Exchanging Sea Stories With a Democrat

By Tom Morrow

In 1984, Astronaut-U.S. Senator John Glenn, D-Ohio, made a run for the presidency. It would be short-lived, but I had a chance meeting with him at the famed Hotel del Coronado where I was vice president of communications.
Glenn was there for a fund-raising luncheon hosted by hotel owner Larry Lawrence. Because of my position, I was invited to attend, even though I was a known Republican.
Lawrence led Glenn around to each table introducing him. When he got to my table I made a remark that stopped Glenn in his tracks.
“Senator, when you were whizzing around the world in your space capsule, I was out in the middle of the Pacific on a Navy radar-picket plane, standing by in case you needed some help.”
When I said I had flown out of Midway Island, he recalled how he had been stationed on the small atoll as a Marine pilot during World War II. We chatted for about five minutes making Larry extremely nervous. A Republican was holding up the the candidate, exchanging Navy-Marine stories while a room full of Democrats was waiting to meet him – and maybe give him some campaign money.
I told Glenn I was a Republican, to which he busted out laughing – he saw the humor in it, Lawrence wasn’t amused.
MIGHT MAKE IT – Back in the early thirties, a movie scout for MGM was in New York looking for talent. One of the Broadway plays he saw starred Fred Astaire. When he got back to Hollywood, the scout made the following report on Astaire: “Can’t act, can’t sing, going bald – dances a little.”
SCAPG SEZ – There may no longer come a Time in a man’s life because that magazine also could be headed for oblivion (just like Life) … Cecil Scaglione, www.maturelifefeatures.com.
FIND ‘UM – You can order any of my novels online at Amazon.com. For a list on line go to: www.Amazon.com, just look for my name.
Humorous or human-interest stories or notes for my osidenews.com column can be forwarded via e-mail to me at: quotetaker@msn.com