Occasional Tropophilia contributor Joel’s letter to the Washington Post was published yesterday. As someone who witnessed the “sparring” that Joel mentions, the fact that Mr. Snow went out of his way to lend a helping hand to an irreverent undergrad (I mean that lovingly) says a lot. Well said, Joel:
Howard Kurtz’s appreciation of Tony Snow ["As Good as His Words," Style, July 14] hit the right notes in honoring Mr. Snow’s public service and private life by remembering the “relentless cheerfulness” he displayed at all times and his well-deserved reputation among his colleagues for being a “really genuine guy.”
Yet Tony was at his kindest when nobody important was looking. In spring 2007, while I was still a student at Davidson College, Tony’s alma mater, he befriended me after we sparred — substantively but tactfully — at a student question-and-answer session on campus. Upon hearing that I was moving to Washington, he gave me his number and said, “Give me a call! We’ll bring you into the office.”
“The office,” of course, was the West Wing. For 45 minutes, Tony and I talked about our alma mater, our families, mutual friends and our futures — and it was there that he paid me the greatest compliment anyone ever has, when he mentioned that I reminded him of himself as a young man. I can only begin to hope that my life will be as full of love and friendship as his was.
JOEL HEWETT
Washington
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