He talked about how he liked the show 24, and where he was on 9/11 (in a hospital bed recovering from heart surgery). I told him I actually owned the book he wrote about Zapatistas and I was dumbstruck because I didn't even know he was the author. Then, much like I did when I talked to Ann Rule, I could feel my heart drop to the floor with a thud when I told him I didn't even read it, that it was at the bottom of a box somewhere in my storage shed. He comforted me, though. He said, "It's okay. That's where books are supposed to go!" I was taken aback, but I was still ashamed. I showed him a trick with a 20 dollar bill that he had never shown anybody. I pretty much shocked the room when I made the 20 dollar bill look like an airplane.
Tom Hayden was just fun to hang out with. He was a lot different than William F. Buckley, Jr., who was a total jerk to me in that same building seven years before. I wish Tom Hayden could have had as big an audience as Buckley did. What's funny is: I don't remember talking about the protest I organized there with Tom. Maybe I was too scared. It was a dark period in my life. I'll never make that mistake again.
I hope I can see him again someday. He's still very active today. Check out his own biography.
