He was the Cowboy Governor.
He could work a room better than any politician New Mexico's ever known.
In some ways he was New Mexico's Yogi Berra, famous for malapropisms -- the most famous being his warning about opening "a box of Pandoras." When I was in college I heard him say at a political rally we shoudl all "knock on doorbells" for George McGovern. And we loved him for it.
He was the state's only 3-term governor.
Former Gov. Bruce King died overnight at the age of 85.
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Said it on twitter, but I'll say it again - Burce King and Miss Alice...man they were such good people. At my commencement address at UNM in 1994, Bruce stood up there and said, "Now I'm here to tell ya, I got the key to life right here. All you gotta do is figure out what you like to do - and then find someone to pay you to do it." Working MYAO to figure out the last bit ever since... ;-)
ReplyDeleteBruce King and Miss Alice had me to breakfast one morning at the Democratic National Conventional 1988 - I was the youngest correspondent with national credentials at 18 - and they introduced me to all kinds of people. Like it was just the most natural thing in the world to lead me around the convention floor and do that.
I remember election nights as a teenager when everyone would be getting really into the festivities - and people would say "Where's Bruce and Alice?" and of course, they'd have been in bed since ten o'clock or earlier, teetotallers (or I heard) and early risers also.
I actually own a signed copy of the autobiography - I've almost dumped it a dozen times for space reasons, but I keep it because Bruce signed it for me and well...I actually read it. Bruce is a great hero. He'll be missed. He was a good man, really. RIP, man, you earned it.
I moved to Santa Fe in November, 1992. The very first day I was there, I got to meet Bruce King. I thought: Wow, this is cool. Move to New Mexico and meet the Governor on the first day. It was a nice start to a love affair with SF and NNM that has lasted the rest of my life. John Tull.
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