The Gardner Years

Day 172: Yesterday I learned that a man I admired greatly had passed away on March 15. Understandably, I was shocked and saddened by the news, moreso because I had known him personally.

Booth Gardner was Washington's 19th Governor. At the time he was elected, I was a young harper who had just gotten her first serious engagement after a few years of performing at dinner events. As I was packing my equipment away, a woman approached me and asked if I would be interested in playing at the newly-elected Governor's wife's Inaugural Tea. I jumped at the chance. That fortuitous event led to another engagement at an inaugural dinner, and then to more invitations to play at the Governor's Mansion over Gov. Gardner's eight years in office.

Booth Gardner was a humble man, a philanthropist and as genuine a person as one could hope to see in public office. He was clear in his politics, firm in his convictions, and a champion of the working man. If he had a personal agenda, it was only to be admired and respected by his constituents, and his every action spoke of his commitment to that goal. He brought the state to the forefront of environmental legislation early in his career despite family ties to one of the largest timber companies in the region.

However, it is not for his politics that I remember Booth Gardner. It is for our first meeting when he offered a handshake and I, in my mediaeval garb and persona, placed my hand daintily in his and gave a curtsey. It was hard to keep in character when he responded with a curtsey of his own! Later that evening, I took him aside to explain that a gentleman bows. He was not the least bit embarrassed by the gaffe, and we spent fifteen minutes practicing the proper etiquette before I went home.