A friend of mine died the other day at the age of 87.
John Driggs had served as mayor of Phoenix and right up to the end he was a bundle of energy. Just recently, another friend mentioned that he'd better contact John about some historical preservation projects. (John always had projects.) In recalling that conversation, I realize the two of us just assumed that John was going to be around. This was understandable because the man seemed to be a force of nature, filled with ideas, some of them crazy and others great, and with the energy and enthusiasm of a teenager.
John and I once drove together to a meeting in Flagstaff and I got to hear many of his stories about Arizona politics. I urged him to write an autobiography or at least dictate a few of the tales so they wouldn't be lost. I'm not sure if he ever jotted down those memories. My guess is he didn't because he regarded such doings as the sign of a career's end. And that brings up a very important fact about John:
He was an ambitious 87-year-old.
There is a lot to be said for that.
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