Diana Fleetwood O’Brien remembers Ed & Joyce:
I don’t really have anything worthy of being in the book. But I’ll tell you what I remember. I have a fond memory of sitting next to Ed at a meeting, and him passing me a note. I don’t remember what it said, but I responded by cribbing something out of National Lampoon and wrote back, “Phuc Yieu.” He looked very amused and wrote back in the same vein. Then for the rest of that meeting we amused ourselves insulting each other with fake Vietnamese obscenities. I know you had to be there, but Ed was always such a hoot. And I think you are conveying that quite well in your treatment.
Also, a few little additions, on pg. 6, I also worked with and knew the Koupals in the early days, in 1972 & 3. Dwayne regularly trucked in his high school students to do Lobby work and I was one of those. I’ve gathered many a signature and remember Ed’s signature-gathering orientation. I remember he said as the momentum got rolling to hand the person a pen; that once the pen was in their hand the signature was pretty much in the bag. I remember gathering signatures one day with him and Joyce at a Gemco. I got sent to the snack bar for coffee and was having trouble carrying it. Ed advised me not to look at it, and I found out that’s the trick to carrying drinks. I was 17.
I also did typing at the Lobby headquarters on Western, and I recall Ed had a TV on downstairs during the Watergate hearings. A handful of us heard it live when Alexander Butterfield revealed the existence of the White House tapes. I remember Ed saying, “Do you want to know what a sick Republican looks like? That’s a sick Republican.” I can’t remember who that was though, maybe Lowell Weicker. Was he a Republican?
I recall hearing Ed and Joyce saying that during the Recall Ronald Reagan days their house had been shot at. Does anyone else remember that?
Also, I remember Ed used to call Evelle Younger “Evil Younger.” That was Ed. And Ed appeared at some debate or talk show or something with Pete Schabarum, who mispronounced Koupal in some way. When it was Ed’s turn, he called Pete Schabarum “Mr. Shooboomboom.” Really, no one ever got the upper hand of Ed in a public appearance.