Nany Evans oral history.indd - Washington Secretary of State

never left your eyes. Paul Newman was one of those. He never took his eyes off your eyes
when he was talking to you. He was not looking around to see who was there. He was
looking at you, which was very disarming.
Hughes: Do you remember when it was that Dan got the word he was going to be the
keynoter for the 1968 National Republican Convention? That was a big deal. He’s on the
cover of Time magazine.
Evans: Yes, it was a big deal. He was very
pleased to be selected and spent a lot of time
on the speech. Normally he would write his own
speeches …
Hughes: Really? Dan Evans would write his own
speeches?
Evans: Yes. He had very few written for him,
very few. It’s a full-time job now. But Dan didn’t
have a speech writer. A lot of his talks were in
Seattle. And he would sit in the back of the car
on the way up, with a piece of paper and just
make notes. He could do that very well. But for
Dan makes the cover of Time magazine.
The Legacy Project Collection
that keynote speech, and for like the opening of
the Legislature, he would have some help. The
person who helped is still a very good friend of ours – Jim Lane. He was in advertising, with
a big firm. He went back to Chicago, Australia, and back to New York, then retired back
here. But he wrote well. For that one (the keynote) Dan had help and input. As it turned
out, that was the one National Republican Convention that I went to – and I would never
go to another one.
Hughes: Because?
Evans: Well, I think they’ve changed, but it was just over the top to me. There’s just all
these people in these silly outfits, and silly hats, and silly buttons all over, and fans and
feathers – you name it, banners and signs.
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