I Finally Make the New York Times!

No, not a book review. That would be nice, but you gotta take what you can get. The picture below appeared in the NYT a couple of days ago, in connection to the current activity of former Watergate conspirator John Dean. It shows Dean being sworn in before the Senate Investigating Committee in 1973.

To Dean's left there is a guy looking at a pad of paper. Above that guy's left shoulder, right where his sleeve meets his coat, you can see the top of a blond head. That's my head! I was eleven years old and my family was taking a trip across country when we happened to be in Washington for Dean's historic testimony. My dad is the man standing against the back wall right over the left shoulder of Notepad Man. Notepad Man is blocking my sister and mother, who were sitting to my right.

A nearly identical picture, taken from a higher angle, appears in Dean's book Blind Ambition. In that one my sister and I are clearly visible, which is how I know that the scalp in this picture is me.

I was a bit young to truly appreciate the historical significance of Dean's testimony, but listening to my folks talk I knew it was big.

Now, the next New York Times appearance had better be a glowing book review...