Early Society Meetings

Aside from my regular job and family duties, most of my time during the Society’s first few months went into writing, editing, and publishing THE FUTURIST. Quite soon, however, I became involved in arranging luncheon meetings in downtown Washington.

I didn’t relish this additional responsibility. I was already swamped with work and I desperately needed to hang on to my paid job at the National Geographic Society. As I saw it, the best way to do that would be to stay out of the limelight so my employer would not realize how much of my time and energy was going into my volunteer activity.

So I was delighted when one of our members, Richard Falknor, was willing to assume responsibility for arranging luncheon meetings for the Society. Falknor was the administrative aide for a new congressman, Thomas Foley of the state of Washington.

When Barbara and Earl Hubbard came to Washington with their children, Falknor arranged a special tour of the U.S. Capitol and lunch in the House dining room. Congressman Foley himself lunched with our party and personally guided us on a tour of what is unquestionably the most fascinating building in the United States. When I complimented Foley on his encyclopedic knowledge of the building’s history, he said that he’d been told that if he lost his seat in the House, he might be able to get a job as a guide!

In later years, Foley rose to become Speaker of the House of Representatives, so when Bill Clinton gave his State of the Union addresses, two futurists — Foley and Al Gore Jr., then vice president — sat right behind the president. I was elated at seeing the rise of two committed futurists to positions of power in the U.S. Congress.