In recent days, quite a few notable people have died, with Sen. John McCain’s death resulting in the most obvious attention due to his role as a prominent U.S. senator and presidential candidate, who had survived being a U.S. prisoner of war.
This charismatic man came to Chattanooga at least once, as did the also recently deceased Robin Leach, the noted host of the popular former TV hit show, “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.” And during Mr.
Leach’s visit, I had a chance to meet him.
Regarding Sen. McCain, the local history section of the Chattanooga Public Library has only one reference in its files to any visits by him, even though he campaigned for president twice.
His visit occurred on Nov. 10, 2003, when he spoke at a fund-raiser for U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp at The Chattanoogan downtown. Rep. Wamp was trying to raise money for a potential run for U.S. senator in 2006 after Bill Frist was planning to step down, and this was to build up Rep. Wamp’s potential election campaign account.
Reportedly, $90,000 was raised at the event for Rep. Wamp, who actually did not run.
Some 580 people jammed into a room designed for only 500, so quite a few people must have been interested in seeing the noted Republican statesman.
As Rep. Wamp said at the event, “This shows an outpouring of support for John McCain.”
Sen. McCain stated at a press conference beforehand that he was glad to come to Chattanooga, pointing out that Rep. Wamp was an ally who had helped him pass the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law.
Among the issues important in 2003, Sen. McCain told the media that the U.S. needed to increase the number of troops in the war in Iraq, and to focus on special forces instead of traditional armaments like tanks.
Rep. Wamp actually continued serving in Congress until 2011 and did not run for Senate in 2006. Instead, former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker won the Republican nomination and is now stepping down in early 2019.
Rep. Wamp did run for governor in 2010, but lost to eventual winner Bill Haslam in the Republican Primary.
Another person who focused on the raising and accumulation of money was Robin Leach. As the host of the popular show, “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” he gained quite a bit of fame during the mid-to-late 1980s era of American economic opulence and fascination with wealth.
Mr. Leach would interview and profile the world’s wealthy and famous people, and millions of curious and probably nosy Americans would tune in each Sunday night in the days before so much reality television.
In 1990, after the show had been on a few years, Mr. Leach came to Chattanooga to participate in two Red Food Store celebrity cruises aboard the Southern Belle to raise money for the American Cancer Society.
Taking part with him were country singers Janie Fricke and Mickey Gilley, Pittsburgh quarterback Bubby Brister, and Gary Reddenbacher, who had been on the popcorn TV commercials with his famous grandfather, Orville Reddenbacher.
Also taking part was Mrs. Tennessee, Debbie White.
Working for the Chattanooga News-Free Press then as a general assignment reporter, I was dispatched to cover a pre-cruise press conference at the Marriott by the Trade Center downtown.
I remember there were several TV reporters and cameramen there, and I tried to quietly sit in the background while some general questions were asked all the celebrities except Mr. Brister, who was arriving later.
Mr. Gilley said he wanted to come because he had a brother die of prostate cancer, while Ms. Fricke said she toured a cancer center a couple of years before and saw how expensive the treatment equipment was.
But the man who stole the show was no doubt Robin Leach. In a very unpretentious manner, he said his accent was often mimicked, but it did not bother him.
He then joked, “I couldn’t try to do a Southern accent if you gave your money. I wouldn’t know where to start to say ‘you all.’ ”
Just getting warmed up, Mr. Leach also asked Mr. Reddenbacher how many bags of popcorn he eats a day. Mr. Reddenbacher said he was forced to eat about two bags but he willingly eats one.
Ms. Fricke told him she takes the “Original Flavor” popcorn on her touring bus, and then proceeded to sing the Reddenbacher advertising song popular at the time.
In his other comments, Mr. Leach said he was impressed that Chattanooga and Red Food Store took two weeks to have various events to raise money to fight cancer.
“The power we could have over all the United States if every community did something like this,” he said.
He also said this was the first time he had been to Chattanooga, and asked, “Who invented the Chattanooga Choo-Choo? Where did that come from?”
And then, somewhere near the end, he noticed that all the reporters who had been asking questions were TV or possibly radio news reporters. So Mr. Leach asked, “Where’s print?” He was wondering if any newspaper reporters were there, perhaps, I later realized, because he got his start in print journalism.
I shyly raised my hand, and he said something like, “Surely you are not going to let your TV counterparts upstage you, are you? Don’t you have a question, too?”
Freezing up a little with him, the other celebrities and the TV and Red Food and American Cancer Society officials all watching me, I was not sure what to do.
But finally, after about 15 or 20 seconds, I thought of a question and blurted out, “What did you think of Malcolm Forbes’ recent death, since I know you used to feature him on your show?”
Luckily I had been a regular viewer of the show and knew what to ask him that made sense. Acknowledging me in a way that seemed to say, “Good question,” he replied that Mr. Forbes’ death a few weeks before was indeed a shock.
“He was a great guy who enjoyed life to the fullest. I think he lived it more to the full than anybody who ever lived,” he said.
In their entirely separate ways, so, too, did Mr. Leach and Sen. McCain.
And Chattanoogans got to observe them up close at least briefly.
Jcshearer2@comcast.net