game and Fish won't let the fire-men take them farther than 100 yards away. That's to ensure their survival by making it easier for them to find their home and loved ones. Do you suppose I can ever go out in the garage again and not worry that he'll be back?

Then, feeling a huge overload of stress, I decided to chug out for a walk and try to calm myself. As I was enjoying the vista from the High Mesa, I encountered a javelina. For you who may not know that critter, it looks like a pig in high heels. They have longer legs than porky or Babe, and tall, black pointy hooves. They also have very sharp teeth, eat desert things and smell bad. AND . . . they've been known to charge at people. Needless to say, my walk wasn't completely successful in calming my nerves.

The past year was harder than we thought it would be, and someday maybe I can tell the whole story. Ron, and all of you who rallied to help, also accomplished much more that we had dared to hope for. Legacy panels are on C-span for future generations to study and learn about the Nixon Administration. That's a good thing. The Nixon-haters just want to focus on Watergate, and the latest "expletive deleted" that shows up somewhere. With the recent arrival of truck loads of additional documents at the library, I can just imagine the feverish combing for "juicy tidbits" that must be going on.

We will stay involved until a new President of the Foundation is on board. Ron works the phones for hours every day and we will spend next week at the Library. The true Bonus from the past year was the opportunity to re-connect with so many wonderful Nixon era pals, and to get to know the outstanding docents who provide so much to the day to day operation of the Richard Nixon Foundation, Library and Birthplace. They are truly a unique group of professionals. Thank you for the support and warmth all of you extended to us.

A Stronger Foundation

2010-09-13T11:29:00.000-07:00

There is now an Association of Presidential Library Foundations. It is 13 members strong. The members are the HOOVER, the ROOSEVELT, the TRUMAN, the EISENHOWER, the KENNEDY, the JOHNSON, the NIXON, the FORD, the CARTER, the REAGAN, the GEORGE H W BUSH, the CLINTON and the GEORGE W BUSH which will break ground on the SMU campus in December.

By coming together and discussing common issues and concerns, it became quite obvious that all Presidential Foundations could benefit by forming this group. The meeting last week in Washington, DC is the second one that Ron and I have attended. (An earlier blog is about our meeting at the Clinton last December.)

A Charter and By-laws were adopted and the officers elected are President Bruce Lindsey from the Clinton, Vice-President Jim Cicconi from the GHW Bush, and Secretary/Treasurer Becky Allgood from the Hoover.

The head Archivist, David Ferriero, has been in charge for nine months now. He and Sharon Fawcett spent time briefing the group. He specifically told Ron that the Watergate Exhibit is one of his highest priorities. The original Watergate Exhibit was ripped out almost immediately when the Archives person, Dr. Tim Naftali arrived at the Library. A sign that has been in place for over three years promises that a new exhibit is "coming soon." It is finally about to happen.

Originally given five days to turn around approval when the Foundation finally received the "plan", the deadline was extended by Ms Fawcett. "Team Searchlight" lead by Bob Bostock, also included members Frank Gannon, Dwight Chapin, Tod Hullin, Jack Carley, Sandy Quinn, and Geoff Shepard, went to work, studied the proposed exhibit, and made suggestions. Then a special team of archivist was set up to review Dr. Naftali's exhibit plans and our response to his plans. Sharon Fawcett made a point of telling Ron that he would be not be pleased with all the changes, but would be happy with some of them. Ron reminded her that our team had only asked that the replacement exhibit be fair and balanced and include the prospective of President Nixon. Looks like we'll soon know! Stay tuned. We are really looking forward to having that empty space filled. It is not fair to the paying guest to be confronted with vacant exhibit space.

A Small Victory?

2010-07-03T12:51:00.000-07:00

As regular readers of my blog know, I have been very upset that the docents at the Nixon Library and Museum were "fired" from conducting student tours. After seventeen years of leading the school tours, they were replaced by people, many of them interns, working with the National Archives. This has resulted in blatant disrespect for the President we represent and incidents of revisionist history. The reason, we were told, is that the docents were too political and positive. Now, why I ask you, would someone want to donate hours and hours to volunteer in a place they did not care about, or talk about a person they did not respect? I personally find it disrespectful to represent a former President of the United States with your shirt-tail hanging out and wearing jeans. I also think his representatives should refer to him as President Nixon and not "Nixon." Even a Mr. now and then would be a little better.

One day when I was volunteering in the Museum Store, I saw a teacher storming toward the door, saying, "We will not be back." I ran after her to see what had a happened. She told me I did not want to know. I assured her I did want to know exactly what had upset her. She told me that the young people conducting the tour for her class had been very disrespectful toward President Nixon and his administration. "What happened to the wonderful docents who used to lead the tours," she wanted to know?

Ron has talked to the folks at the National Archives about this. They even sent out their person in charge of education at all Presidential Archives to look into the situation. We expect to hear back soon on the result of that visit. How many teachers vowing never to come back will it take for the feds to wake up and make some changes? When Marg Garvey, President of the Richard Nixon Docent Guild asked to get her members re-involved with student tours, she was informed that this years interns would be writing the script for the tours and perhaps some of the docents could use them at some later date. (I think you can read that answer as "S-T-A-L-L") Now there are a few docents who have been approved to lead school tours if a vacancy needs filling on short notice. To be approved, they had to agree to an orientation. Many of the books they were required to study were "anti-Nixon." You can imagine how many of the docents felt about that, but a few felt it was better to be inside the tent so they could know what was going on. I told you we have some very strong and dedicated volunteers.

Preaching to the Choir is something I realize I am doing on this blog. All of us "Nixon Loyalists" want to highlight the positive aspects of President Nixon's legacy. It is not an easy goal to achieve, because just when we think we are making progress, along comes another article filled with cheap shots and distorted statements. We always hope to find a little good along with the bad and the ugly.

The July issue of Los Angeles Magazine has an article, "The War Over Nixon." The subtitle is "The ghost of our most divisive modern president haunts efforts to make his library tell the truth." In talking about the up-coming 20th Anniversary of the original Library, "Befitting the strained detente, the celebrations will be held in separate parts of the same building. Naftali and the National Archives will be looking forward to serving visitors and researchers, and the foundation will be looking backward to honor its namesake." The article also says, "Think of the facility as a duplex shared by two highly suspicious neighbors, each using the same foyer and elevator but then going their separate ways."

Perhaps this article has provided a foot in the door to change. Recently, Dr. Naftali told Marg Garvey that "spontaneous tours" are a great idea and they will start them in the fall. The name comes about because the docents will just "spontaneously" gather up some visitors and offer to lead them on a tour. Maybe it is a small victory, maybe it will lead to more cooperation down the road. I hope so. Whatever it is, the visitor benefits, and that's the main thing.

I want to remind you how "GramAnne.com" came to come knocking on your e-mail in-box. When Ron agreed to "flunk retirement" and assume the Presidency of the Richard Nixon Foundation, soon after John Dean was invited to speak at the Library on the anniversary of the Watergate break in, our daughters made me promise that I would document the experience on my blog. At that time, GramAnne.com already existed. It was born as a fun way for me to talk about our long-awaited amazing grandsons, Hugh and Jake. Writing about the Richard Nixon Foundation and all the struggles we faced made it take on another mission. I have come to think of the "gram" part as a telegram, or aerogram, to keep people informed. It isn't a Grandma thing anymore, although it will morph back into that at some point, I hope.

Remembering Wally Hickel

2010-05-31T08:36:00.000-07:00

"They Got Old Wally," read the caption on the wonderful political cartoon by Wright in the The Miami Daily News. The animals of the forest were lamenting the firing of Secretary of the Interior, Walter J. Hickel, by President Nixon. About the same time as the shooting of the students at Kent State, the secretary had written a letter to the President, expressing his concern for his five sons and his opposition to the Viet Nam war. Before the letter got to the President's desk, it was leaked to The Washington Star by a member of the Interior staff. Wally assured us that he meant it to be "eyes only to the President."

I am able to post that cartoon on my blog, because the pack rat I live with saves everything that is and was memorable and historic. We have always loved that cartoon and felt it was telling in so many ways. Today, we only have to change the caption to:

"Godspeed Wally. We are glad we knew you."

President Nixon sent Ron to the Department of Interior to help Wally get organized. Their friendship was one of mutual trust and admiration. Almost as soon as Ron arrived at Interior, the late Frankie Hewitt, executive director of Ford's Theater, approached him with a plea to help her save the historic Theater. It was on it's way to becoming a morbid museum to a murdered, martyred President. Frankie envisioned keeping it as President Lincoln enjoyed it, a living and vibrant theater. Ron talked to Wally about it. They agreed to help and Ford's Theater is alive and thriving today because of their involvement. Years later, that same Frankie Hewitt, now sporting the title of Fords Theater's Artistic Director, gave the Lincoln Medal jointly to Ron and Wally for helping to make sure Ford's Theater would continue to present live theater and be such an important part of our Nation's Capitol heritage. If you have a chance, be sure to visit the museum in Ford's Theater. It was recently re-designed by Richard Norton Smith. It tells the historic story of the famous theater in a way that is informative, wonderful and quite a work of art.

Wally and Ron traveled extensively during the time they worked together. One especially memorable trip was to Micronesia. It was the first time a Secretary of the Interior had visited the region. Ron, used to the ways of Presidential campaigns, arranged with the hotel to have all of the Hickel's telephone calls routed through him. The first morning, Ermalee, Wally's wife, called early to place their room service breakfast order. Ron, not wanting to embarrass Mrs. Hickel, did his best to sound like a hotel employee, and then got dressed and went to the kitchen to pass along the request. Years later, when he finally told Ermalee what had really happened that morning, they had a good laugh. Ever since then they have made a point of talking and laughing about it again and again. Ron's impersonation of the room service order taker is what makes the story so hilarious, so writing it on a blog does not do it justice. Sorry about that.

Here's the Secretary with some of the children of his staff members. Our three daughters are there; Lisa is in the white headband, Marja is second on his right and Lynne got the place of honor on Wally's lap. Note the two-page frame under the lamp. That's how President Nixon's daily schedule was framed on his desk and Ron made sure that the Secretary of the Interior had the very same schedule holder. Wally loved it.

Because he was fired, the President and Wally did not speak for several years. When the President was going to be meeting with Japanese Emperor Hirohito in Anchorage, Ron made arrangements for the Hickel's to host the President and Mrs. Nixon at a dinner in their home. Ron says he is proud and very glad that he was able to bring the two men together once again.

When President Nixon appointed Ron to be Director of the National Park Service, the two men had even more to talk about. Wally was always a wise and welcome confidant.

Years afterward, Ron would often go salmon fishing in Alaska with his pal Homer Luther. Their fishing camp, Enchanted Lake, was very remote and Ron would usually overnight coming and going, at the Anchorage Hotel Wally owned, The Captain Cook. This meant the old friends could have dinner and enjoy spending some time together.

Walter J. Hickel was a two time governor of the State of Alaska, a mover and a shaker for awhile in Washington, DC, and a one-of-a kind great guy. He took a practical view of the conflicts between the environmentalist and the oil companies. He was against locking up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He used the settlement money from the Exxon Valdez oil spill to help repair Prince William Sound.

In 1969, the first year of Wally's Secretaryship, the oil spill took place in Santa Barbara, California. Union Oil was the culprit that time. Wally wanted to make sure they did everything possible to clean up the mess. He asked Dick Kleindiest, then deputy attorney general, to do some research and see exactly who was legally responsible. They found a 1867 law that stated that the entity causing the leak was responsible to clean it up. Wally was on the beaches of Santa Barbara almost immediately. Taking names and directing traffic.

Wish he could talk to us today about what is going on in the Gulf Coast and the efforts of BP to stem the damage. He definitely would have strong opinions and we need his wise counsel and leadership.

On this Memorial Day, especially, we think of our heros and pause to offer our thanks and remember their service to our Nation. Yea, they got old Wally, but we got to have him for awhile. Weren't we lucky!

The Walker Cup

2010-05-12T07:56:00.000-07:00

No, not THAT Walker Cup. Every golfer knows about THAT Walker Cup. George Herbert Walker, a man famous for being quite a golfer, was President of the USGA in 1920 and donated the trophy. Later, that Walker would become even more famous because of this relationship to two United States Presidents. The winners, either from Europe or the United States, have enjoyed bragging rights for winning the prestigious trophy ever since.

The younger Walker Cup was donated to the Kodaikanal International School in India, by Ron Walker, in 1957, in honor of the memory of his godfather, Mario Di Georgio.

Mario was a beloved teacher at Kodai. He mentored a student each year and Ron, then called "Tex" by his classmates, was his last. Mario, had been a concert violinist, an air raid warden in Burma during the Japanese invasion, a physical fitness expert and a lover of all nature and God's creatures. Mario was also the music teacher and choir director at Kodai, and he conducted wonderful concerts each year. Looking back on why Mario singled out Ron, we think he saw the amazing potential in a kid, yanked away from the Texas lifestyle, especially sports, that he loved and plunked down on the other side of the earth, in a foreign place, and having to live apart and far away from his parents.

He was only 13 years old when he arrived at the boarding school in the very remote hill country of India. To travel from his parents home in Hyderabad, to Kodai School, required a plane ride to Madras, a bus ride to a hotel to get two rickshaws, one for him and one for his luggage. The rickshaw would take him to the train station for the overnight trip and then finally arriving at the hill station where he could catch a bus for the 4 hour ride up the mountain to the school.

Mario spent lots of holidays at the Walkers home in Hyderabad. Ron's parents were the first ones who began calling Mario, his godfather. The honorary title speaks volumes for the influence and caring that Mario brought to the young student. He was both a mentor and a spiritual advisor.

During Ron's senior year, 1956, Mario became ill with phlebitis, and probably other health issues, and went to the American missionary hospital in Vellore on at least two different occasions. The faculty urged Ron to visit him. He traveled by 3rd class train, leaving Kodai on a Friday afternoon and arriving in Vellore the next morning. He spent several hours with Mario. Ron remembers that they both cried when they said goodbye. Mario died a short time later.

It was a difficult time for a young man. As a small token of how much he cherished his time with Mario, Ron saved all of his letters and has them to this day. The Walker family, wanting to do something to honor Mario's memory, decided to recognize a student each year with a trophy to highlight their musical achievements.

Ron had a cup engraved and hand carried it to Kodai when he went from the University of Arizona during the summer of 1957, to visit his parents who were then living in Baghdad, Iraq.

Now, you knew there would be a "Nixon Connection" to the story, and here it is: President Nixon visited India in the summer of 1969 and Ron Walker was the advance man handling the stop. It was a memorable summer. Neil Armstrong made the giant leap for mankind on the moon, Teddy Kennedy drove off a one-lane bridge in Chappaquiddick and the Manson murders took place in California. During the trip, the President sent word that he wanted to meet with Yahya Khan, the President of Pakistan. He insisted the meeting be one-on-one, meaning no other aides were to be present. Henry Kissinger's people and everyone at the State Department were beside themselves. The folks at the embassy were aghast. Nobody wanted to be excluded, but the private meeting took place and the "Yahya Channel" made it possible for the President to begin planning his historic trip to the People's Republic of China.

While Ron was in India doing the advance, he had a few issues with his counterpart on Prime Minister Indira Ghandi's staff. They were relatively small, but potential roadblocks for each side that didn't want to give away more control than they had to. One Indian person in particular, made asides to his people, speaking in Hindi, not realizing Ron understood what he was saying. It was usually along the lines of, "we probably don't have to worry, this guy is too young and too inexperienced to have much clout with the White House. We will get our way on this."

The day everything changed was the day Ron had a meeting with the Prime Minister. He greeted her in her native language and delighted in watching the cantankerous aide realize he'd been had. The Americans were soon given the green light on several key points as they had originally hoped.

Our daughter, Lynne Walker McNees, traveled to India recently in her role as President of the International Spa Association (ISPA). After her meetings in Mumbai (Bombay when Ron was in school) she and former ISPA Board Chair, Jane Segerberg, traveled to Kodai. Jane, always looking for an exotic place to hike, was intrigued with the unique destination. Lynne was blown away by the emotion and history of discovering a place where her father spent his high school years. Ron and I sent a donation with Lynne for her to present to the school. This was when we found out that the "Walker Cup" was still a prestigious part of student life at Kodaikanal International School. This years recipient of the Cup asked about its history and was told the current faculty didn't know too much about it. Shazam! In walks Lynne, one of those Walkers, and the information began to flow from her Dad, over the Internet to fill in the blanks at the school in the hills of India. How amazing is the timing of events in our lives! For this one it is Fifty-three years later.

Mario would be so proud. So proud of the adult Ron has become and all he has accomplished, and also proud that he, Mario, is still a traditional and important part of student life at Kodai International School.

Happy Earth Day!

2010-04-27T11:41:00.000-07:00

April 22nd, was the 40th time that we earthlings have celebrated Earth Day. Most of you know that the Earth Day observances started with President Nixon.

Sponsored jointly by the Nixon Library and the Richard Nixon Foundation, we held another of the Nixon Legacy Forum's, "Richard Nixon and the Rise of the Environment." The panelist were three men who were a part of the events of the day, the Honorable Chris DeMuth, the Honorable William Ruckelshaus and the Honorable John Whitaker.

The panel "streamed live", worldwide, from the Nixon Library Theater. It was great. You can see it for yourself on the Nixon Foundation You Tube channel or rnenews@nixonfoundation.org.

Again, I learned so much about what was going on at the time. We were reminded that our environment was just plain dirty, smelly and awful back then. President Nixon knew that drastic measures were badly needed and he made the issue a major domestic priority when he declared in his first State of the Union address that we make "the 1970's a historic period when, by conscious choice, we transform our land into what we want it to become." This bold action lead to the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, the Endangered Species Act, the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, and more than 80,000 acres of National Parks. WOW! So how come people say that President Nixon was only a foreign policy president?

Think back to 1970. We didn't know enough to think about thinking "green." It wasn't until raw sewage flowed into our waterways, rivers caught on fire, medical waste washed ashore, and beaches were closed that we began to wake up and smell the yellow air. One of my favorite lines of the panel was when Bill Ruckelshaus, the first EPA Administrator, said it wasn't until polluted air was so bad that the people in Denver wanted to be able to see the mountains and the people in Los Angeles wanted to be able to see each other, that citizens began demanding change. The impetus came from the people and the President responded.

However, the Nixon administration took its licks on that first Earth Day. John Whitaker, in his book, Striking a Balance, reminds us that Walter Cronkite on a one hour CBS-TV special said, Earth Day crowds were "predominantly white, predominantly young, and predominantly anti-Nixon." In 1970, Theodore White, writing an essay in Life magazine, "The two natural containers of the environment, the air and the water, finally vomited back on Americans the filth they could no longer absorb." That's harsh!

Christopher DeMuth, then a young 22 year old Harvard graduate, who had been brought to the White House by Patrick Moynihan, was very involved in the work of the task force who formulated the administrations environmental policies.

We've seen a huge improvement in our environmental quality since 1970.

Air is twice as clean now, despite that fact that twice as many cars are traveling twice as many miles. Peak smog levels are one-third as high as they were 40 years ago.

Recycling is common place now and every where we turn, we are reminded to think green. This year on Earth Day, school children at Disneyland released 140,000 ladybugs throughout the resort as part of the 12-year old integrated pest-management program. Ladybugs eat 4-5,000 aphids during their lifetime. Now that's truly a creative way to celebrate a bug's life at the Magic Kingdom in a way that helps Mother Earth. Way to go, Mickey!

A green apartment complex of 132 units here in Orange County, California, held their grand opening on Earth Day. Most cities in America are probably planning like projects.

However, we have to keep finding new, innovative ways to continue to make a difference. The job will never be over. Also, not all green, innovative products are as good as the old, wasteful ones. Showers for instance. It's really hard to get warm in the Coyote Base huge, cavernous marble shower with it's weenie little low-flow, water-saver shower head. Now, please don't mess with my shower in our Jackson Hole cabin. It is old and perfectly wonderful. The fire-hydrant-like blast of hot water is a welcome luxury. Sorry, but we aren't completely green and we gotta have some of our favorite comforts of life left to enjoy.

And speaking of showers, when you have your own blog, you get to choose what you want to write about, so my complaint in the shower category is directed at shampoo and/or conditioner container designers. Since I can't exactly wear my glasses while showering, it is very difficult to tell which is which. Come on folks. Make it easier, will you please?

Remembering Dorothy Height: During the years that we lived in Washington, DC, I often attended events and had a chance to visit with Ms. Height, who died recently. Her leadership was legendary, and it is true that when she entered a room, she commanded attention. She was always a vision from heels to hat, and just as friendly and gracious. She never failed to act glad to see me, but I was always a bit intimidated and awed to be in her company. She is called the "god mother of civil rights" and she worked tirelessly her entire 98 years for the cause. I think of her today with gratitude, and salute her for all she did for our country and for humankind.

Reminisices

2010-04-18T09:31:00.000-07:00

The Docents at the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace had their annual "Refresher Course" on Saturday. Ron and I were both asked to speak.

As you know, they are an amazing group of very knowledgeable and supportive representatives of the life and career of President Nixon. Many of them have told me that they love hearing our personal stories about the Nixons.

Ron does a fine imitation of President Nixon, and he peppers his stories with amazing impersonations of the former President. Those of you that have seen him in action, know what I am talking about. Our friend Warren Adler saw "Nixon in China" in New York and called to tell Ron that he did a better impersonation than the guy in the production. Could a stint on Broadway be in his future, the next time he flunks retirement?

I told the story of President Nixon meeting with Mexican President Diaz Ordaz in Puerto Vallarta. The President had been traveling non-stop, which meant that Ron and many other aides had been away from home a great deal. Bob Haldeman took pity on some of us and invited us to travel to Puerto Vallarta and have a few days of rest and recreation. Susie Chapin, Inge Elbourne, Pat Brennan and I were the lucky ladies. The State Department loaned us two dune buggies and we explored the beautiful beaches and mountains of Mexico. We stayed for several days at the charming, but long-gone "Garza Blanca" right on the beach. When the days of fun and sun ended, we returned to the official hotel, the "Camino Real." President and Mrs. Nixon arrival day dawned. "El Biggo Dayo" we called it.

Us girls were asked to disappear, and we were glad to, but requested one of the dune buggies for our getaway. I, the only one experienced driving a vehicle with a stick shift, took the wheel. We had admired the wonderful paintings of local artist, Leppe, and we wanted to visit his gallery. The artist had a whimsical style and did several paintings with American and Mexican flags to commemorate the historic meeting. We wanted to see if we could afford any of his painting with the flags.

When we found the street where the gallery was located, we were shocked and horrified to find the street closed. Having been in the country for a few days, we were very impressed with our own ability to speak the native language, and argued heatedly with the Mexican policeman telling us we couldn't enter that street. "Muy importante," we told him. "El biggo appointamente," we said heatedly as we pointed to our watches. It worked. He shook his head and moved the saw horses that had been blocking the intersection. We were thrilled and proud of ourselves.

When we matched the address of the gallery with the storefront, we couldn't believe our eyes. It was CLOSED. Why would they close it? It was an important day for both countries. Why would the artist want to lose potential business? Then we looked around. All the stores were closed. It was then that we realized we were the only vehicle on the street. Then we saw IT. A parade was headed right for us. Motorcycles, cars with flashing lights, flags, buses . . . . realization hit. It was the President's motorcade and it was headed right toward us.

Now, we had a choice. I could pull a U-turn and lead the motorcade. Or . . . we could sit where we were and let the entire Presidential entourage pass by. There is no place to hide in a dune buggy. There are no doors to duck behind or windows to roll up. We were four blondes trying to hide in plain sight. We froze. We were caught red faced and red handed.

Ron and Dwight were in the pilot car, clapping their hands in slow motion applause. All they said to us was, "Great way to disappear, girls." The President and Mrs. Nixon were riding in a convertible. He didn't say a word, but his face said it all. Mrs. Nixon, always gracious and loving to us, said, "You girls look so cute."

All the people on the buses were laughing and waving.

We didn't think it was funny until several minutes later. Then we couldn't stop laughing. The hilarity of the whole experience overwhelmed us and we had to exit the dune buggy to clutch our stomachs and bend over to accommodate the belly laughs. I promise you, we really did think we were disappearing as requested.

Can you imagine doing that today? In the first place, we probably could never "talk our way" into a secure area, and even if we did, we probably would have been taken out by roof top snipers. I have been on the street in Washington DC a couple of times when President Obama's motorcade is on the move. Streets are totally cleared for several, long minutes before his arrival. Traffic on side streets is blocked off. Pedestrians are told to stay on the sidewalk and "cease all movement." Police people yell at the tourists, "You, in the brown coat, stand still."

Then, finally, he goes flying by in a blur of frantic limo dust action. Tourists wave. "Did you see him", they ask each other? Bureaucrats and local residents release a collective sigh and go on about their day. It's the way of life in our nation's capitol these days.

I wouldn't have missed the way we got to experience Presidential motorcades for all the tequila in Mexico!

EARTHQUAKE!

2010-04-05T07:23:00.000-07:00

Coyote Base was rocking and rolling on Easter afternoon! It's all daughter Marja's fault. She had said she hoped to experience an earthquake while she was living in Southern California. In the category of "be careful what you wish for" she was pretty freaked out by the actual event. She's now covering her proverbials by saying she only wished for a little one, not THE big one. Thank heavens, while this was a 7.2 magnitude quake, it was not THE big one.

Earthquakes are scary, dangerous, and destructive. I spent my girlhood in the San Gabriel valley, living in a two-story house. I slept in a four poster bed. When the "Tehachapi Earthquake" hit on July 21, 1952 at 4:30 in the morning, I vividly remember riding my bed from wall to wall, and hanging on for dear life, while my mother ran up and down the hall praying in a very loud voice. (I was 13) We teased her about it for years, but she never thought it was as funny as my brother, Rob, and I did. My Dad slept through the whole thing. She said her worry was the two brick chimney stacks on each end of the house. She was afraid they would tumble down and kill my brother in his room and my Dad snoring away on the other side of the house.

Yesterday's Easter afternoon quake hit about three-thirty. I first noticed my chair was moving back and forth. Ron announced that we were having an earthquake. Marja came flying out of her office to join us. We went into the back yard. (You are supposed to stand in a door-way to avoid any falling debris.) The dogs began barking as the pool water sloshed back and forth. Some of it splashed right out onto the deck. That was the most amazing part of the whole thing, watching a back yard tsunami happen right before your eyes.

Kodai, our boy dog, was the second most freaked out event participant. He insisted on sitting solidly in the middle of the back yard for a long time afterward. It was as if he didn't want to stand up and experience the scary sensation of involuntary movement again. His sister, Lulubelle, just wanted to play ball. That's her first choice of ways to spend her every waking moment. She runs like the wind, so maybe if you are moving fast enough, you don't really feel earthquakes like the rest of us.

Coyote Base is about 3 years old, so it would have been built in strict compliance with all the necessary codes for this part of earthquake country. That's a good thing. It is amazing to realize that our Easter earthquake was bigger than the one in Haiti. This one shook 20 million people in three states and Mexico, but it happened in an area where few people live. That was the huge difference.

I volunteered in the Museum Store at the President Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace on Easter Monday. Just about everyone wanted to talk about the earthquake, and everyone said they were so relieved when the shaking stopped. Californians hear so much about the "Big One" that experts say is inevitable. When it is only a 7.2, gratitude reigns. One geologist called it a "near miss." Hope Marja is now satisfied and will stop the wishing.

Presidential Kumquats

2010-04-03T07:21:00.000-07:00

The Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace has a bumper crop of kumquats. The six beautiful trees, three on each side of the reflecting pool, are loaded with the picture perfect fruit. Daughter Marja and I couldn't resist. We harvested the little flavor-bombs to make kumquat marmalade.

Harvesting kumquats on the Library grounds.

I tried hard to find the Nixon/Kumquat historical background, but alas, there doesn't seem to be anything too major. The home where the 37th President was born (the very first baby born in Yorba Linda) was a citrus grove. His father, Frank Nixon worked hard to earn a living as a citrus farmer, but it was a tough task. After interviewing several docents and long-time staffers, it was decided that Hannah Nixon, the President's mother, must have had at least one kumquat tree somewhere close. I found an old reference to "Hannah's Kumquat Kitchen," but no other information was included. We have to assume that she cooked with some of the fruit that surrounded her home.

When the library grounds were taking shape, the landscapers wanted to honor it's "citrus roots". Unfortunately, the only citrus tree that could take the large amount of water necessary for all the other plantings, and especially Mrs. Nixon's roses, was the hearty, tolerant kumquat tree. Kevin Cartwright, involved in those decisions, says the kumquat came to represent all the ancestral citrus species that once lived on the site. Hazel Betts, a master gardener docent, and Bob Lyons, an original docent, still very much involved in the day to day activities, confirms this as well.

Coyote Base has been smelling way-orangey-sweet for almost a week now. When eating a kumquat right off the tree, the experience is a total flavor burst in the mouth. First the sweet rind, then the sour fruit. Wowser, wowser. It kind of makes your eyes water and your lips pucker. So, that's the reason we decided to cook them.

Kumquats are native to China and arrived in California around 1880. Today the state grows the most kumquats in this country, on about 133 acres of kumquat groves. While not widely available in grocery stores, we saw some at the Yorba Linda farmer's market. We also planted a kumquat tree in our Tucson yard.

We tried several different recipes, and decided the best, and least labor intensive was this one, that we chose to call "Presidential Kumquat Marmalade." So here it is, if you want to make some for yourself.

RECIPE:
Yield: 8 cups

Ingredients
2 lbs kumquats (4 cups)
1 lime
1 lemon
3 1/2 cups sugar
6 cups of water
1 tsp vanilla
8 1/2-pint mason jars

PREPARATION
Squeeze lemon and lime. Gather the juice and pulp.
Wash and dry kumquats.
Thinly slice them.
Remove seeds (HINT: If you cut in half, not length-wise, seeds will be on one side. I know, we were amazed too!)
Place sliced kumquats, all juice, water and sugar in a pot.
Bring to a boil.
Lower heat to medium low and cook for 15 minutes.
Remove from heat, content should be syrupy.
Cover, set aside and let sit overnight at room temperature.
Next day, bring kumquat syrup to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer to desired thickness. (Our first batch was a little watery.) Then we learned to cook it to a beautiful dark brown orange color.
Stir once in awhile, using a wooden spoon
Bring to a boil again.
Skim off any foam that develops.
Add vanilla.
Fill mason jars with marmalade.
Fill a big pot of water and bring to just under a boil. Place filled jars in water and boil for 10 minutes.
If you want to freeze the marmalade, you can skip the "canning" process.

To one batch, we added red pepper, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, apples and raisins to make a delicious chutney.

We pureed one batch and froze it for future cookies, cakes, etc.

And, how about a kumquat marmalade cocktail? Don't laugh. General Omar Bradley invented a drink using orange marmalade. He favored orange slices in his bourbon, and when he was posted to some remote area of the world, there weren't any fresh oranges. He noticed a jar of orange marmalade on the table and the resulting cocktail was named for him. It is delicious with scotch also.

Our final kumquat kount:
32 jars of kumquat marmalade
4 jars of kumquat chutney
1 large zip lock bag of pureed kumquat preserves.

We will be sharing the end product with the folks at the Library. We hope everyone will think the marmalade is as delicious as we do. It was a big project, but a fun salute to "Hannah's Kumquat Kitchen," and the hearty fruit that has come to represent Frank Nixon's citrus grove, the boyhood yard of the 37th President of the United States. Kudos to the Kumquat!

If A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words . . . .

2010-03-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

. . . . how about a picture that's worth a million laughs!

Check out "Bridesmaid Nancy" in her dyed-to-match-her-outfit shoes, carrying her "bouquet of a gavel," while Steny Hoyer carries her purse. And when was the last time you saw grown men walking down the street holding hands?

I guess she has been working so hard, she just couldn't resist turning her face to the sun in the hopes of catching a few rays.

What they did is not one bit funny, but this picture sure is hilarious.

Happy Birthday, Mrs. Nixon

2010-03-16T07:25:00.000-07:00

A special birthday party was held at the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace yesterday. Over 3,400 girl scouts gathered to celebrate what would have been Pat Nixon's 98th birthday, and what was the girl scouts 98th birthday. Both will be celebrated in even greater grandeur on their centennials.

The theme this year was "Girl Scouts Go Green". Ron, wearing his President of the Foundation hat, was one of the judges for the "recycled art contest." Today's young people are amazing, creative and innovated. Using "trash" and imagination, they made American flags, villages, people, animals, panorama's and posters. The message was clear. Anything and everything can become a work of art. The other judges were Nancy Nygren, head of the Orange County Girl Scout Council, Dr. Tim Naftali, head of the archives at the Nixon library, and Anthony Curtis, Assistant Chief Operating Officer of the Nixon Foundation.

Thelma Catherine Ryan was born just before midnight on March 16, 1912. According to her daughter Julie's book "Pat Nixon, The Untold Story," her thoroughly Irish father, Will Ryan, decided to celebrate a day later, St. Patrick's Day. He said, "Well, she was there in the morning, my St. Patrick's Babe in the morning."

Thelma Ryan's childhood was a time of great loss and hard work. She was only 14 when her mother died of cancer. Four years later her father died. Will had asked his oldest son to "take care of Babe." The three Ryans did indeed stick together. In the fall of 1931, she registered at Fullerton Junior College as Patricia Ryan. Julie says that she and her sister, Tricia, learned in the 1960 campaign that their mother's name had once been Thelma. When they asked their mother about it, she said "Patricia was my father's favorite name, and she told them she wasn't Thelma anymore, she was Pat.

She and her father were so right. She WAS Pat. Our wonderful First Lady Pat. She just wasn't a Thelma, at least not to me.

In 1969, President and Mrs. Nixon were on a helicopter, flying over the National Mall in Washington, DC. She commented on the eyesore of row after row of quonset huts still being used as "temporary offices." She asked the President to see if they could be removed. The huts were soon gone, and the Mall is now a beautiful place that makes all of us proud. The Richard Nixon Foundation and key people in our Nation's Capitol are working with Congress to designate a small portion, "The Pat Nixon Memorial Garden." She is deserving of the honor and it would make us so happy to see her finally get some long, overdue recognition.

This picture, taken in 1943 or 44, was what Mrs. Nixon saw on the Mall in 1969! I remember seeing it as well, and thinking how really ugly it looked.

Another favorite Mrs. Nixon story is the one President Nixon wrote about in RN, The Memoirs of Richard Nixon. He wrote in his diary during his 1974 trip to the Soviet Union, that he and Pat had dinner alone on the balcony outside their room.

"Diary

As we looked out at sea, there was a three-quarter moon. Pat said that since she was a very little girl, when she looked at the moon, she didn't see a man in the moon or an old lady in the moon - always the American flag. This, of course, was years before anybody ever thought of a man actually being on the moon or an American flag being there.

She pointed it out to me and, sure enough, I could see an American flag in the moon. Of course, you can see in the moon whatever you want to see."

I like to think I can see Pat Nixon's American flag on the moon.

We celebrate her life, her many accomplishments, and her legacy every day at the Nixon Library and Birthplace. Her presence is felt throughout the Museum. Her quiet dignity is evident too.

Remembering General Haig

2010-03-12T10:47:00.000-08:00

The Nixon Alumni Club lost another valued member recently. Alexander Haig. Ron and I were proud to call Al and Pat Haig friends, and it got me to thinking about them both.

Al's career has been quite amazing. He was an aide to General Douglas MacArthur and Cyrus Vance, Secretary of the Army under President Kennedy, deputy national security advisor and Chief of Staff under President Nixon, and Secretary of State under President Reagan, to name just some of his resume highlights.

During the Nixon White House years, I was privileged to get to know Pat Haig. Not only is she beautiful, in a Grace Kelly-esque sense, she is a gracious and friendly lady. It was always such a pleasure to sit with her on a plane, or see her at a social gathering.

In 1978, Ron and I were invited to re-trace President Nixon's 1972 historic trip to the People's Republic of China. Travel visa's to the PRC were still scarce, but after an event at the Chinese liaison office, Han Hsu suggested that we should visit his country. He told us he would send us visa's. Some of you may not know that Han Hsu was a close aide to Cho En-lai, and Ron's counterpart as the two countries prepared for their leaders to visit. Dwight Chapin was the White House contact person responsible for the President's trip, and Ron's boss. Han Hsu also sent visas to Dwight and Susie Chapin. We were told to be in Tokyo on May 21, 1978 to catch Iran Air flight #801 to Peking.

As we talked about making this trip, we discovered that Pan Am Flight #2 went around the world for less total cost than a single round trip flight to Tokyo. And so we booked Pan Am, leaving New York on May first. Of course, we spent more money on the ground than we saved, but it was six weeks of non-stop adventure that was worth every penny. Our first stop was London. Upon arrival, we had a message from General Haig, then the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, living in Monns, Belgium, inviting us to visit. We had planned a week of traveling around Europe, so after arriving in Frankfurt, we immediately headed for Monns. It was a 5 and a half hour drive on the Autobahn, in our little rental car. Cars whizzed by us and Ron felt like he should get out and make sure we were moving.

You must remember that this was before GPS devices, but we had maps. Ron and Dwight would take turns driving, and the non-driver was the navigator. Susie and I took up nesting-rights in the back seat, and spent most of each hour laughing at the hilarious exchanges going on between driver and navigator. Their pronunciations of the road signs were especially funny. They argued about the various "austfahrt" whizzing by and if they missed a turn, it was always the other guys fault. We went across the German/Belguim border check point three times, because we couldn't figure out how to get back on the main road. We finally decided they must have thought we were smuggling little yellow cars from one country to the other.

When we got to Monns, we had a hard time finding the Haig's Chateau. We were lost in a residential area when a car pulled out of a garage and Dwight said the driver looked like he spoke english. Ron jumped out and asked the man if he knew where General Haig lived? Blank stare. Then Ron pantomimed all the decorations on his hat and the row of stars on his shoulders. A-ha! He pointed and gestured and we were off, soon to find our destination.

Their home was used as a German Headquarters during the war and renovated when General Goodpaster was head of NATO. We had lovely rooms, with the Haig's White House and military mementos all around. Dinner was beautiful and delicious; cheese soup, steak, fried potato balls, salad, green beans, red wine and sherbet for dessert. (If you wonder how I can be so precise, it is because my mother saved the letter I wrote, complete with the menu.)

General Haig talked a great deal about the days just before the President resigned. I wrote to our family that he said he was in charge at the White House during those days. (Honest) He talked a great deal about it, almost as if he was so happy to have people that he could talk about it with.

We all had breakfast together the next morning at 7:45. The general was in his 4 star uniform, as he had a 9:00 meeting that morning with the Danish press. We left soon after he did, and talked a great deal about how candid he had been with us, and how it was so obvious that he trusted us and knew we would not betray his confidences. We never have.

I must admit, that when he announced that he was in charge after President Reagan was shot, I thought about how he'd been in charge of another White House, after another traumatic incident.

To this day, our family occasionally uses the "Haig-in-charge" reference. Just this past Christmas, while fixing Julia Child's Boeuf Bourguignon, Marja made it clear that she was the "Al Haig of this cooking project." Seems that the one who thinks of being in charge first, announces it, indeed gets to be the General! And this was a fun project, because we said everyone had to talk just like Julia the entire time the famous dish was being prepared. It was hilarious.

Through the years, Al and Pat Haig came to parties at our home, and we always enjoyed seeing them. A very memorable time was one year at our sometimes annual "Cinco de Mayo" party when Al regaled our daughters friends with stories from the days that he and Ron flew helicopters together in Vietnam. Despite Al's colorful descriptions, it didn't happen. Ron's branch of the army was armored, (think tanks), and he was an airborne officer assigned to a psychological warfare unit on Okinawa, Thailand and Vietnam. The only time he and Al ever served together was in the Nixon White House.

Al was famous for loving to use big words and weaving long sentences together. He had a friendly, running word-smith battle with Secretary of Commerce Malcolm Baldrige.

When I worked for Secretary Baldrige, he stressed the importance of the government speaking in "plain English." He had a list of his "no-no words" and if someone entered them in the Office of Public Affairs computers, they came out as capitalized X's. Words like "maximize,""utilize" or "effectuate" The Secretary thought making his people write in plain English was just simple, good management. He also despised redundancies such as "serious crisis," "future plans," "new initiatives" or "end result"

I tell you this because Baldrige liked to talk about Al Haig. He would say, "Now Al can be just as direct and straightforward as anybody. But when he thought the occasion demanded it, he could obfuscate or cloud up the answer by the way he used the language. I've had a lot of fun with Al."

The secretary told his Alexander Haig story so often that it was filed with his speeches with the single word "Haig." He would start out speeches by saying that he was "sorry that my friend Al Haig could not have attended today. But he sends his regrets. 'I deeply regret that I am unable to optimize this point in time to achieve a meaningful interface with your multifaceted organization in its function of facilitating clear and direct articulation of the English language system.' Then Baldrige would pause, look at his audience and say, " I think he means he won't be able to make it."

Secretary Baldrige instructed us staffers to write in a style halfway between Ernest Hemingway and Zane Grey, and to use no "Bureaucratise." We bought up every paperback by Grey we could find in the blocks around the Commerce Department, trying to make sure we knew what was expected of us.

I learned a great deal from my Baldrige experience, but in the long run I think we write like we write and we talk like we talk. It makes us, well, us. General Haig had an amazing vocabulary and he seemed to delight in stringing lots of words together in one sentence. One evening as he spoke to a group of Korn/Ferry International partners and spouses, at the end of a very long sentence, I turned to Ron and said, "Huh?" He quietly suggested I zip my lip, and I did.

General Haig was a true patriot and memorable man who served his country well. He will be missed.

Record Breaking Day

2010-02-21T09:27:00.000-08:00

The President's Day event at the Richard Nixon Library broke all sorts of records. It was great!

Attendance was 5,068 folks, who spent $7,127.97 in the Museum Shop and ate and drank $1,118.65 worth in the Museum Cafe.

C-span 3 will begin airing it on, Sunday, February 21, 2010, several times. We had a problem finding C-span 3 on DirecTV or our cable company. If you are having the same experience, you can "google" C-span.org and look for 3 in the cable lineup. They call the programming on that channel, AH, for American History. It came across just great. Fun to see so many old pals in the audience, and I am especially proud of the panelists. Dwight Chapin, Steve Bull, Larry Higby, Ron Walker and Dave Parker via film were outstanding. What a great accomplishment to get all the "Haldeman as Chief of Staff" expertise on the record for people to study and decide for themselves how they view the Nixon administration.

We celebrated after the panel, with a special gathering in our Yorba Linda rented house. Readers of this blog know that we refer to it as "camping" because of the limited furnishings and lack of the creature comforts we take for granted in our other homes. As much as we complain about the cold and cavernous "Coyote Base," it is the perfect place to hold a seated dinner party for 56 people. Think about it, that's a huge truck load of chairs, tables and eating utensils.

The Anaheim White House restaurant loves it too. They don't often get to cater in a place where they can transform empty rooms into works of art. Flowers, flags, candles, gleaming crystal and china brought elegance to life. Amine, Geronimo, and all the other hard working staff are wonderful to work with. The fact that there were three blazing gas fireplaces, including one in an enclosed courtyard for alfresco dining under the stars added to the ambiance of a wonderful evening where old Nixon era staff and pals could gather and reminisce. It was also a remarkable opportunity for some of the Nixon Foundation's young staff to spend time with many of the people who "lived it". Those who were there that evening tell us that it was an invaluable time to listen, learn and appreciate what those days were really like. That is something they say has been missing from the day to day operations at the Library. Ron and I are so grateful that these exchanges are happening at last. Yes, they could and should have been done years ago and perhaps we will never fully understand why they weren't.

During the panel, Dwight Chapin joked about Haldeman's use of the TL2 symbol (Too little, too late.) but in this case, it's BLTN (Better Late Than Never!) We couldn't be doing what we are doing now, five or ten years from now. We are losing valuable insight way too often now: Bill Safire and Al Haig are perfect examples.

It felt good to feel good about old times. But as Dwight Chapin and the panelist pointed out, they represented many. That was very much on their minds as they put the panel together and selected photos and memos. You know if you are one of those, "many." Thank you, also, for all you did and continue to do. Please know you were missed.

News flash: The reclusive Dick Howard showed up, unannounced, to watch the panel. Ron spotted him and blew his cover and I made him sit with Lisa and Marja, but he wouldn't stay for the dinner. Too bad, because many of us miss spending time with him. He was a valuable member of the Nixon team and his involvement now would lend a great deal of insight. Which reminds me, it is not too late for others to get involved. Other panels to put on the historic record include, the Environment, the trip to China, National Security, Nominating Conventions, Presidential Advancing, Speech writing, and so much more. What was your area of expertise? What other panel topics would you suggest?

A personal note, a prerogative of having your own blog: Why in the world do we need to be able to take loaded guns into NATIONAL PARKS? I don't get it, so perhaps I must be missing a Charleton Heston moment . . . . or something? Hunting is not allowed in any of our National Parks, so the point would be? Ron joined eight other former National Park Directors in opposing loaded guns in our parks. Obviously, their letter was ignored.

The Troops Rallied

2010-02-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

WOW!

It is quite heartwarming and amazing to see what is happening here in Yorba Linda, California. Those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile may remember the one I wrote about our trip to "Rally the Troops." That was back in September, 2009. Well, the troops rallied. Big Time. President's Day will be the scene of the second Nixon Legacy Panels. A special panel will discuss the "Effective Use of the President's Time."

The panelists are Dwight Chapin, Steve Bull, Larry Higby and Ron Walker. In my mind it is really going to be the "Bob Haldeman Panel." Bob was the genius behind the efficient way the Nixon White House operated on a daily basis. He believed the key word in his title was STAFF. Chief of STAFF to the President of the United States! You didn't see him on the Sunday talk shows, because he didn't consider TV appearances to be part of his job description. It is exciting that this part of history will be discussed by four men who worked for Bob Haldeman, and recorded by C-span. Because of this panel, future generations of presidential scholars will have more information with which to judge the Nixon Administration.

Some of you will be interested to read the names of those who heard the call to rally, and have made plans to be here on President's Day. Most notable will be twenty-two members of the Haldeman family. Jo Haldeman will be leading the pack of children, grand children and Bob's brother's family. Ron and I will be hosting a dinner here at "Coyote Base" and as of this moment, it looks like it will be a reunion and a happening.

From the military: Jack Brennan, the Marine aide to President Nixon and Gene Boyer, the pilot of Marine One will both be here along with Carl Burhannan, the first black presidential helicopter pilot. It is because of Colonel Boyer's hard work and persistence that the Library has the Presidential Helicopter on the grounds. It is a favorite exhibit of many of our visitors.

An old friend to many, Herb Kalmbach, will be here.

From the Domestic Council: Geoff Shepard, who did such a great job moderating the first Nixon Legacy panel, and panelist James Cavanaugh are coming. Also, John Brown, former Staff Secretary and his wife Noelle who worked for Gordon Strachan and later the Committee to Re-elect the President. (I refuse to refer to it as CREEP)

Special counselor, Frank Gannon will be on hand. Actually, we wish he could be here every day, but he's got another life on the Eastern Shore, helping some of our old pals write their very important stories of what happened and why.

From the White House Advance Office: Jon Foust and Doug Blaser, along with volunteer advance men, John Pitchess, Peter Murphy, Larry Eastland and Wayne Whitehill.

From the Press Office: Bruce Whelihan, and Tim Elbourne's, widow, Inge will be here. She recently married Bob Frohn and theirs is a wonderful story. The Elbourne's and the Frohn's were across-the-street neighbors for many years in Anaheim Hills, California. Both Inge and Bob suffered the loss of children, and then spouses. When Bob heard that Tim had died and Inge had moved to San Luis Opisbo, he decided to drive up and offer his condolences. It was no quick trip. It was a four hour drive. He arrived with a large bouquet of roses. They spent time together. They cried together. They comforted each other. Bob made the trip often, and always arrived with an armload of roses. A couple of weeks ago, they got married. Inge is getting ready to move into the house across the street from where she used to live. Those of you who know Inge will be smiling at this moment. Especially if you had not heard the news.

From the Television office: The late Bill Carruthers two sons will be here.

And from the Secretarial Support office: Terry Decker Goodsen

Ron and I are especially excited that his sister Kaye Walker Ingerson and brother-in-law Mike Ingerson will be with us, joining our daughters Marja Walker and Lisa Walker Hart and Marcia Howard Schoenbaum and her husband Steve. Long-time aide to Governor Pete Wilson, Bob White, will also be on hand.

Those of you who are interested, be watching for it on C-Span.

I plan on doing another blog about the President's Day festivities, but I can't sign off without singing the praises of our amazing and hard working folks here at the RN Foundation. First, there is the incredible Sandy Quinn, who knows everybody that is anybody in the State, and probably on Planet Earth. Sandy makes the library run, something he has done from the day the place opened. All of the "out in front" folks plus the people who move tables and chairs constantly as events happen and the people who make the Museum Store vibrate with excitement every single day are a great bunch of hard workers.

Keep in mind, that President's Day will be a free day. "George Washington" will be on hand giving out cherry pies. All this excitement means the Museum Store will be a hot bed of constant activity. And as I've told you before, our Docents will be on hand and making the day extra special for all who come.

The Anaheim White House Restaurant will be doing our dinner here at Coyote Base. How could a Presidential Library ask for a caterer with a better name?. They are worthy of the title and great to work with. We'll raise a toast, "To The President."

Now That's More Like It!

2010-01-15T08:11:00.000-08:00

YIPPEE!

At long last, a favorable front page story in a major newspaper about President Nixon. Praise the Press. Hip, Hip, Hooray. Take that you archivist nattering nabobs of negativisms.

The Los Angeles Times on Thursday, January 14, 2010 had a front page picture and story about the December 21, 1970 Oval Office meeting between President Nixon and Elvis Presley. Faye Fiore, reporting from Washington, says, "The king wanted to meet the president. A famous photo was snapped and the rest is history. But wait, there's more."

That's an intriguing tease. It's a fun read, check it out on TheNewNixon.org.

Working as a volunteer in the Museum Store at the Library, I knew that any mementos with pictures of the president and Elvis are big sellers. We have shot glasses, breath mint boxes, playing cards, post cards, coffee mugs, etc. I have often marveled that copies of the photo that shows the president in a suit and the king of rock and roll in his white pointed collar shirt and purple velvet cape are requested more often that just about any other treasures in the National archives, including the Constitution.

To honor Elvis' 75th birthday, Nixon White House staffer Bud Krogh and Presley's friend, Jerry Schilling met for the first time in almost 40 years at the National Archives in Washington. They reminisced about the day "Elvis Met Nixon," the title of Bud Krogh's book. Schilling also wrote a book, "Me and a Guy Named Elvis."

Bud wasn't our only long-time pal involved with this event. Dwight Chapin is probably the one who was most instrumental in getting the meeting to take place in the first place. Elvis and Schilling dropped off a letter requesting a meeting with the President in the middle of the night. They gave it to a White House security guard. It was on Dwight's desk when he came to work the next morning. Dwight sends a quick memo to Krogh, who actually thinks it is a joke. Dwight always did love a good joke, so Bud acted just like most of us would have under those circumstances. Elvis wants to meet with the President. Yea, sure. But Bud decides to play along and call the Washington Hotel, for Jon Burrows in room 505, as Dwight suggested. He is actually quite impressed that Dwight found some one so good at impersonating an Elvis Presley gopher. But as he listens, he becomes convinced it is for real. He fires off a memo to chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, who also thinks they are kidding, but approves the meeting.

What did Elvis want? Why did he request a meeting with the President? The 5 page letter he wrote on American Airlines stationery, reportedly only the fourth letter he wrote in his whole life, states that he wanted to help fight the war on drugs. Mostly he wanted a great, big badge to add to his badge collection. He wanted a badge that identified him as a federal agent-at-large for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. When the President finally says, "get him the badge," Elvis is so excited that he hugs the President. They exchange gifts. Elvis gets presidential trinkets and then the secret service realizes they have a problem. Elvis has brought a gun to give to the President. He presents it to him. The meeting is over.

Elvis spends more time in the White House. He has lunch in the White House Mess. (Wish I could ask another pal, Ron Jackson, who ran the White House Mess for years, what he remembers about that day.) Incredibly, the meeting remained a secret for thirteen months. Can you imagine that happening today?

The letter to the President has been released from the National Archives. The gun is on display in our Library. The badge, with Elvis' name on it, is on display at Graceland.

Elvis registered at the Washington Hotel using the name Jon Burrows. That was supposedly a name he used in one of his movies. Anyone know which movie? Bud Krogh probably does. He is quoted as saying he is a big Elvis fan and "never went on a date without him."

Oh, and of course the reporter did have to get in a few negatives in her epilogue. You know, the usual stuff; the resignation, who went to jail and for how long, and the fact that Elvis died from an overdose. Fourteen prescription drugs were found in his system. (Wish Michael Jackson had learned something besides cool moves from Elvis.) The President later noted that his friend Elvis did not have any illegal drugs in his system.

Thanks Dwight, Bud and Bob for what had to be a fun and exciting day in the Nixon White House.

Nixon Legacy Lecture

2010-01-14T08:16:00.000-08:00

President Nixon's son-in-law and grandson did him proud on his 97th birthday weekend. Christoper Cox introduced is father, Ed, this year's keynoter at the Nixon Legacy Lecture. Ed Cox, who from certain angles looks a great deal like George Herbert Walker Bush, talked about the President's discipline and intellect. He talked about personal experiences they shared. It was interesting to gain insight into the personality of the 37th President from someone who was a part of the family inner circle.

He said that President Nixon often met important visitors in the Cox's New York City apartment. Tricia often was called upon to be her father's hostess and help with the entertaining. Her father had a study there and spent a lot of time with the Coxes.

Ed has recently assumed the leadership of the New York State Republican party. His first recruit to run for office is his son Christoper. Young Christoper Cox will be successful, it is in his DNA.

I won't try to duplicate everything that was said at this years Nixon Legacy Lecture. My daughter Marja reminded me that is not my job. The Nixon web site will handle that. Whew! The pressure is off. Go to "TNN: thenewnixon.org" to get the complete run down.

Past Nixon Lecture keynoters have been the President's brother, Ed Nixon (who John Whitaker calls Eddie), Herb Klein, former Senator Alan Simpson, former Congressman Jim Rogan, and former executive director, now turned Episcopal priest, John Taylor. Seeing this list reminded me what a total treasure Alan Simpson is. He's proud member of the American Humorist Hall of Fame. One year, on Lynne Cheney's birthday, a few of us visited the Wild Bill Buffalo Museum in Cody, Wyoming. Senator Simpson is a member of the Museum Board and greeted us upon arrival. When we were leaving, he told us he needed to ask our opinion about something. We gathered around, honored to be asked to opine by the likes of the good senator. He bent his lanky, tall-self down, gathered us close, and asked, "When the chips are down, does it mean the buffalo is empty?"

I would have loved to have been on hand when Alan Simpson gave his Nixon Legacy Lecture. It would be great if he'd bring his wonderful wife Anne and come to the library again, and very soon.

Celebrating 97!

2010-01-09T07:26:00.000-08:00

President Nixon would have been 97 years old today. We are celebrating his Legacy in Yorba Linda.

Yesterday the Richard Nixon Foundation, and the folks at the National Archives co-sponsored a panel discussion "Domestic Policy Initiatives of the Nixon Years: Bringing Innovation and Progress to the American People." It was great.

Geoff Shepard set the stage by explaining how the model of the National Security Council was used to form the Domestic Council. This became the way policy was discussed, massaged and ranked. Eventually the ideas took on the form of a "White Paper" that went to the President. President Nixon preferred being able to study options in the form of a document, rather than having advisers presenting their views in person. He set aside time to review these papers in his small White House study. The model of how the National Security Council operated is a very interesting way to get things done. A policy would be introduced, and if the Congress did not reject it within 60 days, it was considered enacted. That';s what the Domestic Council put in place for their policies. A brilliant strategy that produced results.

James Cavanaugh talked about the health care initiatives of the Nixon administration. Such a timely topic right now, but even more amazing to realize is what could have been then. The "Family Assistance Program" was almost a done deal until the ever powerful Unions persuaded Senator Ted Kennedy that they were happy with their health care plan and didn't want it messed up. The Senator stopped his support of the Nixon program and the idea was defeated. What if indeed . . . . even Kennedy later expressed regret that it wasn't enacted in the early 1970's.

John Whitaker talked about the environment. The first "Earth Day" and the establishing of the Environmental Protection Agency. "White Papers" on the subjects of clean air and clean water resulted in the Acts that bear those names. President Nixon was responsible for those major initiatives and it is disturbing that he isn't given more credit for the many good things that were done.

Dick Fairbanks talked about energy, the Alaska pipeline, and many other exciting energy-related projects that most people had forgotten were started during the Nixon years.

For me, a young mother of three at the time, focused on our girls and running a household with a husband who traveled extensively, it was quite a learning experience to sit in the audience and hear the panel talk about the accomplishments of those years. In our home, the conversations were more often about the President's travel plans than about his policies. You can imagine, the major issues of the day were things like, Dad can't go to Lisa's parent-teacher conference because the President will be going to Whitney Young's funeral in Lexington, Kentucky. Or, Dad won't be at Marja's school play because the President will be giving a speech in Chicago. Or, Dad won't be able to make Lynne's track meet because the President will be at the Lincoln Day dinner in New York. That's the kind of stuff the Walker family talked about. I'll bet the four Whitaker boys and their Mom, Betty, talked about Environmental issues around their dinner table, when they had finished talking about sports, of course.

Needless to say, I learned so much from that panel discussion and urge you to watch for it to appear on C-span.

Tricia Nixon Cox, her husband Ed, and son Christoper flew out from New York to join us for the events of the week-end. On Saturday, Tricia laid a wreath at the grave-site of her parents. It was a moving ceremony, made even more special and Presidential, by the participation of the Sea Cadets, Troy High School Junior ROTC, our military leadership of tomorrow. Robbie Britt, a man with an amazing voice, wowed the crowd when he sang, "God Bless America," and then asked the large crowd to join him in singing that wonderful song again. Sandy Quinn, always the masterful master of ceremonies, worked his usual magic. It would have been perfect, if the Eisenhower family had been able to join us, too. They were missed.

Tricia also met with all of the wonderful docents and had a group photo taken. The docents, in their red, white and blue uniforms, as far as I am concerned, are the heart and soul of this Presidential Library. They are dedicated and well informed. As Ron said recently, "the docents know everything about this place." He was right. They really do. I still haven't figured out why they are no longer allowed to conduct the school tours. Such a waste of their vast knowledge and their twenty years of experience. Perhaps it is because they are TOO COMPLIMENTARY of the President when they talk about him and his family. Certainly we have now learned that archivist prefer to talk about mistakes and mis-steps. The very first work-day after we celebrated the President's birthday and talked about his legacy in positive terms, we were once again bombarded in the press by the latest release of documents. Not one news item was positive. As much as they want everyone to read and hear about the negatives, we can take heart because we know that is really not the way it was. Not completely. We celebrated that fact on the President's 97th birthday.

We also saluted a great American Hero on Saturday. Commander Everett Alvarez, Jr., the longest held POW in Vietnam, received the First, "Great American Hero" award from the Richard Nixon Presidential Foundation. Ron and I have proudly called Everett and Tammy Ilyas Alvarez dear friends for many years. Ron was at the bottom of the airplane ramp when Everett and the other POW's arrived home to freedom. What an emotional moment that was, the day when the American Heros finally came home. Everett had been a "Chained Eagle", the title of his book, for eight and a half years.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. A Happy 97th Birthday party that brought almost four thousand people to the grounds of the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace.

We'll keep plodding away here in Yorba Linda. Thanks for your support.

Happy New Year

2010-01-06T09:35:00.000-08:00

How does that song go? "What a difference a day makes, twenty four little hours . . . "

I can't believe what a difference a year makes. Last Christmas we were happily retired and visiting Lynne and Barry in GeorgeTown, Kentucky. We rented "Carol the Christmas Cruiser" from Cruise America. Ron, Marja, Kodai, Lulubelle, and I picked up Lisa and the boys and left Tucson on a cold, rainy and very dark mid-December morning. Luckily, departure morning was the only time we experienced bad weather on the whole trip. The ice and storms hit when we were safely in Kentucky, warm inside Muddy Ford. On the night that Stephen Hart flew in to join us, Lisa and the boys went to the Blue Grass airport to pick him up while icy rain was pelting down. On the drive back to Muddy Ford, they were stopped by Kentucky troopers and they ended up walking the rest of the way home. Quite an exciting adventure for people who live in the Sonoran desert.

If anyone had said we'd be spending the 2009 Christmas at Coyote Base in California, unretired and camping, we would have said, HUH Are you crazy? Have you noticed how the word retired ends? That's us.

Tired, yes, but making a difference. That's what counts.

Ron has assumed the leadership at the Richard Nixon Presidential Foundation with his usual determination and great ideas. With the help of Sandy Quinn, Frank Gannon, Dwight Chapin, Anthony Curtis, Jonathan Movroydis, and many others, this year is shaping up to be an exciting twentieth anniversary celebration of the opening of the Library celebration.

This weekend we will celebrate RN's 97th Birthday. Everett Alvarez will receive the first American Hero Award from Tricia Nixon Cox. Ed Cox will give an East Room talk about the President's legacy after he is introduced by Christopher, the President's grandson.

As we witness a leadership lapse from the White House these days, we naturally stop and ask, "What would Nixon do?" The library will be holding talks and reflecting on that question in the year ahead. We welcome your opinions. Check out "thenewnixon.org" and let us hear from you.

The first in a series of RN Legacy Forums will focus on the Domestic Policy Initiatives of the Nixon years. It is so exciting to be welcoming those people who were the leaders of those policies during the Nixon administration. The first panel will be moderated by Geoff Shepard and will include James Cavanaugh, Dick Fairbanks, John Whitaker and Fred Malek. The important permanent archival record these panels will create is very important and long over due. Ron and I will host a dinner here at Coyote Base on Thursday night. The panel will kick off on Friday the 8th and Ambassador George Argyros and his wife Julia will host a dinner at the Library that evening. On Saturday, it's free admission day in honor of the President's 97th. Tricia will lay a wreath at the grave site. Those of you in the area, please come and join us.

Yep, we've come a long way since we took Carol the Christmas Cruiser to Kentucky. Literally. Both in miles and mission. But, we learned many good things from the experience.

Here's some lessons from a Cruiser:
When riding the road, hang on to the fun. Brace for the unexpected bump in the road. Look out for the ups and downs. You can have fun anywhere if you really want to. Thank God each night for the blessings of the day.

And perhaps these can apply to "Lessons from a Presidential Library" too.
And I'll add:
Be grateful for the opportunity have been a part of it.
Cherish the friendships of those with whom you made history.
Honor the memory.
Preserve the history and don't let others re-write it.
Stay involved.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERY ONE!

If you are watching your mail box or front door for our cards and gifts this year, we respectfully request that you enjoy the realization that a donation has been made, in lieu of our annual cards, to the Docent Guild at the Richard Nixon Presidential Foundation. They are an amazing, dedicated and knowledgeable group of volunteers that make the RN Library and Birthplace a very special place.

MAY YOUR HOLIDAY BE FULL OF LOVE, LAUGHTER

and all the

SPECIAL BLESSINGS OF THE SEASON

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, all around Coyote Base. We've decorated our tree, it's red white and blue. Full of flags, some that I quilted, and patriotic ornaments all about the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace. The "Birthplace Ornament" holds a special place of honor.

Tricia Nixon Cox, her husband Ed and son Christoper sent us, Christmas at the White House by Jennifer B. Pickens. It's a beautiful coffee table book with reflections from the Kennedy to the Bush 43 White House Christmases. Mrs. Nixon adored Christmas and was known for the beautiful decorations during the Christmases she was in the White House.

Writing in 1969, a Time magazine reporter observed: "Few presidential couples . . . have gone at the Christmastime merrymaking with quite the gusto of Richard and Pat Nixon. For the holidays they have peopled the place with choirs, Bob Hope, the Apollo 12 astronauts and more than 6,000 other Americans, renowned and unknown."

The Walker family proudly numbered 5 unknowns among the 6,000 invited guests. In anticipation of this memorable party, I made our three little girls, then 8,7,and 6, blue velvet dresses with white, lace trimmed collars. Their outfits were complemented by white tights and brand new, shiny maryjane patent leather shoes. When we were about ready to drive to the White House, they looked so adorable, that Ron insisted they have their pictures taken outside with the pine trees as a festive backdrop. During the process of posing, Marja took time out to climb an inviting tree limb, cut herself, and then proceeded to bleed all over her white collar. So much for a motherly vision of precious, angelic little girls going to a White House Christmas party.

Mrs. Nixon is credited with introducing more holiday customs than any of the first ladies preceding her. In 1969 she started the holiday tradition of candlelight evening tours. She said she wanted sightseers to see the mansions beautiful public rooms, "so filled with history, and now aglow with the magic and spirit of Christmas." White House candlelight tours are still very popular. Another anticipated event is the unveiling of the gingerbread house in the State Dining Room. The White House chef creates a new, completely edible one each year.

Another of Mrs. Nixon's holiday innovations was to showcase Christmas cards and artifacts from past presidencies. A 1866 edition of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," that President Franklin Roosevelt always read aloud to his family on Christmas eve. Another was a small fire engine that President Hoover gave to his secretary's son, as a memento of a fire in the West Wing the year before. Another artifact on display was a large dollhouse, made for ten year old Fanny Hays, daughter of President Rutherford Hays, by the White House carpenter in 1877. Mrs. Nixon liked it so much that it was on display all year and today it can be seen at the Hays Presidential Center.

In 1971 it was Mrs. Nixon's request that disabled workers be given the opportunity to make the Christmas ornaments. "State balls" were made for each of the 50 states. First ladies have continued the tradition of the state balls, and Laura Bush took the tradition a wonderful step further, by highlighting each of our National Parks as part of the state balls collection. Even in years when the state balls were left packed away, the First Lady will often commission new ornaments to represent all fifty states, continuing the tradition inspired by Mrs. Nixon. In 1971 she told an interviewer, "I suppose of all the places we've spent Christmas, the White House must be our favorite."

Thank you Tricia, Ed and Christoper for a thoughtful and beautiful gift.

When President Nixon appointed Ron to be the Eighth Director of the National Park Service, I made a special request. It had bothered me to see that the National Christmas Tree on the mall was one that was cut down and trucked to Washington each year. I thought it would be a grand idea to plant one on the mall. A permanent National Christmas tree. Secretary of the Interior, Rogers C. B. Morton thought it was such a good idea that he took full credit for the innovation. I'm OK with that, because our permanent National Christmas Tree came to be. I'm proud of "my beautiful Christmas tree" on the National mall and delight in watching the "Pageant of Peace" tree lighting ceremony each year on live television. The Walker family attended the event one year when Ron was Director. It was a freezing, but festive ceremony. Another year I was on hand when First Lady Barbara Bush rode a cherry picker basket to put the finishing decorations on the top of the tree. One great and gutsy girl, that "Bar."

In 1972, Mrs. Nixon chose the theme "Nature's Bounty" and the White House decorations were done in Della Robbia style. She told reporters that she had always liked Della Robbia wreaths, in which real fruits are mixed with greenery and pine cones, and for years had given them to friends as Christmas gifts. My mother did the very same thing. We always had Della Robbia wreaths in our home at Christmas, and we gave them as gifts, perhaps it was originally a California thing.

As 2009 comes to an end, we pray for our country. We pray for the current President and his family as they prepare for their first White House Christmas. Carved in the mantel of the State Dining Room fireplace, surely decked in festive holiday tradition as I write this, is the inscription written by John Adams: "I pray Heaven to Bestow the Best of Blessings on THIS HOUSE and on All that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but honest and Wise Men rule under this roof."

Let us all add an AMEN to the prayer of President John Adams.

Presidential Libraries

2009-12-06T02:24:00.000-08:00

QUESTION: What city is a small stone?

ANSWER: Little Rock.
QUESTION: Who threw a little rock in the Arkansas River and the ripples caused a multi-million dollar downtown economic development to erupt?
ANSWER: Bill Clinton.

Ron and I were in Little Rock to attend a meeting of Presidential Library leaders at the Clinton Presidential Center. It is located in the downtown River Market District. The Presidential Library and Museum, within the Clinton Presidential Center and Park, includes the Clinton Foundation (Little Rock office) and the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. They also have a Great Hall which seats 250 that can be used for special events. The surrounding 30 acre park replaced an industrial site of old, run-down warehouses. Hearing that, reminded me that the JFK Library site was once a landfill-dump that huge rats called home. Today it is a beautiful and dramatic ocean side site.

Thirteen libraries are part of the organization and only two were not represented at the meeting, due to scheduling conflicts, Reagan and Carter. The exchange of information was both interesting and helpful.

You may remember that President Clinton announced that his Library would be a "bridge to the 21st century". It does resemble a classic covered bridge, only it is made of steel and glass. The top floor, overlooking the river, is an elegant, two-bedroom apartment. The first evening, we had an amazing five course dinner in the apartments library. Actually a library within a library. We were told that the President stays there on an average of twice a month. His may be the only Presidential Library with an in-house award winning chef. Jacob Peck, executive chef to Forty-two, recently won the Arkansas Iron Chef competition. There is also a restaurant, "Forty-two," with an outside dining area on the river. It is only open for lunch and Sunday brunch.

The next morning we began a full day of meetings. Bruce Lindsey, Chairman and CEO of the Clinton Library, graciously invited me to be a part of the gathering. I had been very hopeful I would be able to attend the meeting. Years of having to do "separate spouse tours" really bugged me. I always wanted to be a part of the real thing, not off shopping and touring while the good stuff, the reason we were there in the first place, was happening. So, thanks Bruce Lindsey, for allowing me to sit in on the good stuff. Stephanie Streett is the Clinton Foundation executive director and she was President Clinton's scheduler for eight years.

We stayed at the Capital Hotel. That's not a mis-spelling, it was named because it was a "capital idea" for the capitol city. It recently went through a major renovation and it's a beautiful property. Four stories high, with marble columns, wide staircases and lots of lovely and inviting areas to sit and read, or just enjoy the ambiance. The stained glass ceiling in the atrium has the Arkansas State Capitol, a replica of our nation's Capitol, in the center of the design. The rich, elegant Christmas decorations made the hotel look and smell even more amazing. The elevator has a fascinating story to tell. The car itself is at least three times the width of a normal elevator. The story told is that it was built to accommodate Ulysses S. Grant and his horse, Cincinnati, during his 1880 visit. In a space to the left of the elevator is a boutique, but it was originally the ladies entrance to the Capital Hotel. Wishing to avoid the lobby, ladies of the 19th century could discreetly enter and make their way to the parlor and balcony on the Mezzanine to enjoy tea with their friends.

Now that the Nixon Library has become part of the National Archives, after 17 years of independence, it was interesting to hear the other libraries share their experiences. The federal government owns the documents, so the archivist controls them and that part of the library that houses them. Foundations want to further their President's legacy. The archivists want to present the administrations total picture for all to see and study. Here-in lies the basic conflict, sometimes adversarial, often more on the cordial side, but always interesting. Each institution expressed dedication to strive for collegiality with their on-site government employees. And each is proud to be playing the role of financial support group to NARA.

I think it can be assumed that libraries with still living ex-presidents get a little more flexibility from the government than do those whose presidents are gone. It may not be true in all cases, but it seems to be pretty apparent. Modern day Presidents raise the funds to build their own buildings. Without these efforts the libraries would not have been built across America, and their individual records and archives would most likely be housed in huge warehouses in a central location. Think College Park, Maryland. The ability to raise funds for older libraries dries up with time and when their constituencies aren't around to maintain the condition of the aging buildings. Lack of federal funding is of great concern to many historical buildings and collections.

The Foundations would really like to see an organized Presidential Library Congressional Caucus to advocate for additional legislation and funding for the changing nature of records management in the preservation and accessibility of presidential records and American history.

The National Archives was established in 1934 and signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The new head archivist, nominated by President Obama in July and confirmed by the Senate on November 6, is David S. Ferriero (rhymes with stereo), the first librarian to hold the post. He says he has 10 billion things to worry about. His objects of worry include the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and of course, all the Presidential papers. Ron was one of the first library foundation heads to reach out for him and they will soon be meeting face to face.

The proliferation of electronic government records and how they should be preserved is a big issue that the new head archivist faces. It is estimated that President Obama's presidential papers will be 80 percent electronic, something that the Nixon Presidential papers-people did not have to worry about. But, one can not help but wonder if we would have had more access to them in that format, instead of them being secreted away in College Park, guarded and hidden from the president and the other people who created them. The only access to papers was when the archives were about to release some of them. At that time, the archives would notify members of the administration whose names were about to be made public.

Now that is all about to change at the Nixon library. A wing has been built to house the papers, and truck loads of documents are scheduled to begin arriving any day now. The archivist are preparing to be overwhelmed by the load that is coming. Their aim is to have them all available on the internet at some later date. No small task, obviously. At the JFK library, AT&T offered to scan all of their documents and provide internet access to them. They are working feverishly, but the endeavor has proved to be more daunting than anyone envisioned.

The National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA) Presidential Libraries include: Herbert Hoover Library, West Branch, IA, Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY, Harry S. Truman Library, Independence, MO, Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene,KS, John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library, Boston, MA, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, Austin, TX, Richard Nixon Library and Foundation, Yorba Linda, CA, Gerald R Ford Library and Museum, Ann Arbor, MI and Grand Rapids, MI, Jimmy Carter Library, Atlanta, GA, Ronald Reagan Library, Simi Valley, CA, George Bush Library, College Station, TX, and William J. Clinton Library in Little Rock, AR. Soon to be added to the system is the George W. Bush Library on the campus of Southern Methodist University. Mark Langdale, the GWB Foundation President, is working on the fundraising and plans for that Library.

Locations of other Presidential papers include collections in the Library of Congress and various libraries and historical societies around the nation. I was very interested to learn that numerous collections of presidential papers are in the Huntington Library in Pasadena, California, an almost annual field trip destination during my school days. If anyone told our classes about the Presidential papers, I've long forgotten they were there, but I do remember the beautiful gardens, the peacocks and Thomas Gainsborough's paintings of Blue Boy and Pinkie. The Huntington also has a Chinese garden, something we hope to do at the Nixon Library. I want to go and see it. My brother, Rob, said he'd meet me there. He lives in Simi Valley, near the Reagan Presidential Library. A visit to the Huntington Library, near where we grew up, is on the to-do list right after the holidays.

On a more personal note, it is fun to report that Lynne and Barry are here with their two dachshunds, Jackson Hole and Teton Spirit. Kodai and Lulubelle are excited to have their "cousins" visiting again. Now, there is a herd of dachshunds running around Coyote Base, doing "puppy burns" up the front staircase, down the long hall way to Marja's suite, and down the back stairs, and then skidding across the marble floors in the "state rooms." It's hilarious and keeps us all laughing. They bark at the bunnies on the back hill, neighbors walking on Winners Circle, cars going around the circle, and the owl that sits on the peak of our roof and salivates at the sight of them. We look forward to having our grandsons and Lisa join us on Lynne's birthday, December 26th. They will not be bringing their two Rhodesian ridgebacks.

Our luminaries light up the front yard beside the American flag, white lights twinkle on the balcony, the tree is waiting to be decorated. It will be a red, white and blue Christmas tree and theme for us here in Yorba Linda. We salute President Nixon and his legacy with all things patriotic. God Bless all of you during this wonderful time of year, God Bless the President, and may God continue to Bless America.

BLESSINGS!

2009-11-29T06:09:00.000-08:00

Lulubelle enjoying the view aboard "Moss One."

During this special holiday, dedicated to blessings, we are reminded to think about them. We count the many ways that we are blessed. A good and generous God, our faith and grace, family members to love and cherish, dear and special friends, pets that love us unconditionally, wonderful memories that make us smile, medical miracles that heal us, and beautiful places that re-charge our batteries.

My Blessings overwhelm me. My Blessings bury me in goodness. I love the song that reminds us to count our blessings instead of sheep and "you'll fall asleep, counting your blessings. That's a good thing and something we should remember to do every single night when we crawl into bed.

We received an amazing, unexpected, never-even-dreamed about, blessing at the beginning of Thanksgiving week. We got an e-mail from dear friends, Dianne and Bill Moss. They suggested we might like to use their jet-share and go to Jackson Hole for a few days. We were surprised, overjoyed, excited, and mostly blessed by their thoughtful and most generous kindness.

We hadn't seen our little cowboy cabin, dubbed "The Director's Cabin" since mid-summer. It was here that Ron talked to Kris Elftmann, Nixon Foundation Chairmen, multiple times each day about the process of doing a search. Then when Kris began to ask Ron about the possibility of him assuming the Presidency of the Foundation, we talked about how we better "bank some rest" if we were going to prepare to take on such a daunting task.

Dianne and Bill Moss have visited the Director's Cabin many times. They knew how much we love being in the shadow of the Grand Tetons. To sit and watch the sun light and shadows dance across the jagged peaks, chasing wisps of clouds in an endless, changing tapestry is a most relaxing way to spend time.

When the first rays of the morning sun hit the top of the Grand, it shines bright pink and gradually changes to softer golds and yellows as it moves down the range. It usually spends the day in shades of gray with white and evergreen highlights, but sometimes the hand of the howling wind snatches it away completely. When we first started coming here, I liked to say that I was going to get a Doctorate in Teton Viewing. The plan was to spend the hours needed to earn an advanced degree, quietly sitting and staring at its beauty. I think I've done it. Dianne and Bill thought, but more likely knew, we might like to have a quick visit to re-charge ourselves again. What a gift. What a blessing.

Marja, Kodai and Lulubelle, Ron and I, took off Thanksgiving morning from John Wayne airport's Atlantic Terminal in a seven-seater jet. Kodai, did the classic double-take, when he looked out the window and realized the ground was way down below him. Lulubell found the view mesmerizing. What a way to travel. We all agreed, we could sure get used to that!

As the Teton's came into view, plane side, we all took pictures. Even the pilots.

The old reliables, Michelle and Bill Arnold, had our car waiting at the airport for us. Keys under the floor mat. It only takes an e-mail, and the old reliables get the job done, even on a holiday morning. On-site manager, Ron, had turned up the heat and made sure the water heater switch was flipped. Our on-call, as needed, housekeeper, JoAnne had popped in to see if dusting or cobweb getting was needed. More blessings from special people.

We talked about the ways we could have Thanksgiving Dinner the evening of our arrival, but our little Golf and Tennis Club was closed until early December. Even the good old stand-by Dornan's in Moose was going to be closed. Then another Blessing came our way. Pat and Homer Luther invited us to join their family for a Thanksgiving Feast. Those of you that have experienced Homer and Pat's culinary expertise know how great an opportunity this was. Great home-made bloody marys, wine before the wine (Homer's description), and THE wine with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Pat's family favorite, chocolate fudge pecan pie was the perfect cap-stone to a delicious holiday dinner with pals whose friendships go back to the days of our children's childhoods. The view from their work-of-art house, atop Riva Ridge is always a treat to see again.

We cooked our traditional Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday and also feasted on lots of football, especially seeing Arizona win the Territorial Cup from rival Arizona State. (I spent college-day Thanksgiving weekends as a pom-pom girl at that very game.) It was sunny and cold outside, and cozy inside with delicious smells warming the little cabin. A beautiful fox came trotting down the road Sunday morning, hunting his breakfast, as Ron was cooking bacon, eggs and toast for us.

Somehow I missed mentioning a blessing on my Nixon Connection blog. Perhaps because it was really meant to be a part of my Blessings blog. Our friendship with Shelley Scarney and Pat Buchanan go back to early Nixon days. We went to their wedding. During Geoff Shepard's Domestic council gathering, they had a dinner party for at least 80 of the faithful. It was such a huge event, they had to tent their back yard so everyone could have a place at the table. Ron and I sat with Lynne and Dick Cheney and had a good chance to get caught up with them. Too many wonderful, long-time friends were there. I wish I could name them all, but I decided to not even try. Comraderie and a delicious dinner were enjoyed by everyone.

The long-time, Buchanan McLean home is a beautiful, charming house, amid the trees. Their grounds are adjacent to the CIA. Kristine and Gordon Strachan got turned around and found themselves inside the fence at the CIA. Really a no-no, evidently. They said it was easy to get in, but a real hassle to get back out. Since they now live in Utah, they were driving their god-daughter's car. Oops. Sure hope that being in the CIA data bank doesn't cause her heartburn every time she shops in Tyson's Corner.

Now we prepare to head back to Coyote Base tomorrow, Monday. "Moss One" will depart Jackson Hole at ten am. We HAVE re-charged our batteries, thanks to the thoughtfulness of Dianne and Bill. Thank you's are not enough, but heartfelt in every way.

Tuesday morning early we will fly to the Clinton Library in Little Rock. You can see why we get tired keeping up such a pace. Ron will join his counterparts from the other Presidential Libraries for a meeting. It should be an interesting get together, and the subject of my next blog. Stay tuned.

The Turkey Has Landed

2009-11-22T12:06:00.000-08:00

On his first Thanksgiving in the White House, November 27, 1969, President Nixon told a group of senior citizens, “In our family we always had Thanksgiving as a family day. We have in the past, and we do now. Our parents cannot be here now, but we wanted people who have been with this Nation for so many years, who have lived good lives, to be here as our guests today. We feel that you are part of our family and we invite you here as part of our family, The White House family, the American family."

"You have seen the menu. It is the usual, of course. Turkey and all the things that go with it, and pumpkin pie for dessert. Seeing turkey on the menu reminds me that when this country began, Benjamin Franklin argued that the National Bird should be a turkey rather than an eagle. Now, I think he was a very wise man, but the final decision to have the eagle was a better one. When Neil Armstrong landed on the moon, it would have sounded rather funny to say, 'The turkey has landed.' And today I think you will all agree you would not want to eat eagle."

Would you like to have an authentic Nixon Family Thanksgiving Dinner? The Republican Cookbook, with Recipes for Political Success," The Brownstone Press, Inc., 1969 lists the following:

Mrs. Nixon’s Thanksgiving Dinner Menu
Crabmeat bisque
(served with corn sticks)
Roast turkey with celery dressing
Candied sweet potatoes
Tiny onions in cream
Fresh broccoli with lemon butter
Mold of fresh cranberry jelly
Iced celery and black olives
Sage biscuits
Pumpkin pie

Here are some of Mrs. Nixon's recipes for you to try:

CRAB MEAT BISQUE
1 cup fresh, lump crab meat
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
3 cups milk
1 teaspoon paprika
1 cup cream
Saute’ shallots in butter until soft. (Do not brown.) Add flour and stir until mixture is very smooth and flour is well cooked but not browned. Add crab meat and stir. Add milk, salt paprika, and cream and cook over very low heat until thickened. Keep warm by letting stand over hot water. If desired, the bisque may be garnished with finely chopped chives. Serves six.

CELERY DRESSING
1 quart dry bread crumbs. (Lightly toast slices or chunks of dry bread and crumble)
¼ cup melted butter
½ teaspoon celery salt
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper
½ tablespoon poultry seasoning
¾ cup finely chopped onion
1 cup diced celery
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 egg
Mix all ingredients except the egg in a large bowl. Beat the egg and fold into the dressing mixture. If a moist dressing is preferred, add cold water a few drops at a time until the desired consistency is reached. Stuff the turkey with the dressing or bake in a buttered casserole until brown.

PUMPKIN PIE
1 ½ cups cooked canned pumpkin (If home cooked, put through strainer)
1 ½ cups cream
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup white granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ cup dark corn syrup
4 eggs slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 nine-inch unbaked pie shell
Combine brown sugar, white sugar, salt, cinnamon, and ground cloves. Alternately stir small amounts of cream and the dry mixture into the pumpkin until the whole mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in syrup, eggs, and vanilla. Pour pumpkin mixture into unbaked pie shell and bake in preheated 450 degree oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake pie until firm or until silver knife, inserted into center of pie, comes out clean. Cool and serve with whipped cream.

Today, we are just like those senior citizens in 1969, invited to share Thanksgiving traditions with the Nixon Legacy, represented here at the Richard Nixon Presidential Foundation. All of us here, and especially the Walker family, wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving.

We plan to spend the holiday counting our many blessings and enjoying a delicious turkey dinner. Our blessings include the many friendships and opportunities we enjoy because of the Nixon family, and the many doors they opened for us. May God continue to Bless America and give our leaders wisdom. . . . and may God Bless all of you.

More Nixon Connections

2009-11-13T10:05:00.000-08:00

We left Coyote Base (actually we should have dubbed it "Coyote Hole" since we have to walk outside and look straight up to see the sky) and spent a few days in Tucson. It was good to check on the place and tend to some business. Then we flew to Washington, DC, where the Nixon Connections occur on a regular basis. Like wheels among wheels, they come together, separate for awhile, and join up again. It's quite amazing, exciting, heartwarming and fun!

Ron and I flew to Washington a few days early so we could attend a "Celebration of Life" gathering for Bill Safire at the University Club. The Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist was eulogized by such luminaries as Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., Ann Dore McLaughlin Korologos, Daniel Schorr, Judith Miller, Marvin Kalb, Charles Krauthammer, Rahm Emanuel was scheduled but did a no-show, Donald Rumsfeld, Patrick Leahy, and Bill's daughter, Annabel Safire. Reading the names, you can just imagine what an amazing tribute it was. We like to think of Bill as one of "our own," but he became much larger than just a Presidential speech writer. He won his Pulitzer for distinguished commentary and was the most widely read writer about the English language, with his column "On Language" in the New York Times Magazine and in newspapers around the world. His books are too numerous to count

We walked from the JW Marriott to the University Club. The wind felt really cold to a couple of western desert rat/beach bums, but we braved the elements and enjoyed seeing so many friends. It was a fitting turn out.

President Nixon's Domestic Policy Staff gets together every November, to reminisce, celebrate and/or commiserate if it happens to be an election year. These gatherings have been organized by Geoff Shepard for many years and Ron has been an "honorary member" for a long time. He describes it this way: he blew up balloons and painted hand signs and made sure all these policy makers and lofty thinker-types found their seats in motorcades, helicopters and on Air Force One. It's a pretty accurate description. They always gather after the luncheon for a group photo and John Whitaker, aka Cheers, is usually in the front row wearing white socks. He was absent this year because he was somewhere on the Nile River.

Luncheon is always followed by a series of speakers. This year, one of the speakers was James Rosen, author of "The Strong Man" a biography of John Mitchell, and a Fox News correspondent. His talk was riveting, but my favorite line was his telling the gathering of Nixon administration aides, that it was their job to "rescue the caricature of Richard Nixon." I had not thought of it in those terms, but it is an apt description of exactly what we are trying to do. He is not ONLY the Herblock pen and ink drawings of exaggerated jowls, five o'clock shadows and sinister sneers. Not by a long shot.

When President Nixon appointed Ron as the 8th Director of the National Park Service, he fired George Hartzog. It was a shock to everyone in the service. George had been there since 1964. He was a legend, and enjoyed more clout on capitol hill than most people in the capitol city. George and Helen Hartzog were gracious and good to us from the very beginning. The first thing they did was have a huge party for us at the National Capitol Parks headquarters. Rangers from all over the area came to meet us, but probably the main reason they came was to tell George and Helen how much they would be missed.

In 2006, George and Clemson University awarded Ron the George B. Hartzog, Jr. Environmental, Walter T. Cox Award, "for sustained achievement in public service providing leadership in administration of public lands and for policy formation affecting our natural and cultural resources".

Ron was honored, but there was more to the plan than we first realized. George asked Ron if he would "Chair" the proposed Hartzog Institute for National Parks. It would be housed at Clemson in South Carolina. Ron accepted the challenge. The next couple of years were frustrating. One step forward usually resulted in several steps backward. People questioned motives and jockeyed for organizational positions. The memorandum of understanding was dissected, massaged and manipulated. Dean Larry Allen at Clemson hung in and refused to walk, when lesser men would have given up on all the factions that vied for positioning. Ron was ready to walk several times too, but he would always say that he couldn't quit. He had promised George. George Hartzog died knowing he had an Institute, but he did not see the Board of Directors appointed and the Inaugural meeting take place on Wednesday, November 11, 2009.

Dayton Duncan was this years featured speaker. His collaboration with Ken Burns for "National Parks, America's best idea" is a fantastic book and TV series. In his remarks, Dayton said that the first two Director's of the National Park Service, Stephen Mather and Horace Albright, were the Washington and Jefferson on the Mount Rushmore of National Parks. He said Stuart Udall was the Lincoln, and he went on to talk about the reason he felt this was true.

After his remarks, he walked by Ron and told him, "you were the Teddy Roosevelt." We decided it was a very flattering and generous bit of hyperbole from Mr. Duncan.

The bottom line is that there is now a Hartzog Institute for National Parks at Clemson University and Ron kept his promise to George.

The campus of Clemson University is beautiful. Lakes, trees, rolling hills and gorgeous views are everywhere. "The Walker" golf course is on campus and of course we had to visit the pro-shop and buy some shirts. Larry and Barb Allen, and Brett and Judy Wright were wonderful hosts and we enjoyed some great restaurants, topped off by the final nights feast at the Allen's home.

We came back to Coyote Base (Hole?) tired, but also energized at how much had been accomplished in a relatively short time. Marja, our house/dog manager, had chicken-sour cream enchiladas, and re-fried black beans waiting for us. How wonderful and special is that? The weekend was spent re-charging our batteries, and by Monday, we were ready to roll once more. I volunteered in the Museum gift shop and we kicked off the "Festival of Trains" that evening. Calling all train buffs, and kids of all ages, you don't want to miss this. There was a huge turnout, and Ruby's Diner served their famous sliders. YUM!

GramAnne aside: When I first started this blog, it was mostly to just record and write about stuff that was fun, especially the wit and wisdom of grandsons Hugh and Jake Hart. When Ron flunked retirement and the girls asked me to "blog" about our involvement with the Nixon Foundation, it took on a more serious purpose. But . . . . please allow me a little detour now and then: The Hart family was watching, "Dancing with the Stars," and Michael Buble was singing. Jake, 6 years old, said, "He sounds just like that old guy GranGran listens to, you know, that Frank guy."

What does "Nixonian" mean?

2009-11-03T11:30:00.000-08:00

It seems to me that we are hearing the term "Nixonian" used more often these days. Most recently when TV pundits were talking about the Obama Administrations criticism of Fox News. They talked a great deal about the Obama folks having an enemies list and how they were acting very "Nixonian." I know they weren't being complimentary when they said it.

I asked our in-house expert about this, the wonderful and wise Frank Gannon, and he had some interesting historic facts about the "enemies list." It was originally a September 9, 1971 memo to John Dean, from Chuck Colson. It contained only 20 names. Mostly the reason they were on the list is because they were very, vocally, anti-Nixon. Dean took that original list and expanded it to over 200 names, mostly made up of people who were against the Vietnam war. He, Dean, has said publicly that he didn't think President Nixon knew about the list. Then it surfaced during the "Watergate" hearings. Today, we are lead to believe the President wrote it himself. That is unfair and wrong.

I have often referred to myself as a "Nixonian Republican" and I never considered that I was being unkind to myself when I used that description. My parents were life-long Republicans and my mother was proud to describe herself as a "Civil Righter." Then, President Nixon's leadership also shaped me and how I think. I AM a more moderate Republican than many of our party members today and using the term just meant exactly that. My more conservative friends don't seem to hold it against me. There should be room for both mind-sets in our party. Wise counsel told us that we should agree to disagree agreeably!

I went on Wikipedia to see what their description of "Nixonian" might be. What I read was very interesting. First of all, "one never self-identifies as a Nixonian."

Oh my, what about me? I even have a button that my daughter Marja made for me that says, "Proud Nixonian Republican." I must admit that when I wore it at the 1988 RNC convention, certain folks looked at me like I had a communicable disease!

The description goes on to say, "The term is most frequently used by Republicans to attack self-described moderates; when used by Democrats it is more apt to be used in the context of the Watergate scandal and the suggestion of Republican corruption."

OK, we already knew about that and live with it everyday here at the Richard Nixon Presidential Foundation.

More from Wikipedia: "This moniker is based upon the administration of Richard Nixon, who ran in 1968 and 1972 as a conservative, only to enact unprecedented amounts of new regulations and government agencies, and expand federally provided social services. Among those were the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, implementation of price and wage controls to try to reduce inflation, and an unsuccessful attempt to provide a guaranteed minimum income to taxpayers."

Hey! Isn't this the Legacy we want everyone to know about? Now that's NIXONIAN, and it's a good thing.

I've been spending some time as a volunteer in the Museum Shop at the Library. It is fun and a great opportunity to chat with visitors and find out why they chose to visit. Their reasons are overwhelmingly positive and that's heartwarming to hear. Last week I looked up from the cash register to see John and Marilyn Wilbur walking toward me. We were classmates at the University of Arizona and Marilyn and I were Delta Gamma Pledge sisters in the spring of 1956. What could be more fun than that? After they toured the Library, they said they "had forgotten what a great President he was." So, it seems, have a heck of a lot of other people. That's the mission ahead as I see it: remind the people and focus on the Legacy of the 37th President of the United States.

Tell me what you think. How should we work to take back the Nixonian label? Maybe the RN Foundation web-site could have a "Nixonian Moment," or "Nixonianisms of Note" posted now and then. I for one would love to see it become a description to be proud of again.

The Birthplace

2009-10-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

The Birthplace of the 37th President of the United States.

This precious, one and a half story, house is where the first baby in Yorba Linda, California was born. It was January 9, 1913. The baby, the second son of Frank and Hannah Nixon, was named Richard.

The Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace is a special place in so many ways, and the little house is the gem in the setting. "The Birthplace," will be 100 years old soon. Frank Nixon, the President's father built it from a kit in 1912, on the grounds of his citrus farm. In 1959, to honor Richard Nixon's forty-sixth birthday, the townspeople and the school board designated it a historic site, and it now has National Historic Landmark status.

It truly is a step back to the days of young Richard's boyhood because the furnishings are about 90 percent original. The story told is that when Richard Nixon was first elected to Congress from the district that included the home, his brother Don's wife, Clara Jane saw the historic significance that his election represented and put the furnishings from the little house in storage to ensure their safekeeping. The house was sold soon after.

A great deal of restoration work on the house was done to get ready for the opening of the Library in 1990. The work included the installation of security and sprinkler systems. The original furnishings and artifacts that belonged to Frank and Hannah Nixon were brought home too.

I have a vivid memory of the President reminiscing during the opening of the Library. He said he remembered often waking up in the early morning to the sound of a spoon beating on a mixing bowl, right underneath his window. He said his mother always said that the clear, cool, early morning air made her cakes taste so much better. Hannah Nixon baked pies and cakes to sell in the nearby store, and she also worked at packing lemons and oranges for shipment.

Many of Hannah's other cooking utensils are also in the tiny kitchen. The piano that young Richard played, is in the small living room. Until recently, his violin sat atop the piano, but it has now gone on tour as part of the "Presidential Instruments" special exhibit. The stairs that aren't even 12 inches wide, lead up to a small bedroom, shared by three little boys. A beautiful Pepper tree towers over the house. It was planted by Frank himself. When it became impossible to earn a living from a citrus farm, the family moved to Whittier in 1922. Brother Ed was born when Richard was nine.

Richard entered Whittier College when he was seventeen. He represented Whittier in over 50 debates, winning most of them. He was a born leader and held many offices including president of the freshman class and student body president. Years later he would be remembered for two accomplishments: dancing and the annual bonfire. He convinced the college-powers-that-be to lift the ban on dancing because the students would be safer dancing on the campus than going to the "dens of iniquity in Los Angeles". During his junior year, he was chairman of the annual bonfire. The bonfire took place on a mound of earth called fire hill. The custom was for everyone in the student body to pile things to be burned on the mound for days. The chairman was responsible for putting the last item on the top, and his status as a leader of men was judged by the size of the outhouse he could mid-night requisition for the crown. In most years the bonfire was topped by a one-holer. Occasionally, a really outstanding chairman would manage to find a two-holer. In 1933, according to Steve Hess and Earl Mazo, in NIXON, a political Portrait," Richard Nixon established a record that still stands. He produced a four-holer.

It is interesting to read in the same book that Richard Nixon classified himself as a "liberal" in college, "but not a flaming liberal." Recently I heard a TV pundit refer to him as our last Republican "liberal president."

It's well worth a trip to Yorba Linda just to see the birthplace of the 37th President of the United States. President Nixon personally requested that the porch light remain on at all times, to tell everyone they were welcome to visit. Marja and I plan on doing a plein-aire painting of the birthplace very soon. Hers in acrylic and mine in watercolor. Our small way of saying Happy 100th Birthday to a true American treasure.

Mao, Now, and Me

2009-10-02T08:51:00.000-07:00

You may be aware of the current dust-up at the Richard Nixon Library. The archives Director and twelve Chinese people want the statue of Chairman Mao removed from the Hall of Leaders. Mainly because he was a mass murderer and a communist.

That's hardly new news about Chairman Mao. Certainly President Nixon knew these things when he chose him to be included with the other World Leaders that he worked with during his Presidency. It just seems to me that folks shouldn't be allowed to come along twenty years later and decide they don't want things to be the way the President, whose name is on the door, wanted them to be. They are wrong to insist on trying to change history.

The other nine leaders who have statues in the room probably weren't perfect either. But each of those chosen by President Nixon, shaped the history of their time, for good or bad. It's the way it was. It would be wrong to remove any of them now, because a few folks don't approve of what they did. As it is, the Director of the Archives saw fit to put a sign in the gallery that reads, "The presence of the statues in this gallery does not imply that the United States government, which has operated this museum since July 2007, takes a position on their legacies"

OK, but why doesn't the piece of the Berlin Wall have a sign that says the government didn't approve of it's original intent, or a disclaimer by a photo of the Presidential party attending the Communist propaganda production of the "Red Detachment of Women," explaining that the government did not approve of China's cultural revolution? I suppose. . . .one could probably walk among the exhibits and find lots of areas to criticize. Actually, that's exactly what has been done. Several missing exibits have signs that say, "Exhibit Under Renovation."

Perhaps the most disturbing, is the poster that was put up 30 months ago, announcing that a new Watergate exhibit will be "coming soon". It features a picture of the Watergate building that looks like it is on fire. The symbolism for burning in hell, perhaps?

We know the Director believes that a presidential library should include all the people who were a part of that presidency. His way of explaining why he invited John Dean to speak on the anniversary of the Watergate break-in. Alright, but it seems to me, he can't have it both ways. Chairman Mao was a huge part of the Nixon presidency. The leader who invited President Nixon to visit his country in 1972. A visit that many consider to be President Nixon's greatest achievment. It was a historic moment. How in the world can he, Chairman Mao, not be a part of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library?

Rally the Troops Time

2009-09-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

THE MISSION: Rally the Troops

We took JetBlue out of Long Beach Airport. Loved one, tolerated the other. First of all, you have to see Long Beach Airport to feel the time warp jolt. It's Olde California. Charming tile work, outdoor areas meander in an out of the really old and picturesque buildings. Remember back in the day what Santa Ana airport was like? That's still the feel at Long Beach. I loved it. I tolerated the non-stop flight to Dulles International Airport, stuck in a middle seat, but somewhat saved by DirecTV and XMradio on my very own little screen. They even had a SPA Music station and so I tried all the relaxation tricks taught to me by daughter, SpaLady Lynne.

Anyway, Ron and I, Chris Elftmann, RN Foundation Board Chairman, and Sandy Quinn, Foundation VP are off on our "Rally the Troops Tour." The Nixon Alumni have not been involved with the Library. What was the previous leadership thinking? These are the folks who lived it, who care the most about what REALLY happened, and should be shaping the message and direction it takes. So that's our mission for this trip.

The three guys met with the folks at the National Archives and the Nixon Center for International Study to spread the message about greater cooperation and the many exciting projects to come. A bunch of old Nixon pals will be brainstorming about ideas for projects, especially RN and PN's centennial birthdays and the 20th Anniversary Reunion at the Library.

I must put in a plea here for any Nixon Administration papers you might have. I know some of the alumni have wanted their papers housed elsewhere, but my thinking is this: If you lived it and helped shape it, you should be recognized for those efforts in perpetuity. Students and researchers a hundred years from now, and much longer, will be studying what happened and why. We are all proud of the accomplishements that were made, and I for one, want to make sure history gets it right. Leadership changes just like faces and personalities come and go, but the only lasting historical record is, and will be, and should be, the truth.

Ron went to the Chinese Embassy to pay his respects to the Ambassador. He took Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan's book on National Parks as a gift. He was met at the door of the beautiful NEW People's Republic of China embassy by two gentlemen, one wearing white gloves and carrying an umbrella, as it was raining lightly. The other man turned out to be the "note taker" during his visit. The Ambassador was in high school when President Nixon visited his country in 1972. After the meeting, Ron was escorted by the umbrella man again and when Ron said "schey, schey" and extended his hand, the umbrella man took off one white glove before shaking hands. The meeting room had great big, overstuffed furniture with doilies, beautiful, large tapestery wall hangings, and they served cups of jasmine tea. Isn't it amazing how perfectly predictable some things are?

I love the ambassador's card. It reads, "Zhou Wenzhong, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to the United States of America."

The February Group gathering was great with a good turnout in Dave Parker's American Gas Association conference room. Lots of glass and class overlooking the Capitol. Dewey Clower, an original member of the first White House Advance Office, started the February group, as a way for us Nixon people to stay in touch. They met the first time in February (obviously) after President Nixon's resignation. Overtime it also became a time for Ford, Reagan and Bush-41 get togethers. It stopped meeting, I think sometime during the Clinton years. Steve Bull, Kay Bulow and Barbara McCaffrey are working hard to get it going again , and they are the perfect bunch of people to get the Richard Nixon Presidential Foundation revved up.

Ron spoke, then Chris and Sandy. Then Steve asked Jack Brennan, Ken Khachigian, and Frank Gannon to talk a little bit about what REALLY HAPPENED during the Frost/Nixon conversations. Jack said that the late night phone conversation never happened. When he challenged Ron Howard on it, the Director said, "Yea, I know, but it makes such a dramatic addition." He also said that he did hold up a sign that said, "Let him talk," but Frost yelled cut because he thought it said "Let us talk." Gucci shoes gift never happened either. But just like Oliver Stone's movies, future generations will think it's historically accurate instead of historic fiction.

We have found a great deal of enthusiasm and countless offers to help. So we are really excited.

I saw first hand what happened to charming, old, and historic Congressional Country Club. After my retirement from the Reagan Administration, I spent lots of time there with my 9-holers golfing buddies, and bowling in the basement during winter time. Good grief. They spent mega bucks and made it unrecognizable and HUGE. The long driveway leading up to the entrance, and the first glimpse of the old building, leads one to think it is the same place. What a shock to walk inside.

Then I visited my old friend, Ann Hand. If you aren't familiar with her wonderful jewelry, check her out online. (http://www.annhand.com/) She is famous now, worldwide. Her most recognizable piece is the Gold, ruby-eyed Eagle sitting on a large Pearl. I get compliments every time I wear mine, and if you start looking for it, you'll see it on Hillary, Nancy Pelosi, and just about every other high ranking lady in Washington. Ann's collection includes a lot of patriotic pieces and Sandy, Chris and I picked out a bunch of great pieces to sell in the Library Gift Shop. "Good Stuff", as Sandy likes to say.

The men also visited with Brian Lamb, Chairman and CEO of C-Span. Ron did not realize he had worked in the Nixon Administration. Mr. Lamb told him he had known of him forever, and was delighted to finally have an opportunity to meet. He said he would always be open to covering events involving the Nixon Foundation, and they discussed some ideas. Mr. Lamb was especially enthusiastic about getting a group of Advance Men to reminisce and talk about their experiences. Ron says that back in the beginning, when he established the very first White House Advance Office, because President Nixon wanted the function "legitemized" instead of continuing to be hidden in the various government agencies, they were "silent warriors" with a passion for anonimity. That is not the case today.

Later they had lunch with Richard Norton Smith, perhaps the most famous Presidential Library leader and planner of our time. Somehow he makes me think he is the Dominique Dunn of Museums and Libraries.

Friday night we gathered for a no-host dinner in the Flag Room at Smith and Wollensky's, the site of so many special gatherings and events. Lots of old pals having a good time just being together.

We took the train to New York and had dinner with our special pals, Don and Ginny Vinson. They are on TDY at Sloan Kettering while both Ginny and son, Mark, receive cancer treatment. We needed some face time and hugs with them during this very difficult time in their lives and we continue to offer up prayers and blessings for them.

New York City was on overloaded grid lock. President Obama's presence at the United Nations, plus over 100 other heads of state, made things more chaotic than ever, and New York is never very normal. We were on the 33rd floor, and our hotel was hosting the Chinese delegation, plus the presidential helicopter crew members, and probably a lot of other folks that we weren't told about. All night long, something banged and thumped. We couldn't figure out what could be happening. Then we learned that it was the Fitness Center on the 35th floor, where people were lifting weights and working out. We guess that security folks, who have to stay in top physical condition, and work in rotating shifts, work out at any hour of the day or night. That was either the source of the constant banging, or the hotel is haunted by former UN members and diplomats spending eternity banging their heads against the wall.

On Monday we had lunch with Tricia Nixon Cox, her husband Ed, and son Christoper. Tricia is very supportive and grateful that Ron has agreed to serve the Foundation at this time. Ed is now the New York Republican State Chairman, a post he said he won because Christoper was his campaign manager. Christoper is a very impressive young man, and admitted he wants to run for office someday. Of course he does, it's in his DNA!

That evening Sandy and Mike McManus met us at Buddakahns for dinner. It's a "nouveau asian" eatery, dark, and almost dungeon-like. We feasted on lots of interesting delicacies, my favorite being the Peking duck. Yum. We always have a special time with Sandy and Mike.

Tuesday, Ron spent some time with Roger Ailes, President and CEO of Fox News. We had dinner with our wonderful long-time friends Warren and Sunny Adler at one of their New York clubs. A place where authors and literary leaders like to gather. The city was so congested, that we hired a pedi-cab to help us find the Century Club. It's one of those places that you only know where it is if you have a need to know where it is, so of course it's not marked. Signage on the street would be tacky, I suppose. But the pedi-cab driver pedaled in and out of taxi cabs, limos, and buses as we enjoyed being the fastest thing moving. Warren is being honored by his, and Sunny's, alma mater, New York University. His many books and movies are an amazing accomplishment. Also, two retrospectives on "War of the Roses" are being planned. At 83, he still writes everyday.

We hopped on the train again, for the short trip to Philadelphia. Such a civilized way to travel. We had dinner with Julie Nixon Eisenhower, he husband David, and their daughter Jenny. Julie's exuberance for Ron's leadership at the Foundation is very gratifying and we talked about lots of exciting ideas for the future. She loved the idea of a Chinese Garden as a tribute to her father's historic trip in 1972. We plan to talk to the Chinese community leaders here in Southern California. It would be great if this could be a partnership effort. I can hardly wait to join them in the garden for Tai Chi in the early mornings.

David Eisenhower was recently voted the most popular professor on the Pennsylvania campus where he teaches. He is wonderful, and so is daughter Jenny, a gifted actress and singer,who will be opening in May with the lead in "Fiddler on the Roof."

Then we represented the Foundation at the memorial service for Ambassador Lenore Annenberg, at the Academy of Music. It was a beautiful and elegant tribute to a most generous philanthropist, complete with music by the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. The participants included Tom Brokaw, Michael Bloomberg, Ed Rendell, Sandra Day O'Conner, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, David Dreier, and by video, George and Barbara Bush, HRH The Prince of Wales, and Colin Powell. And that's not even the complete list. You probably remember that President Nixon appointed Walter Annenberg to the Court of St. James, where Mrs. Annenberg charmed the royal family and also the commoners. Later she served as President Reagans Chief of Protocol, where she also gained the rank of Ambassador. But, as much as she was a high ranking member of society, she helped countless people and institutions with her generosity.

All in all, it was a good trip and I think we accomplished our mission. Now we have to go to work. Stay tuned!

TDY

2009-09-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

To all my friends who might be wondering where we are and what we have been doing:

Well, here we are on TDY. The old military term for "Temporary Duty Yonder" . . . we are starting a year or so living in Yorba Linda, California. Yorba is the name of the family who founded this area, and Linda means pretty in Spanish. It is pretty.

We rented a house that is a bit over the top. It's huge, in a chopped up, cavernous way, with two staircases, six bedrooms, six bathrooms and a swimming pool that looks Greecian/Las Vegas gawdy, with three waterfalls and four spitting lions. You know I couldn't make that up.
My favorite spot is a little prayer garden in the side yard that has a statue of the Virgin Mary and a little bench for solitude and meditation.

Ron was recruited and persuaded to serve as the first President of the Richard Nixon Presidential Foundation. When the long-time executive director, John Taylor, resigned to become a full time Episcopal priest, the Foundation Board launched an executive search to find his replacement. They chose Korn/Ferry International. Board Chairman, Kris Elftmann, was advised by Sandy Quinn to contact Ron Walker to help him understand the search process. The more Ron and Kris talked, and it was quite often, the more Kris came to realize who should do the job. (It reminds me of George W. Bush asking Dick Cheney to lead his search for a Vice President.)

Ron told Kris he was "too old and very happily retired," for weeks. Kris wouldn't accept that answer. Finally, at dinner one night with Linda Elftmann, Sandy Quinn and me, Ron said, "If you really want me to do this you will have to get 100 percent of your board behind this. I won't do it without that kind of support, and I will put a succession plan in place immediately. I will only do it for a year to `18 months." Kris jumped on the challenge and pulled it off . . . . and here we are. Every once in a while we look at each other and GULP!

But, as so often happens with our wonderful family, Ron comes complete with his own "Verizon Network." Marja came with us and is our House/Dog Manager. Being the sole proprieter of her MarjaDesign Graphics Company, she can work anywhere that is wifi enabled. She is officed in the living room, at the front of the house.

We came to the Library in June when Ron was asked to speak to the Young President's Organization. They were meeting at the La Casa Pacifica, the Nixon's former home in San Clemente. It is now owned by Gavin and Ninetta Herbert. It was during this visit that Ron gave Kris the 100% Board Challenge, but nobody else knew what was in the works but Sandy Quinn and Linda Elftman. Ron and I flew up to Jackson Hole and spent three weeks "banking rest" while Ron and Kris talked multiple times daily. Marja held down the Tucson fort with the doggies.

When the Board voted unanimously for Ron to assume the leadership of the Foundation, they also voted to change the title from Executive Director to President. Tricia Nixon Cox and Julie Nixon Eisenhower, both board members, were grateful and gracious in expressing their appreciation that Ron would consider taking on this role.

Now we, "the network," had to get to work. Marja and I drove over with the dogs, our brother and sister dachshunds, Kodai and Lulubelle. Ron flew over. Lynne and Barry flew in from Kentucky. Lisa volunteered to be in charge of the Tucson house.

We got three rooms at the Fullerton Marriott and proceeded to find a house to rent. We found this beauty, and finalized the deal. We dubbed it "Coyote Base." Then we took the dogs to play on Newport Beach, my girlhood stomping ground.

In the meantime, the Library Foundation Staff and all the docents welcomed us in the East Room. We had a catered lunch with the staff and felt very welcome and appreciated. Sandy, Frank Gannon, Ron and I drove up to the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel to have dinner with our wonderful, and longtime friend, Bruce Herschenson. He's one of the treasures of the time that we represent here and the mission is to join together and work to enrich the legacy of Richard Nixon.

We know we will never get past Watergate. That's a given. But we can strive to highlight the MANY good things President Nixon accomplished. They include the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Council of Environmental Quality (CEQ), the All volunteer Army that ended the draft, Parks to the People, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and of course his Opening of China, to name just a few. Perhaps someday, they won't ALWAYS refer to RN as the first President to Resign" without at least mentioning one or more positive achievements too.

My girls asked me to keep a blog of the experience and this is my first one. We, of course, encourage everyone to get involved with the library, if you have any interest. It is amazing to realize that we are the only ones here who "lived" it. Now that the National Archives are involved and the Library is a part of the "Presidential Libraries System," quality control is needed. There was a picture of Dick Howard on a board, probably part of the "Nixon-Frost" movie set, and the name on the back was Gordon Strachan. That's just an example of the necessity for leadership by someone who lived it.

If you received this and have no interest, I won't be offended. Just let me know.

All the best, Anne Walker reporting from Coyote Base in Yorba Linda, California

Happy Birthday, Mr. President

2008-11-07T07:08:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Mr. President

Photograph by David Hume Kennerly, official White House Photographer during the presidency of Gerald R. Ford. Mr. Kennerly is a Pulitizer Prize winner for his photos of Vietnam, achieving the honor at the age of 25.

It was the summer of 1980 when the wall phone (remember those?) rang in the kitchen of our Dallas home. "This is Mike Deaver calling for Ron Walker."

Wow, I knew who Mike Deaver was, Governor Ronald Reagan's right hand man. He told Ron that it looked like the Governor was going to get his party's nomination for President of the United States, and they needed help. Could Ron come to the convention in Detroit and help?

I, of course, wanted to go too. I'd never been to Detroit. The first morning we were there, a bunch of us were standing in the lobby of the Detroit Plaza Hotel. Ron was waiting to go to a meeting. Chuck Tyson, the Governor's scheduling chief, asked me what I was going to do that day. I told him I was available for any assignment that needed a volunteer. Well, as a matter of fact, they needed someone to do a special favor for the Governor.

It seems that today was former President Ford's sixty-seventh birthday. The two men had experienced both private and public differences over the years, and Governor Reagan wanted to make a gesture of friendship. In the summer of 1980, there was lots of talk about a Reagan-Ford ticket, and the Governor had gone to Ford's desert home right after the California primary to discuss the idea. Ford declined the offer of the second spot on the ticket, but said he would support him. You probably remember, too, that rumors were flying that a co-presidency was being talked about. My assignment was to find a peace-pipe. Have a plaque engraved and have it framed, in time for the Governor to present it to President Ford, at their meeting scheduled for 3:45 THAT AFTERNOON. (Gulp)

Now, I've already told you I had never been to Detroit, so how in the world was I going to pull this off inside of a few hours? Chuck assured me that they would provide me with a car and volunteer driver. That was a help.

A short time later, a very nice young woman introduced herself to me. (I deeply regret I don't remember her name) We were sworn to secrecy as we jumped in her car and began our mission. She knew Detroit. She saved the day. I was soon going to learn that Detroit had a huge Polish population. She was Polish. She saved much more than just the day. Our first goal was to find a peace pipe. She took me to a section of Detroit that was full of little store fronts, filled with antiques and treasures of various vintage and design. We would pop in, find a sales person, and ask if they had any peace pipes. We gots lots of surprised looks, smart aleck answers, and my favorite retort, "What do you think this is, the Navajo Nation?" Just about the time we were getting really discouraged, and even talking about finding a place to eat lunch, an amazing thing happened. "Yea, do you want one with a tobacco pouch, or without it?"

Well, I figured, if you give a guy a peace pipe, shouldn't you provide something to smoke in it, too? We bought the one with the tobacco pouch. Next stop: an engraver.

As we waited for the little brass plaque to be engraved, we paced the floor of the tiny shop. It seemed like the guy took forever to put a few words on a piece of metal. The minutes were flying by and we still had to get the thing mounted and framed. Next stop: find a framer.

My wheel lady, heroine and Detroit expert, knew right where to go. Now, it really wasn't a huge secret, because anybody could read the plague, and put two and two together.

Mission accomplished: We flew back to the hotel with a few minutes to spare and delivered the precious present to the security desk on the floor of the Governor's hotel room.

Then we hurried down to the lobby bar and I was proud and happy to buy my new friend a congratulatory glass of wine, or beer, or something. Honestly, I don't remember what we actually drank, I just remember how happy we were. It's pretty amazing to look at the photo and see a little snippet of history that we made happen. Hats off to you dear wheel lady and miracle worker. I hope you think as fondly of this day that we shared and take pride in it, as I often do.

North Rim Art

2008-09-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

Yellowstone National Park: the world's first national park and one of America's best ideas ever. Many countries have taken our lead and copied the idea. To preserve and protect beautiful places is a very good thing.

We recently had the amazing opportunity to see a work of art in progress on the north rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. The road has been closed this summer to tend to some much needed maintenance and repair. We found out about it by accident and sheer good luck. We drove out to once again enjoy the amazing view at Artist Point on the South Rim. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is a place of great, wild beauty. The stone is really yellow in color, named for the golden lichens on the rock walls. The shear force of the water fall that has carved the canyon provides a scenic wonder that is a feast for the eyes and a magnet for the artists that have tried to capture it with paint and canvas.

On our way to the parking area, we were stopped by Ranger Joe. He told us they had worked all night paving the parking lot and, while they weren't quite finished, we could proceed with caution and park on the right. We enjoyed the amazing vista and spent some time taking it all in.

Ranger Joe was at the same spot when we left, and my husband Ron, as he often does, stopped to say thank you and introduce himself. Ron was the 8th Director of the National Parks and he loves being in a park and especially meeting young rangers and learning about them. Ranger Joe said if we thought artist point was cool, how would we like to see what they were doing on the North Rim?

What we saw was a work of art. Because the young project manager, Ranger Joe, was so dedicated to greatly improving the visitor's opportunity to truly experience the canyon. He wanted to improve and also preserve the historically significant work of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The CCC, was responsible for most of the work in National Parks during the administrations of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. They worked in Yellowstone during the summers of 1933 to 1941, building and repairing walkways, trails and bridges. Ranger Joe took care to save the "look" of the CCC work, but also to add safety features, walking trails and overlooks. Years of putting new asphalt over old, crumbling asphalt, had resulted in several inches of added heigth. This meant that in several places, clueless tourists could easily hop over the barriers and venture out onto unsafe presipices.

Ranger Joe had a great team working with him. Experts from the Federal Highway Administration shared his enthusiasm, and were also dedicated to providing more than had originally been planned. One of their most impressive accomplishments was the strong desire to not be able to see the "newness" of the project on the north rim from across the canyon on the south rim. They found over 600 huge boulders in different parts of the park that perfectly matched the yellow hue of the canyon. These were put in place on the boundary of the trails and overlooks, replacing the old wooden barriers. Obviously, rocks last much longer than wood, and reduces the burden of maintenance costs in the near future.

We loved spending a few days in Yellowstone National Park. The wildlife thrives. Buffalo, moose, elk, deer, and even some wolves were spotted among the trees, in the Lamar Valley and in the thermal areas. The Old Faithful area was crowded with tourists, as it so often is, but other beautiful places were serene areas of solitude. That's why we visit and why we always want to go back soon.

Big Box Fan Fan

2008-08-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

If you aren't a big box fan fan, you don't know what you are missing! So listen up!

During our army days, we lived on the island of Okinawa in the South China Sea. All military housing had at least one window unit air conditioner. And of course, the higher your rank, the more units you had. They whirred away, night and day, and as they cooled off the inside, the outside extracted buckets of water from the humid, thick-as-aloe-gel island air. Literally, they were our lifesavers. Since this was before the days of central air conditioning, our only alternative was to soak your sheets in the bathtub, climb into bed with them over you and hope you could get 40 winks before they dried and you had to repeat the process.

After almost four years, we flew home to the states, fondly referred to as the land of the big PX. But alas, we found we had difficulty sleeping. Why was there so much noise outside, all night long? Why were birds making so much noise at the crack of dawn? Whose dog was barking all the time? Then it hit us, we have no droning machine sticking out of our window. It's way too quiet here in the good old USofA. That's when we discovered the big box fan.

We run it year round. It whirrs all night long. It is the most wonderful invention since indoor plumbing.

When we stay in a hotel or motel, we phone ahead for a box fan. If they don't have one, we ask them to buy one and put it on our bill. They only cost about $19.99 at Walgreens, but considerably more at a Hilton or Marriott. But that's OK. Without a box fan, you hear all the footfalls in the halls. Every tap tap tap of ladies calling "housekeeping" as they go about their daily routine. If your room is close to the elevator, you hear the chime every time it hits your floor. And my personal least favorite, the person next door with the voice that can be heard constantly talking. What is the deal? They must be constantly talking on the phone, because you usually only hear one incessant voice. How annoying.

When we take a roadtrip, the box fan goes in the car last so it can come out first when we reach our motel. That way you don't hear the folks who arrive at your location all night long. You don't hear the people who manage to slam 53 car doors as they move into their room. And best of all, you don't hear thunder thigh's in the room above as he/she paces the floor.

A few days ago, I discovered another reason why I am a Big Box Fan fan. I recently received a mechanical aortic heart valve. It took me awhile to realize how much it "thump, thump, thumped," because the hospital was noisy and when I came home I slept with the comfort of the box fan purring away in the corner. Then, one afternoon, I saw our two doggies snoozing on the guest room bed and I decided to join them. That's when I discovered how noisy my new heart valve was. It's a comforting sound, of course, but kind of distracting when one is looking for a quiet afternoon nap. So, I cranked up the big box fan we keep in the guest room, and soon I was sleeping right along with the two little brown furry creatures that comfort and warm me. How nice! If you are not already a fan fan, think about joining my fan club.

Store bought Cookies

2008-08-08T10:15:00.000-07:00

Back in the day, as they now like to say, store bought cookies were special, delicious, and enjoyed. What happened? They sure don't taste like they used to. Now they have a fakey, fakey flavor. I used to love chocolate covered graham crakers. The chocolate got melty under the spot where your thumb and finger held it. You could lick those two and swoon.

My mother kept a stash of chocolate covered graham crackers in her bedside table. She liked to read in bed and munch on them. She thought we didn't know. She had decided my brother was allergic to chocolate since he always had a runny nose, and thus the secret stash of anything chocolate. (Marshmallows and peanut clusters were there too)

Growing up without air conditioning meant the shades were drawn and folks retired to the dark and cool during the hottest part of the day. Ah yes, a good book and a delicious stash in a drawer made those times ones of glorious retreat. Mom sure knew what she was doing. We would be in our own rooms, on our own beds, sans snacks. "You don't want ants in your bed do you", we were told. Actually, I remember sneaking dill pickles to my room during quiet time. I reasoned that pickles wouldn't attract ants. I liked pickles.

The other day, my daughter brought me a package of chocolate covered graham crackers as a special treat. I was excited and took a big old chomp. BLAH! No flavor at all. Candlewax? Parrafin? What is going on? Why would cookie makers take this drastic step? What are they thinking? Makes me wonder what other favorites have been updated and ruined. And this got me to thinking further about the state of cookies in America. Bought any at a bakery lately? They are way, way too over the top sweet. How come? You can't taste anything but sugar, which means all flavors now taste almost the same. Maybe that makes it easier on the bakeries.

My idea of the perfect cookie is the soft, raisin cookies my dear old Granny used to bake. Now that was a cookie to talk about. The dough was soft, the hints of cinnamon and nutmeg lingered on your tongue and the raisins were soft. They were not too sweet, allowing you to savor each and every flavor. Perfect. Keebler elves, call me.

Heart Surgery

2008-08-04T11:35:00.000-07:00

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10

That has become my mantra ever since I found out that I was facing aortic heart valve replacement surgery. I came across it quite by divine intervention in the middle of the night. I have noticed that when you know you are going to have this kind of "moment" it is harder to go back to sleep in the wee hours. My mind has a tendancy to create a "thinking problem" and so I got up to read for awhile.

I enjoy the UPPER ROOM and as I read the daily lesson, I turned to my bible to read the selected verses. Then I discovered Psalm 51, verse 10. That's what I need God and my doctors to do, and it will be in the form of a mechanical valve, the On-X. I saw one and got to hold it. It's awfully pretty. By renewing the right spirit in me, I hope to face the future with a greater appreciation for all the blessings God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit have sent my way. Perhaps by documenting my experience I can provide information and reassurance to others facing the same situation.

Ever since I was pregnant with my first baby, I have been told I have a heart murmur. I don't think I have any symptoms, but have been seeing a cardiologist on a regular basis. Three months ago he didn't think surgery was imminent. Now he says the function has lessened to the extent that it is time to replace the valve. I had a heart catherization to make sure all other functions of the heart are normal, and they are. Both my dad and my younger brother had aortic heart valve replacement surgery in the mid-80's. My dad got a pig valve and my brother the Bjork-Shiley valve that has since been-recalled, a process which caused the company to go broke. Fortunately, my brother has not had any problems with his valve.

A friend and neighbor, where we normally would be at this time of year when it is 108 degrees in Tucson, had the same surgery. The only difference is that she received a pig valve, or "tissue" as the professionals prefer to call it. She gave me great encourgement as she passed on the lessons she learned. Follow the rules, get up and walk, have a good attitude, and press a pillow to your chest if you have to cough or sneeze. I can do all that!

Another friend at my church said he had the same surgery eight years ago. They told him he would have two good days and then a bad day, then two good days followed by another bad day. He said, "It's all about your attitude. I didn't like the sound of the bad day routine and I can honestly tell you I never had one."

As the big day approached, our family rallied and gathered to lend support. Lynne and Barry and their two doggies drove all the way from Lexington, Kentucky. Marja made plans to move in and provide round-the-clock care. Lisa, with two little boys to worry about, was the back-up go-to guy. On Monday, the pre-op day, Marja and Lynne insisted on accompanying me to all the appointments and interviews. They made an ordeal turn into fun and time passed quickly. They, ever since they were about 4 and 5 years old, have seen the humor in just about any situation, and they didn't let me down on pre-op day.

Since daughter Lynne is president of the International Spa Association, we were introduced to the world of "healing touch practitioners." You can google it and get a wonderful, wealth of information. One of Lynne's board members knew of a healing touch practitioner here in Tucson and I was fortunate to get an appointment with her on very short notice. You stretch out on a massage table, although there is a miminal amount of touching. Soft "spa music" fills the darkened room. It is a peaceful and soothing atmosphere. No words are said in the beginning. When she did put her hands on me, the result was sometimes a feeling of warmth, but more often just the gentle squeeze of her touch. Softly, she begins to offer guidance:

Think of a safe and peaceful place and go there in your mind. I went to a chair on the deck of our home in Wyoming, right under the view of the Grand Tetons.

Picture yourself surrounded by people who love you.

Imagine a white light coming from the heart of each person and shining on you. Breathe in that white light with each breath you take. It is the healing light of love and gratitude. (I came to think of it as the healing light of God's love.) Visualize the light coming into your heart as you inhale and exiting through the solar plexus when you exhale.

Let the faces fade and remain in this peaceful place surrounded by the white light. If/when your mind wanders, bring it back to the white light, your breath, and the peaceful place you have chosen.

You can "go to" this special place whenever you feel the need, and as often as you want to go. During the post op day, as the nurse got ready to draw blood, Lynne reminded me to go to my "place." It was good and wonderful advice.

The surgery was on tuesday, scheduled in the second time slot. Before I could begin complaining about not being first, I was told that the doc was operating on a six year old in the morning. I didn't utter my initial concern. The procedure took four and a half hours. I had wonderful care and can't say enough about my gifted (and famous) surgeons and doctors.

The only down time was during the dreaded "breather tube hours," when you can't talk. That's when the terrorist, in deep cover nurse-mode and sent by Saddam, came to kill me. Since I couldn't talk, nobody could listen to my concerns nor were they too interested in what I was trying to scribble on a pad of paper. My ever keen sense of survival kept me alert and somehow I was able to thwart the terrorist-nurse's attempt to sabotage my recovery.

The other worst time was when I had to prove that I could breathe on my own, or they wouldn't remove the breathing tube. Except that I couldn't stay awake and when I fell asleep the breathing tube took over. Nobody could make me stay awake. That is, not until they put Ron in charge. He was brutal, tenacious, loving, caring and accepted no excuses. I don't know how he did it, but he finally succeeded and the breathing tube was history. Oh happy day!

My healing touch practioner came in my hospital room twice. Quietly, and bringing a sense of peace, she walked around the bed, touched me gently, and left in a few minutes. I had been told that I would be in the hospital for six days. I came home in four. Healing energy, the best of care, and some of my resolve all must have played important roles.

Talk about loving, hovering home care. My team here is amazing. Great nourishing food, soothing glasses full of ice and juice, plump pillows, and hands extended to help at every turn. And not everyone is lucky enough to have a team of four nurse doggies on hand to lend warmth and comfort. They have each picked their spot to provide healing, two on my footstool and one by each side. I can't describe the feeling of healing warmth that was present when the five of us would take our assigned places and enjoy a snooze. How do doggies know when they are needed for special assignments? God works in wonderous ways, and doggies are certainly an important part of His army of angels.

Each day brings a feeling of getting stronger. Pain isn't so much a true feeling of pain, as it is one of pressure. I have never had a bad day, but I'm not doing jumping jacks or running sprints yet either. I started out doing laps around the back yard, increasing a lap each day. Then Ron and I would do an early morning walk on the High Mesa, going a little further each time. (You gotta get out early, we have been having hot, 108 degree days. UGH) In times of quiet, I can hear the On-X valve thumping along. A comforting sound, somehow.

TIP: The thought of wearing a bra was not a happy one. Then I had an "ah-ha!" and put a "sleep bra" over a T.shirt, and behold, it was pretty comfortable. Of course I covered all that up with another shirt before I ventured out in public. . . . and I've given away all my low cut shirts and strapless ball gowns. I don't want to look at the scar and don't think I should subject others to having to look at it either.

At one day shy of four weeks since surgery, I received a a final OK from my docs. We will soon be able to escape the desert heat and spend a few weeks in much cooler Jackson Hole. I need to sit on my deck, look at the Grand Tetons, and breathe a huge sigh of thanks for the role that special place played in making my "moment" much easier. And of course, thanks be to God.

Happy Birthday, Dad

2008-06-19T08:50:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow marks my father's 102nd birthday. No, he's not here to mark it with us, so we will do it for him. I have been reading lots of tributes to Dad's since last Sunday was Father's Day. Lots of good stuff, sad stories, funny anecdotes and tributes to Dad's in our newspapers lately. It got me to thinking. My Dad was a relatively quiet and comforting presence in the background of my growing up. My mother was the dominant force in our home and in our lives. He let her be and we didn't question it. My younger brother and I came to understand that Mother has more high strung, suffered from headaches, needed to be the center of attention and loved us with every fiber of her being. This was just the way it was. Dad had none of the above things to deal with, except the last one. Dad was always happy, and always whistling an unidentified tune. We loved that, because it was always easy to find him.

Dad was born on a Farm in Fargo, North Dakota, the third of six kids. He hated the winters. When the family moved to California for the health of the youngest child, Dad was 16, and he never looked back. We had 13 valencia orange trees in our yard and every morning he squeezed fresh orange juice for me. His memory of sometimes getting one orange from Santa Claus stayed with him. He didn't lecture me about how lucky I was, but he said it was a glass of "liquid sunshine that would keep me healthy." In fact, Dad never lectured me about anything. He never yelled at me or criticized. Total approval was the greatest gift he gave me. And because he thought I was one of the most amazing peoople he had ever met, so did I.

My Granny, Dad's mother, told the story of how when the kids were small, at the end of a meal, he would always pass the plate of homemade cookies and announce, "Everyone take your cookie." The seven other people at the table would take their cookie and Dad would get the rest. Pretty ingenious for a kid smack dab in the middle of the pecking order, huh?

Temple City California was the "Home of Camellia's" and we had a Camellia parade every year. The High School marching band lead off the festivities down Las Tunas, the main drag of town. I was a pom pom girl and loved marching in the parade. We always got white buck or saddle shoes at the beginning of the school year and Dad would wear my new shoes to work (yes, we had exactly the same size foot)for several days to break them in for me. The result was that he always got the "new shoe blisters" and I didn't.

In later years, we'd always launch into a project when he came to visit. The memorable ones include building a puppet theatre for my marrionetts, a new tile floor in the basement play room, painting whole rooms, and laying carpet tile flooring in the den. When we were getting ready to lay the squares of tile on the cement floor in the basement, the instructions indicated that we would need to heat the tiles first, to loosen up the glue. A long way from the kitchen, we were momentrily stumped, until Dad said, "Get your electric skillet." So we fired up the skillet, and put the tiles in it, one by one, before we stuck them on the floor. It worked. Having to buy a new electric skillet was a small price to pay for such a beautiful, wall-to-wall tile floor in the basement playroom.

I may have inherited Dad's shoe size, but I didn't get his beautiful singing voice. He sang in a barber shop quartet and people always marveled that he had "perfect pitch." He loved Bing and the Mill's brothers and he knew the words to a million songs. My brother and I grew up singing, even if we weren't as good at it as Dad. Most of the parties I can remember my parents hosting in our home, centered around the piano and people holding glasses, smoking cigarettes and singing. It's a happy memory.

When Dad died, he was cremated and his ashes were sprinkled in the sand trap "under the most beautiful tree in the world," at his favorite hole on his favorite golf course. It makes me happy to think of him there in that peaceful place that he loved. I miss him every day and I know my brother does too. Happy Birthday, Dad.

The Wisdom of Jake

2008-02-18T10:38:00.000-08:00

JAKE: Age 3

We went to buy new sneakers for the approaching start of "itty bitty sports." Afterward, I wanted to check out a new Mexican Furniture store that had just opened. From the moment we walked in, Jake wanted to leave. It wasn't his kind of shopping experience. Not a toy or lollipop anywhere in sight. I kept saying we'd go in a minute, and asked him to walk around with me. "GramAnne can we go now," was his repeated request.

Then, in a loud voice, "I can FAWT with my AWMS when I'm naked."
"What did you say,?" I asked knowing full well what he'd said but couldn't believe my ears.
"I can FAWT with my AWMS when I'm naked," he repeated.

Of course we fled the store, I was choking with laughters, and Jake got what he wanted. The amazing mind of a three year old to realize that if he said something outrageous I would leave faster than anyone could blink.

Home Grown Pickles

2008-01-15T08:39:00.000-08:00

If you are an old phart or an old beautiful and you don't read the comic strip, "Pickles," you should start. Sometimes it is me, sometimes it is him, and sometimes I can't relate at all . . . . but it is fun to check it out.

The other morning, reading the paper and drinking coffee, with our wonderful daughter having spent the night, we had our own home grown pickles moment. I said, "Was that the hawk whistling?"

We often hear them flying overhead and it is always a thrill. Our wonderful daughter said, "No, I think it was Dad's nose."

Hey, hey . . . I'm a blogger!

2007-12-20T06:54:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. My name is GramAnne and I'm gonna dish some good stuff on my new blog, I hope. I would love to be a wordsmith like the WSJ's Peggy Noonan, and I also love the wise and wonderful simplicity of USA Today's Craig Wilson. I think it is pretty amazing that he GETS PAID to just talk about normal stuff. Hopefully, I can fall somewhere in the middle. So here goes the Inaugural Blog by GramAnne . . . .

The Olde Phart and me, The Beautiful Person, live on the High Mesa overlooking Oro Valley and Tucson, Arizona. We have three absolutely amazing and wonderful daughters, two handsome sons-in-law, two smartest-ever grandsons, Hugh and Jake, and two miniature, brother and sister, dachshund's, Kodai and LuluBelle.

I first came to Tucson from Southern California, in 1956 to attend the University of Arizona. One of my two best friends, Helen Fannie Bartlett Hudson Lovaas and I came together. Her dad worked for Union Pacific so we had a sleeper car. The train stopped in the middle of the night and the sounds of stopping woke me up. I pulled up my window shade for a peak at the outside, and immediately had to wake up Helen. "The mountains aren't pink," I said with much disappointment.

When we arrived at the old train station, we disembarked wearing dresses, hats and gloves. There is a picture in the UofA Dessert of our big arrival.

Tucson was still pretty much a sleepy little college town in those days. At the beginning of my Sophomore year, I met Ron, aka Tex, aka Crockett, Walker, the love of my life. We married between our Junior and Senior year. Our life has been an adventure, full of wonder and wonderfulness. We are blessed and those blessings overwhelm me daily. So, stay tuned, and we'll get on with the telling.

first blog ever

2007-12-19T16:31:00.000-08:00

this is where gramanne will weave her magic! We cant wait