The Day I Met Mario Cuomo

I'm not trying to be a name dropper here.  I just thought I would include this as an amazing memory I have from the 80's.  Yes, I met Mario.

We lost Mario Cuomo, and it's very upsetting to a lot of New Yorkers.  He was the quintessential politician.

I'll make this short, but I had a chance to meet him back in the early 80's.  I was hired to write and perform a song about someone on his staff who was retiring, and he was there.

Why am I smiling so much here? Right before taking this picture, he whispered to me the following - "One of these days people are going to look at this picture and say "Who's that guy with Richie Phillips?".

I'll never forget how cool that was to say.  He seemed like a such a regular guy.  They sent me the picture in the mail and If you look carefully, you can see that he signed it as well.  I'm not sure if he REALLY signed it or someone else did, but I can pretend.

RIP, Mario.  If you want to read more about his life and career, you can check out Bethany's blog