In loving memory of my very dear 6-foot-7-inch Republican senator friend
In loving memory of my very dear 6-foot-7-inch Republican senator friend In memory of Alan Simpson, who died this morning Robert Reich Mar 14 Friends, My old friend Senator Alan Simpson died this morning. He was 93. Our friendship began at one of those interminable Washington receptions I had grown to hate. They were always stand-up events where I was expected to engage in small talk with dozens if not hundreds of people I didn’t know, moving among groups while trying to balance a drink with a napkin containing cheese puffs or tiny cucumber sandwiches, and shaking hands as if enjoying myself. The hardest part was deciphering what people were saying to me because their voices emanated a foot or more above my ears and the ballrooms were invariably noisy. When encircled by the taller-than-normal men who tended to be senators and members of Congress, I felt as if I’d fallen into a well. At this particular reception, a senior senator on the Judiciary Committee began telling me somethi...