Glenn Olds, age 84, looks out on the vast territory that his family once owned as settlers under the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850-55. "We were a family of nonconformists, free-thinkers all the way back to early times." he said. A prolific speech writer who once served as U.N. Ambassador, he served four U.S. Presidents during his lifetime-- Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. During that period of time, he hob-nobbed with anyone who was anyone in Washington D.C. He recalled an especially warm conversation with Herbert Hoover whose "face lit up like a Christmas tree" when he talked about his childhood in Newberg.
Olds has a fascinating personal and family history, but he prefers to call himself a futurist. "I hope people understand that we are seeing the end of the nation-state." he said, "The world is always evolving and it's difficult to say what's coming next."
2 comments:
Well, he and his wife Eva have consented to be interviewed by the students sometime after June 20. It's bound to be an interesting performance.
I've come to Olds' conclusion some time ago. Am collecting notes and blogging same on the End of The Nation State.
The topic fascinates me.
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