Lady Bird memory
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- July
- 13
This week’s passing of Lady Bird Johnson has evoked memories of the former First Lady from many. This is from Herbert Geller, a North Salem resident who was the Putnam County editor for The Patent Trader, a former weekly newspaper. He more recently contributed columns on local history to the paper.
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LADY BIRD JOHNSON’S TOUR OF THE HUDSON VALLEY
BY HERBERT F. GELLER
I was sad to hear about the recent death of Lady Bird Johnson, President Lyndon B. Johnson’s wife. I had the honor of being her escort when she visited Boscobel, the historic estate in Garrison during the summer of 1968. I was then the Putnam County editor of The Patent Trader and was accompanied by my assistant editor Gordon Trayes. The managers of the First Lady’s visit apparently selected me because they considered me the dean of the Putnam County press corps.
Lady Bird Johnson came to Boscobel that summer during her officially sponsored tour of the Hudson Valley. The First Lady and the President were concerned that industrial and commercial development were polluting and ruining the beautiful Hudson Valley. President Johnson had already made his statement that he was not a candidate for reelection. But I think he wanted to show that he was not a lame duck president who was not concerned about the welfare of the country.
We members of the press and DeWitt Wallace and his wife, Lila, publishers of The Readers Digest, were all invited to a great dinner and reception at Boscobel. The festivities included the estate’s Sound and Light Show which told the history of Boscobel through music and spoken voices.
I sat next to Mrs. Johnson at the Sound and Light Show. She was very interested in the story of the Staats Dykeman family, for whom the house was completed in 1808. We also talked about the president and first lady’s visit to the Catskill area in 1966, which I attended. President Johnson came there to campaign for Democratic Congressman Joseph Resnick. I followed the president and Lady Bird through Walden and Ellenville and at the Nevele Hotel where they spent the night. It was a pleasure talking to Lady Bird and I could understand why everyone considered her a great lady.
This entry was posted
on Friday, July 13th, 2007 at 5:27 pm by Mike Risinit.
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I had the pleasure of meeting Lady Bird Johnson at a garden dedication at Westchester Community College a few years ago, during my tenure as Chair of the County Board of Legislators. She was gracious, charming and put us all at ease, even though she was the celebrity of the event.
I consider it a great gift I was given to have met her during her lifetime. From everything I have read about LBJ and his years, she was a long-suffering partner and a wonderful human being through it all.
George Latimer