Moments after marrying for the third time, former Gov. Edwin Edwards did on Friday what comes so naturally: He stepped before the cameras.Of his bride's dress:
With his 32-year-old bride, the former Trina Grimes Scott, close by his side in the Hotel Monteleone lobby, Edwards, who'll turn 84 on Aug. 7, tossed off quips, joshed with reporters and glad-handed hotel guests who seemed happily surprised to find themselves in the middle of the tangle of reporters, cameras and microphones.
The couple had just been united in marriage, in a 14th-floor suite, by state Supreme Court Chief Justice Catherine "Kitty" Kimball.
Her strapless, knee-length white dress was "Italian silk, with a Cajun twist," Edwards said.The romance began while Edwards was in prison, with letters first and eventually with visits by Scott to Edwards in prison and finally a proposal of marriage.
I kissed Edwards once, you know, and it was all my fault. The filters in my brain completely malfunctioned. I've already told the tale here at Wounded Bird twice, but I'll quote myself to give you the story again.
Although Edwards was a crook and a notorious womanizer, there was something about him that I found endearing. (God help me!) Perhaps, it was because he was seldom hypocritical - a welcome relief in a politician.Edwards was twice tried and acquitted, but the law eventually caught up with him for his shenanigans on the third try when Edwards was 73 years. A good many of us thought the 10 year sentence was a bit harsh, but Edwards paid his debt to society and lived to tell the tale and make a new life for himself.
He'd campaign in black churches and tell the congregation, "I don't drink, I don't smoke. Two out of three is not bad."
In fact, on one occasion when he arrived at a gathering at the university where my husband worked, there seemed to be no officials there to greet him. I was standing there with a group who may have resembled a receiving line, and he came right up to me.
That was one occasion when words came out of my mouth seemingly without passing through my brain, because I said to him, "Does a kiss from the governor come with the greeting?" Of course, he promptly kissed me on the cheek. Grandpère was standing next to me wide-eyed and astonished.
After Edwards moved on he said to me, "What did you think you were doing?" So. There you are. I'm in the company of an enormous number of women who have kissed Edwin Edwards.
October 8, 2007 12:19 PM
The ex-governor had charm, charisma, choose your word, but he was a rogue and a rascal who hustled the citizens of the State of Louisiana. Still, he never left Louisiana as damaged as the present governor, Bobby Jindal, will leave the state after 4 and probably 8 years of slash and burn governance. I'd swap Edwards for Jindal in a heartbeat.
Rogues and rascals were made for kissing, shurely? ... certainly the new missus seems to think so, anyway :)
ReplyDeleteEdwards is of the Old "Sin Boldly" School. No hypocrite, he.
ReplyDeleteCathy, I'm glad you understand a little why I couldn't help myself. Them charming rogues and rascals have a way about them....
ReplyDeleteJCF, you're right. I always appreciated Edwards' lack of hypocrisy. If a politician's service is judged by the amount of good he does weighed against the evil, Edwards wins by a landslide.
certainly the new missus seems to think so, anyway :)
ReplyDeleteOh Lord: here I was flirting w/ you upstream . . . and you're off-the-market now? How (WHEN!!!) did that happen??? [And...Mazel Tov!]
Doesn't LA have a history of eccentric governors who were charmers anyway? And, of course, some who were plain crazy (Earl Long comes to mind).
ReplyDeleteIn any case, charming rogues are all over and succumbing to the temptation of being kissed by one is natural.
LOL JCF, Edwards' new missus!! I haven't got a missus - well, never say never but at the moment I'm still available for kisses from rogues or anyone else :)
ReplyDeleteDoesn't LA have a history of eccentric governors who were charmers anyway?
ReplyDeleteWell, Louisiana surely has a history of eccentric and crooked governors, but not all had Edwards' charm. Earl Long was probably mentally ill at the time of his worse antics. And then there was Huey Long, who was quite sane, but outrageous. Some folks loved Huey, and others hated him, and he was finally gunned down.
Well, charm is an asset when running for office, but loses a lot of its allure when the election's won and the politician has to run a state.
ReplyDeleteAs for Edwards, he reminds me of the wedding notice for a couple, the groom of which was extremely old compared to his bride: "The groom's gift to the bride was an antique pendant."
Chris, I misread that last comment as: "The groom's gift to the bride was an antique pedant." But I guess that was probably true, too.
ReplyDeleteChris, you haven't met Edwards, and you haven't kissed him. Trust me. The rascal has charm, antique pendant or not.
ReplyDeleteWith all his dirty dealings, and there were many, he did less harm to the state than the present Rhodes scholar who occupies the office. He supported civil rights and appointed African-Americans to state office for the first time since Reconstruction.
Also, from Wikipedia:
On another front he again demonstrated his broad commitment to civil rights by becoming the first Southern governor to issue an executive order protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered persons from discrimination in state governmental services, employment and contracts
And that was back in the early 1990s.
Whew, Cathy, that's a relief! I, in my rogue-ish way, will flirt on then. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI still remember the bumper stickers I saw when Edwards ran for governor against self-proclaimed KKK Imperial Wizard David Dukes: "Vote for the crook. It's important." It was, and they did.
ReplyDeleteI think of that when I see all the backlash against Obama from the left. And I think, "OK, if you can't vote for someone that you like and admire, can you at least work and vote for someone who is decidedly not the worst?" It is important.
Rick, the bumper sticker was famous and is still well-remembered. We could not have David Duke!
ReplyDeleteI've spoken my share of criticism of Obama, but when it comes to voting, that's a whole other thing.
JCF - yes, please flirt on ;)
ReplyDeleteRe Obama, the fact that the Republicans are now gearing up to suggest that he must be no good because the debt debacle occurred on his watch tells you everything about why you should continue to vote for him and not them (in my opinion).
Well, not being acquainted in depth with either Edwards of Louisiana politics, I bow to your knowledge, Mimi. He sounds like a loveable rogue, and wish him and his new wife every happiness.
ReplyDelete