I’m From Des Moines, IA – Video Story.

by Harold Wells

Today’s Video Story was collected on the 50-state Story Tour. Check out the blog where you can follow us on our adventure, including our stay in Des Moines. If you haven’t submitted a story yet to IFD, or if you want to submit another one, I’d love to read and publish it. Write one up and send it in.

My name is Harold Wells. I’m from Des Moines, Iowa. I was politically very involved, nationally. And was one of the six founders of Lesbian Gay Democrats. President Carter was seeking reelection to a 4 year term. And Senator Kennedy, one of the significant Senators, nationally, was challenging him as an active Democrat. And both were being challenged nationally by Lesbian Gay Democrats. So I was in Boothbay Harbor when the phone rang at lunch while we were there and Tom, the host, said to me and six other guests, “Who would be so rude as to call at 12 o’clock” and someone said, “It would have to be for Harold. Since the President is probably trying to catch up with him.” And doing it kind of jokingly we all laughed. Well he, came to the, answered the phone, came to the door. We were sitting out on the patio and said, “Harold its Mrs. Carter for you.” I went to the phone and they were all sitting with their mouth open, laughing at how accurately they had gotten. So, anyway, we talked for maybe ten minutes  and she was saying, “Mr. Wells, why can’t we get you to support Jimmy, he’s been alright on so many of the issues, etcetera, etcetera.” So I said to her, “Mrs. Carter, you’re his wife, he’s the President, he of all people should be at these conferences to let woman and other people know that he supports feminist issues and you’re doing the very thing that often people do in that send someone else and don’t go directly, so that’s the one thing that if you could get him to turn around on that.” And so she said, “I’ve made a note of that and I’ll talk to the President and you’re absolutely right, he should be going with me or without me but that he should be there.” So, I don’t know if he ever, I don’t remember if he ever did that but at least it felt positive and committed. So, that was a fun experience at a luncheon, in Boothbay Harbour.

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