He'll Be Remembered

I've told this story to a couple of you, but for those of you who have not heard it, it was one of the highlights of the memorial service for my father-in-law:

Bill was a science and environment reporter for the Nashville Tennessean newspaper for about eight years. Even though he was forced to crank out copy on deadline, he was always a stickler for good writing: proper sentences, grammar, and punctuation. For about a year, around 1970 we think, he had Al Gore working with/under him as a junior reporter, and he was allegedly a merciless editor of Gore's articles (and everyone else's).

Fast-forward to about six or seven years ago, after Clinton and Gore had left office. Gore comes to southern California to appear at a function or speaking engagement. So Bill goes with a local politician that he had worked with for a long time (the person telling the story at the memorial). They're waiting outside in some sort of line, Gore arrives, comes walking along the line with his Secret Service detail, smiling at people. He spots Bill and yells his name excitedly, and starts moving faster toward him. The Secret Service guys don't know what to make of it. He gets there and they say their hellos, and Bill says, "I wasn't sure if you'd remember me." Gore says, "Remember you? I used to have nightmares about you!"