Alex, I was working on my account of the trip, and I return to find that there is general consternation at your comments on the Bushes and Florida. I have already said something about this, but let me try again, in a different way:
Almost every person I know in Florida is from some other state. My grandfather and his wife, from the District and Maryland, moved down there before they died. Friends of mine from the Bronx and Westchester took practically the whole clan down to West Palm, some to retire and some to work. One of my wife's former secretaries ended up in that area. A friend of mine originally from Pittsburgh was the biggest malpractice attorney in the state at one time, lived in Coral Gables, and is now in Bucks County, outside of Philadelphia. I have known Cubans from the Miami area. My impression is that Florida is a growing state that welcomes people, and is dynamic in absorbing new talent. I do not think it is such a backwater as you seem to, although it has its share of peckerheads, I am sure.
About the Bushes: they are not oil barons, or any kind of barons. HW listed his assets when he became Vice- president. His net worth was about 2 million dollars. Although some was retirement savings, most of it was the assessed value of the house in Kennebunkport, which no one in the family is likely to sell. His was worth about as much as Reagan, most of whose assets were tied up in his ranch, and who was not born "patrician". They are a good family, but they are not wealthy, and they have a Yankee plainness and devotion to public service that reminds me of other New Englanders I have known.
By the way, no real redneck is going to appreciate the marriage that Jeb made, or the particular George that resulted from the union........ |
