I met John in Kindergarten in Levittown, and we've remained friends since. I still remember, as does he, putting together a play for our second grade class in which we simulated a moon landing. For Long Island boys of that era, life was the NY Mets and astronauts.
John's one of 5 in his Irish Catholic family. His Dad was the principal of a prestigious school, and I believe his Mom had a college degree, too, kind of rare among my friends' parents. His house always had a quiet to it, as they were readers.
Alas, John underachieved very well in high school, and so started out at community college. But then he hit his academic stride, and went to Georgetown and UNC, earning BS and Masters degrees. He was working for a think tank when the Company recruited him. The Company being, of course, the CIA.
He listed me as a reference for his Top Security clearance. I remember getting a call and meeting with an FBI Special Agent, and as I had promised John, I kept my humor under wraps, never once "mistakenly" referring to him as "Comrade John."
Things got comical when they had to check out MY story, and appeared in black suits and aviator sunglasses, scaring Wifey when they had to confirm that the Miami lawyer who vouched for John was indeed who he said he was.
John met and married Barbara, who worked for an NGO. Wifey, the Ds and I met them in D.C. in, I think, around 1995. D2 was in her wild stage, and was an awful guest at dinner -- a Planet Hollywood, I think. We joke that she's the reason John and Barbara decided to not have children. It IS a joke. I think.
Anyway, we lost touch for a few years, and then one night, as I was driving home from a concert in Coral Gables, my phone rang. I think it was around 2004 or so. It was John, who I had last remembered was working on the "FSU Account." The Company calls different parts of the world "accounts." Man, Dulles was a weird dude.
I had joked with John that I hardly thought that a second rate state school in Florida needed CIA analysis. But I learned that "FSU" in the trade stood for "Former Soviet Union."
Well, John had switched, and had become an Iraq expert. So when I asked what he had been up to, he said, as a fellow wise ass Levittowner, "Oh not much. I was just involved in the capture and interrogation of Saddam Hussein."
WHAT???!!! My friend Kenny's gig as a flight surgeon on the Saratoga had been the only really cool thing any of my MacArthur High classmates had done. But now John added to that class.
A few years later, John left the Company and wrote a book, which became a best seller, called "Debriefing the President." In the forward, he gave a shout out to me and some Canes fans who had traveled to D.C. for the Canes opener at Maryland. I took us all out to a Capital Grille, and John regaled us with tales of Baghdad during the war, and it got us a mention in the forward.
We've kept in contact since that dinner, and there was interest in making the book a movie. We joked that hopefully Bradd Pitt would play John -- his lookalike, though John is taller.
In the mean time, Barbara was diagnosed with MS, and has had a rough slog. She now lives in an ALF, and John visits her every day.
When we flew up to D.C. for my nephew Scott's wedding proposal surprise, John met us for breakfast. Now it appeared that there wouldn't be a movie, but hopefully a series instead. The actor Joel Kinnamon had great interest, in both starring and producing.
Well, tonight John called with the amazing news: indeed TNT was going to feature his book as their first series, a two parter, since they became part of Warner Bros. If all goes as planned, filming will start in January.
We spoke for awhile, about our lives. There's an upcoming 45th high school reunion -- I have a wedding conflict in LA and so am out, and John is thinking about going -- he's never been to one and realizes this may be a final chance. We laughed about many of the clowns we knew in Levittown, and some of our Kramer-like friends, bachelors who still live in the original houses, having inherited them from long gone parents.
And afterwards I realized something. I was high. It occurred to me that after the well being of my family, nothing makes me happier than when my friends soar. Here's a fellow who served us all, and taught us all the true meaning of the entire Iraqi War, and now is being recognized and paid for it.
I also realized how proud I was.
A dear friend tells me that she can deal with it when people despise her. But if someone is jealous of her -- that's the most toxic -- it leads to the evil eye.
I agree. I'm never jealous of anyone. I admire those who have done better in life, whatever that means.
And I truly kvell when I hear news like tonight's. A kid from Kindergarten having his best selling book become a big series? Now that's something!
The show is due out next Fall. Maybe I'll get John to come to Miami for a watch party. I think the last time he was here was 1979 -- he and Rita, who was our friend Mark's girlfriend, flew into MIA and I fetched them, and they spent the night crammed in my tiny dorm room. The next day I drove them to the bus station for a trip to Key West, where Mark was studying at Florida Keys College. Man -- four and a half decades have passed.
But for now, Bravo John! I knew you when...
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