Try as one may, the passing of either one’s friends of the same age group, or icons from one’s younger days brings our mortality more to the fore, and after the recent announcement of Professor Olusola Oke’s obituary, Senator George McGovern’s brings this to mind.
I never met him but did stand feet from him as he campaigned on the Plaza of the Americas at the University of Florida in 1971 where my husband was doing grad work while I took care of our first child. Well, that was how things were back then with candidates; you could actually stand next to them with no strong arm muscling you back.
1971 is 41 long years ago. The Florida “baby” is now a grown woman with two kids of her own – all of them - Gator fans!
Senator McGovern would go down to Richard Nixon in a landslide but would become a great statesman to the end while Nixon would leave office in disgrace from findings on the dirty tricks used on the Democrats which his people broke into to get docs!
I read of his being moved to a hospice just this past week and I kept a flier out for notification of someone that [sort of] touched my life in the past.
Senator McGovern was 90 years old. May his v. liberal soul find a restful place with the Lord.
October 21, 2012
Arts & Culture