Mr. Mc's brush with fame!

Tonight took a surreal turn. After the afternoon session (more on that in a later post), we had been invited to Tosca for a dinner in our honor hosted by Catherine B. Reynolds, the benefactor for this fellowship.We arrived to find books on each chair. We sat and waited for a few minutes for the Reynolds, when a man who was not part of our group entered and took the seat beside me. It was Chris Matthews, a long-time reporter/political analyst and host of Hardball on MSNBC. The Reynolds and Mrs. Matthews joined us shortly after and I have to say it was a thoroughly enjoyable night. We discussed speechwriting for President Carter, politics, the orphan trains in the early 20^th Century, technology and education and the future of Haiti. Mrs. Reynolds was genuinely interested in the work we did. It was clear this isn’t just a charity shesupports but a passion. Mr. Matthews seemed a little weary at first but wasextremely gracious. Weary was understandable-he had several events this weekend and had returned today from the funeral of the president of his alma mater’s (HolyCross). I at first was concerned (and a realistic one for anyone who knows me) that I would just be a blithering idiot but you were quickly put at ease by them—Mr. Reynolds and Mrs. Matthews were equally engaging and interested. The book was Mr. Matthews’ latest on John Kennedy and, after dinner, he offered insights about the upcoming election and why he was drawn to write about President Kennedy. It was a cool evening.