Garry Armstrong, the veteran reporter pictured here with Tip O’Neill, offers an insider view to the stress of a reporter’s life with a humorous touch.
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH
I heard these lines recently in a movie. They made me laugh.
“Isn’t it too early to be drinking?” he said.
“No,” she said. ” I’m awake.”
The line had stayed with me many years after the laughter faded, replaced by memories of work, reporters, bars, and pubs from New York to Saigon.
As a reporter, I covered Presidential politics from 1962 to 2001. From JFK to Bush, Jr. As a newbie reporter, I saw veteran correspondents fueling up with multiple Bloody Marys as we began our day on the political or campaign trail. I was impressed. During my rookie year, I summoned up enough courage to question one famous reporter who had begun his career working with Edward R. Murrow. He was on his third Bloody Mary — in one 10-minute period.
“Isn’t it too early to be drinking?”…
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Views from the Edge 
Until Mr. Armstrong referred to the “veteran reporter” with a masculine pronoun, I wondered if that reporter were Molly Ivins. I read somewhere that she could drink some people under the table, but what a brilliant and funny person. I looked forward every week to reading her column in The Progressive, and shed tears when she died.
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I shed them, too. Do you remember Garry?
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Gordon, I remember all to well.
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I somehow missed him. Obviously I missed a lot. I’m a relative latecomer to “serious” journalism, or to very funny journalism with a serious point.
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Carolyn, I remember Molly Ivins. I joined the journalism brigade while many of Murrow’s Boys were still working. I had some wonderful mentors in the 60’s when I was still “the kid”, covering everything from Vietnam to Woodstock, The Civil Rights Movement, JFK, MLK & RFK; Woodstock, Watts and the ’68 Presidential Conventions in between. My cup literally overfloweth. And, that was just the beginning.
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When Garry heard that line in a TV show (British, I think), he just started laughing. I couldn’t figure out why it was so funny. Then he wrote this piece and — as a non-drinker — I figured it out 🙂 Thanks for the reblog!
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I love the piece and the picture of the guy who was famous at the bar in Cambridge. I visited the bar several times during the sabbatical at Harvard. Oh, how they loved Tip! I imagine they loved Garry equally. What’s not to love, right? Thought it deserved a larger audience, though SERENDIPITY’S is to VFTE like the NYT to the Chaska Herald. Every little bit helps.😜
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Gordon, thanks for the kind words. I had the good fortune to work and socialize with some of the “heavy hitter” newsmakers. Those were the days when reporters could kibitz with the high and mighty.
A quickie: Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard. Marilyn and actress, Patricia Neal were strolling along ahead of me, essentially swapping man talk about old flames. I was walking behind them. I could hear folks loudly whispering — “Look, there goes Patty Neal!” and others staring, “Oh, look, there’s Garry Armstrong walking behind Patty Neal”.
Wonderful times!!
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Garry, when I first read your comment, I thought Marilyn was Marilyn Monroe. I wondered why the whispers were about Patrician Neal!!! Then I realized (I think I got this right?) that Marilyn was your Marilyn! How did Marilyn happen to be walking with Patricia Neal on Martha’s Vineyard? How did you happen to be walking behind them?
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