I didn't make it to the funeral for former Gov. Booth Gardner this weekend but still I'm in awe of the man and the dedication to public service that he inspired. My smirk in this old photo belies deep respect.
In the mid-80s I was a working-class kid from suburban Seattle who was over the moon to intern at the state capitol in Olympia. Though I was literally the least important of his constituents, Gov. Gardner took time to chit-chat and pose for an official photo. (Too bad I couldn't be bothered even to take off my trench coat, straight from the Burien Lamont's!).
Gov. Gardner was a class act whose two terms made the state a fairer, more sustainable place. He also helped inspire me to get involved in public policy -- there's a squiggly line from attending dry hearings of the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority as a middle school student to running for public office 20 years later. I felt his influence again a few years ago when I was organizing an event on the "death with dignity" initiative for a community group and gave him a call. Though he wasn't well enough to make it, he still found energy to share his views.
No doubt many thousands of people were touched far more than me, which is exactly the point: our state and country need more like him. May he rest in peace.
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