This seems like a good day to reminisce about a memorable day from my past and to reveal something I’ve never written about: unlike most Americans, I’ve seen Fidel Castro in person.
It was May 7, 1972. I was in Freetown, Sierra Leone, for my mandatory “termination physical”… a quick look by the Peace Corps doctor to document the damage two years in the tropics had done to my skinny young body. Malaria? Check. Lost 30 pounds? Check. Weird digestive quirks? Check. Same as everybody else.
Walking back from the embassy, I noticed people beginning to line the streets. Why, I asked? Turns out that Fidel Castro was making a quick side trip to Sierra Leone in the middle of his state visit to Guinea. The crowd got noisier, and a minute later there he was in an open car next to Siaka Stevens, Sierra Leone’s president. Castro was talking non-stop to Siaka, so I guess his English was up to speed. He seemed tall and wiry and overcaffeinated, his eyes darting around at the buildings and not really connecting with the crowds. Looking for snipers? The car zoomed past and it was all over in a few seconds.
I’ve seen Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Howie Mandell, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak up close but this is almost my favorite brush with fame. It’s second only to JFK.