Dr. Henry Kissinger
Born May 27, 1923 Furth, Germany
"Are you going to write a good story about me Walter?" Dr. Kissinger asked.
We met in his suite at the Ritz Carlton in St. Louis on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 2001. A most memorable visit with this adorable "Teddy Bear." This great great man, and all I could think about was how warm and friendly he was as we talked, signed the Tablecloth and took pictures. I took my cameraman, Steve Straub, with me that day.
After he signed the cloth Dr. Kissinger wanted me to open it up for him to see. We spread it open on the bed. After seeing some of the wonderful signatures Dr. Kissinger quipped "maybe I should have signed a more readable signature." The one he had signed was really unreadable. "Fine with me Dr. Kissinger.""You think?" he said. "Yes, here's another pen. You will have the distinct honor of having signed the Tablecloth two times," I said to him. "OK, I'll sign more readable. That's the way I usually sign," he jested.
He thoroughly enjoyed looking over the signatures on the Tablecloth. Especially the ones of President Ronald Reagan and Lady Margaret Thatcher. "I'll be seeing her next week in England. Wonderful lady." "Be sure and tell her hello for me," I said.
All told, I suppose we spent a good part of an hour with Dr. Kissinger that morning. "And yes, Dr. Kissinger, I wrote a very nice story about you. You can read it in my book."