Nany Evans oral history.indd - Washington Secretary of State
Nany Evans oral history.indd - Washington Secretary of State
Nany Evans oral history.indd - Washington Secretary of State
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his hands are always behind his back. They never moved. And I just thought, “Well, come on,<br />
you can shake hands with me.” I didn’t say anything <strong>of</strong> course. But I felt so awkward.<br />
Hughes: You’re not supposed to touch The Royals.<br />
<strong>Evans</strong>: Well, I think she would. In fact my memory is that we did shake hands – the Queen<br />
and I. But he was not going to bother.<br />
Hughes: When Michelle put her arm around the Queen’s waist, the Queen put her arm<br />
around Michelle’s.<br />
<strong>Evans</strong>: Yes, she did.<br />
Hughes: I thought that was one <strong>of</strong> the greatest moments I’d ever seen with Queen<br />
Elizabeth. It was just wonderful. She’s loosening up.<br />
<strong>Evans</strong>: I think she probably loves affection like everybody. But in deference, the British <strong>of</strong><br />
course just never would do that.<br />
Hughes: Let’s get back to life at the Mansion. When the kids were growing up at the<br />
Mansion you did a lot <strong>of</strong> stuff. You went bicycling and hiking. Did you literally bicycle<br />
around town and play Pickleball all the time?<br />
<strong>Evans</strong>: Oh yes. We built a Pickleball court in the back <strong>of</strong> the house.<br />
Hughes: I’m told that Joel Pritchard invented Pickleball.<br />
<strong>Evans</strong>: Joel Pritchard, Barney McCallum, and my brother, Bill Bell. They were on<br />
Bainbridge. The McCallums and the Pritchards had places very near to each other. They<br />
were good friends and Barney worked for Joel. The Pritchards and McCallums grew up on<br />
Queen Anne and were long-time friends. And Bill Bell rented a house on Bainbridge. Joel<br />
Pritchard actually had two houses – his parents’ house and his house, and the parents<br />
weren’t there then. So Bill would be coming home from Asia, wherever he was living at<br />
the time, Indonesia or Australia, and they’d rent the house and stay with their kids. So<br />
here are all these young kids running around. The Pritchards had four and Bill and Tina<br />
had three; the McCallums had two or three. And they were saying, “There’s nothing to<br />
do!” You know, like children always say. And here they are right on the beach. Well, Joel<br />
used to play badminton and they had an asphalt badminton court in the back and a net. So<br />
they looked around and they found some whiffle balls and ping pong paddles, and that’s<br />
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