In January of 1983 I kissed Babbie good bye, got into my Wagoneer, and drove from Anchorage to Skagway, where I drove it onto a ferry for the hundred mile ride to Juneau. The first day of the 13th Alaska Legislature I got to the Capitol at 6:00 a. m., ready for my education in how a legislature worked.
I was a 37 year old lawyer, with a beautiful wife, three fine looking sons, and the political protégé of outgoing Republican Governor Jay Hammond. I’d done important service for Hammond in his 1978 reelection campaign, and he had rewarded me with a tailor made seat in the State Senate.
I believed in Hammond, and I was prepared to continue his work, and protect and defend his legacy, the Alaska Permanent Fund. I was on the side of the righteous, and a friend of the Natives, as well as being a Reagan Republican.
So the next eight years of my life were quite interesting, not least because of all my fellow legislators. You got to know people pretty well back in the legislatures of those days. They were an interesting bunch, and I’ve never forgotten them.
One of them, Mike Szymanski. has set up a Zoom meeting for a bunch of us. Now that I’m looking forward to.
reaganproject.com 