Senator Alan Simpson plays guest of honor at his biography book launch, “Shooting from the Lip,” by Donald Hardy.
By Janet Donovan
Donald Hardy and Alan Simpson. (Photo by WHC Insider)
In the world of “isms,” there’s Yogi Berra and former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson….and Simpson may have the edge.
Known for his quick wit and off-color witticisms, Simpson was the guest of honor at a book party for his longtime aide’s authorized biography: “Shooting from the Lip” by Donald Hardy.
Speaking of shooting, the Senator was joined by former Vice-President Dick Cheney (longtime friend and sometime hunting partner) of whom he once said: “Dick Cheney is one of the most skilled shots I know, and they’ll make fun of it forever.”
The Senator’s illustrious career and acerbic fodder has kept him in both headlights and deer-lights for decades – we applaud the book title.
A typical example: At a press conference on the debt ceiling talks at the Aspen Institute and the Atlantic’s annual Ideas Festival in Colorado, he challenged President Obama to further cut entitlement spending. “My question to Obama: show me your sacred cow,” he told CBS.
“Every one of us stuck our finger down our throat and voted for something that hurt ourselves,” naming oil and gas as his state of Wyoming’s “sacred cow.” “If there’s anybody in America who wants to solve this son of a b***h, show me your favorite sacred cow and shoot it.”
Hardy, with Simpson’s blessing, drew from the Senator’s personal papers and voluminous diary to offer up a personal account of the rambunctious man from Wyoming. “Don, just tell the truth, the whole truth, as you always have. Leave teeth, hair, and eyeballs on the floor, if that results from telling the truth.”
“Shooting from the Lip” offers a backstage view of late twentieth-century American politics.
Oh, and did we tell you about the one where his grandfather shot some guy’s ear off at the bank…
Guests at The Jefferson Hotel event co-hosted by Constance Milstein, Tammy Haddad, Ken Levinson, Lane Bailey, and Mike Tongour, included Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas with wife Ginni Thomas, former Senator Elizabeth Dole, journalist Bob Woodruff, former Governor of Virginia Chuck Robb and wife Lynda Bird Johnson, Norman Mineta, Nina Totenberg, Mark Shields, Ann Compton and Sam Donaldson with wife Jan Smith.
The Simpsons and the Robbs. (Photo by WHC Insider)
Dick Cheney and Alan Simpson. (Photo by WHC Insider)
The Hardys and the Simpsons. (Photo by WHC Insider)
