dc diary

The Summer of ‘58, and More

By Jack Evans

June 2008

The beginning of summer is a good time for reflection and as I write this I am reflecting back 10, 20, 30, 40 even 50 years. What was I doing in the summer of 1958?

In the summer of 1958, I was almost five years old and getting ready to start kindergarten. My only memories are of laying in the yard at night looking up at the sky to see anything moving. It was the summer after Sputnik and the question on everyone’s mind was what’s up there? I spent my summers at Harry’s Lake, Pennsylvania. My memories are mostly good

During the summer of 1968, I was 14 and just finishing my freshman year in high school while spending another summer at the lake. But, 1968 was filled with tragedy as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated. There were riots across the United States and the world seemed a dangerous place.

Ah, the summer of 1978 ... I was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – studying for the Pennsylvania Bar exam. I had graduated from law school, took the exam in July and had a job at the Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, DC lined up for September. I spent August in California.

The summer of 1988 was spent working at a law firm and going to the beach. It was also my first political convention in Atlanta. I must say, if you have not experienced a Convention, you should try to attend this year’s in Denver, CO and Minneapolis, MN.

The summer of 1998 I ran for mayor. Things looked good until Tony Williams entered the race. I learned a great deal about our city. By then, I was married with one-year-old triplets, a dog and a house in Georgetown, where I still live.

Now the summer of 2008 is here and I am running for re-election to my Council seat. I’m a single dad, my wife passed away five years ago. As I travel around the Ward and the City, things are better than they have ever been. We still face lots of challenges, but I’m very optimistic about the future. This summer I’ll be going to the Democratic Convention where we will nominate our first African American to run for President.

Life is full of surprises. Who would have guessed that in 1958, looking at the stars in the yard, we would be where we are today. It actually is fun to daydream every once in a while.

Jack Evans is the D.C. Councilman representing Ward Two. His column appears in each edition of this publication.