Jeff Calder's 50th Birthday Memoirs > Carey Blanton 2 (1) > Vidal Button

"Hi this is Jeff Calder"

1968....Jeff always  liked to get on the phone and call important people all over the world!  Such as the ....President of Turkey, Buckingham Palace, Gore Vidal, to name a few. At this time you could place a long distant phone call and simply tell the operator to charge it to another number. Thanks to a few good businesses in town, Jeff was always making calls to anybody!
   

This call  was during the 1968 Democratic convention in Miami. There had been some heated exchanges between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley publicly and Jeff was in too it big time. So at a party one night the two were on television together again, and Jeff remembers the network had placed a curtain between the two of them as Buckley had requested.


Somehow Jeff found a number and called near the end of the debate/argument, and told them that he was the personal assistant to .....Jackie Gleason and wanted to talk with Mr. Buckley.


They handed the phone to Mr. Buckley and Jeff said: "Hi this is Jeff Calder from Lakeland, Floricda," and then complimented him on the show and asked what the deal was with the curtain? Mr. Buckley explained in his dignified slow drawl, that it was his condition to have the curtain up if he was to do the show with Gore Vidal there with him.

 Jeff had connected once again!

--Carey Blanton