I met Helen Thomas at an event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Helen was the first female officer of the National Press Club.
In my short nine-year career span, I’ve been lucky to meet some interesting people or at least get very close to them to take some good photos. As a journalist, I’ve met local congressmen, Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and now U.S. Sen. Mark Warner among others. I’ve covered one NASCAR race where I snapped some great photos of drivers such as Carl Edwards and Jeff Burton and literally sat about 15 feet away from the media table. As a fan, that experience put a totally different perspective on racing.
Last year I took photos at an event where now President Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton both spoke. When you put it all together, that whole six degrees of seperation thing really makes the rest of the world seem so small. But have you ever thought of how closely connected you are to the past? How many people have you shook hands with that connects you to people no longer here, who then connect you to a deeper past.
In my current position in the public relations world has led me to meet some interesting people, such as wrestler Mick Foley, but yesterday I met THE DEAN of the White House Press Corps … the one and only Helen Thomas. THE Helen Thomas who, just a few days ago, turned 89 and received cupcakes from Obama (who now pretty much ignores her in press conferences). It was a privilege to hear her speak for a few minutes. And it was amazing to see the respect that many in the small gathering had for her. As a former journalist, I’ve always been indifferent toward her, but since meeting her yesterday I’ve thought a lot about those six degrees of separation to the past.
Helen has covered every president since John F. Kennedy. Assuming that every president shook hands at some point with the previous president in office, the six degrees to past presidents for me now goes like this: me-Helen-JFK-Eisenhower-Truman-Roosevelt. I’m sure if I spent a day of research I could figure out a link to go back to another president or two. A lot of people may take that for granted, but I certainly appreciate being that close to so many U.S. presidents.
