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I get to meet a bunch of heroes in this job. That's just one of the many side benefits of this gig. Think about it. Some jobs bring health insurance, 401K, discounted eyeglass prescriptions. I get heroes.
I got an extra kick out one of the stories I posted last week on the Heroism page. I'm talking about the one with the story of Arkansas' Lt. Governor Bill Halter pulling an elderly woman out of a burning home.
It's a good story on its own merits--big time politician does good. For me, though, it brought an extra smile.
See, I knew Bill Halter before he was a hero, before he was Lt. Governor of Arkansas.
We met my freshman year at Stanford in a way that confirms for me that some college administrator had a big sense of humor.
Bill was a couple years ahead of me and assigned to be my upper classman academic advisor. A quirkier match has never been made. There was Bill, from Little Rock, AK--so serious! and beyond super smart intelligent. Truman Scholar, Rhodes Scholar, shoot his scholars had scholars.
And then there was me--from Southern California, majoring freshman year in an ever-expanding social life and let's just say not quite as dedicated or capable in the academic pursuits as Bill.
And yet, that administrator must've picked up on something because as Humphrey Bogart says in Casablanca, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Long before Lt. Gov. Halter pulled the woman out of the burning building, he helped pull me out of some burning academic situations.
Our friendship continued long after graduation. I headed into the news world, Bill headed into politics, climbing the ladder in the Clinton administration. It wasn't that big a stretch for our paths to cross.
Long before Bill met his lovely wife, Shanti, he needed a date for one of those Clinton inaugurations. I gladly stepped in. It was hardly a big sacrifice to have a ball at the ball.
Along the way, we've cheered on each other's paths. He's clearly setting the world on fire in more ways than one and I think, much like my freshman year, still smiling and yes, sometimes cracking up at the choices I make.
And now the world knows about Bill, what I've known for many years--that he's a hero.
Congratulations, Bill, er, I mean, Lt. Governor!
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