A Chance Meeting with former Governor Dukakis (with photo)
Mary, a friend of mine who is in town from Fort Worth, Texas, but who grew up in Boston, was riding the subway late this afternoon with her two teenage kids when a famous person whisked by them on the Orange Line platform. It was former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis on his way to Northeastern University to teach his poli sci class. They noticed that he picked up a piece of trash on the platform before boarding the train. My friend asked him, “Are you Gov. Dukakis?” He responded affirmatively, and they were off to the races. A lengthy conversation ensued. They talked about his presidential run, he remarked that if “I were governor the weather would be better,” and he mentioned that he and wife Kitty had gone to Austin over the winter for a political meeting. Ever the politician, he talked to everybody who noticed him, reported my friend. He was happy to pose for this pic, too.
July 9th, 2009 at 12:01 am
Actually, I used to be on the same green line (B) car with him commuting in the early 70’s sometimes. He was pretty notorious for taking the T all the time then, and probably ever since.
July 9th, 2009 at 5:25 am
Reassuring to know he survived being a candidate. Nasty as that race was, it seems benign compared with current ones…or is it the rosy hue of “the good old days”?
July 9th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
I had some brief encounters with the man way back when. I was dating a daughter of one of his good friends from Brookline. He always seemed to be a nice fellow. I’ve had major disagreements with some of his politics, but never with the idea of his intrinsic sincerity.
July 9th, 2009 at 3:50 pm
[...] It can’t be for defense, what with the Brookline people taking over the Orange Line. [...]
July 13th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Oh dear. I don’t think he’s aged welll. A million years ago I had a chance meeting with the then Governor Jerry Brown in a LA restaurant and we talked about, believe it or not, how Teddy Kennedy was in favour of National Health Insurance, so he’d never have a chance.
I wonder how Jerry looks now.
Geez this makes me feel old.