And Richard Holbrooke Was There!
The diplomat Richard Holbrooke, who died yesterday, was known for taking the tough negotiating jobs that nobody else would dare touch. But I knew him as a playgoer. He happened to sit in front of me this past spring, at the opening on Broadway of the British-import play, “Enron,” set in Texas. He and I have a mutual friend so I assayed boldness, tapped him on the shoulder, and said: “Mr. Ambassador, shouldn’t you be in Kabul not Houston this afternoon?” He laughed and I introduced myself. We chatted for about thirty seconds and then the show began. He had to leave the play early, which I’m sure was for a serious reason (“Islamabad calling“) though may have been an unconscious harbinger of the play’s eventual fate: it received withering reviews and closed in short order.
