"All in the Family" cast signed photograph
Tragic news about Rob and Michelle Reiner out of Hollywood last weekend. When I was in politics, he and I were on polar opposites of the spectrum, but the current levels of inflammatory dialogue between political combatants these days did not infect my one encounter with him.
It was 27 years ago. He came to see me when I was in Washington to lobby me to support his initiative to raise taxes on cigarette smokers and to divert the money to (in his words) early childhood health and education programs; in my words, to the public health bureaucracy and to the teachers' unions. Needless to say, the conversation didn't end in any agreement, but the debate was polite and even good-natured. Beyond that, it was great fun to hear a few of his back stories from the iconic television classic, "All In The Family," and he was good sport enough to add his John Hancock to this photo.
May he and his wife rest in peace.
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