Nany Evans oral history.indd - Washington Secretary of State

then sort of a Van Dyke, and finally he just had the
moustache. And then finally he shaved it all off. On
Sunday mornings Dan would make breakfast, like a
lot of fathers do. And nobody said a thing. I swear an
hour went by before I finally said, “You shaved your
beard!” We didn’t even notice.
Hughes: That’s funny. Steve Excell, who was John
Spellman’s chief of staff, sent us looking for a famous
photo of Dan getting his hair cut by a guy who I
assume is the legendary “Rags” Thornton, Olympia’s
celebrity hair stylist of the “Shampoo” era.
Evans: Yeah, he was. Rags was a character. He was fun.
“Rags” Thornton, Olympia’s celebrity hair stylist,
gives Dan a trim. Washington State Archives
Hughes: There’s a photo of Dan looking at a Playboy centerfold while getting his hair cut.
Evans: Oh really? Really? Well, why not? But for heaven’s sake, who puts those things in
the Archives?
Hughes: Steve Excell. He’s the assistant secretary of state.
Evans: So that’s what he’s doing.
Hughes: He’s a hoot. And talk about institutional memory.
So, this series of pictures with Dan doing the Fu Manchu and the Smith Brothers, and
then maybe a little Groucho thing — the whole thing about Dan Evans being the “straight
arrow” guy doesn’t acknowledge that there’s sort of mischievous side to him, isn’t there?
Evans: Oh yes, he actually has a very nice sense of humor. Very nice.
Hughes: Any kind of pranks that he’s pulled?
Evans: Oh yes, and he’s actually pretty good at that. And sometimes in his speeches, he
could never tell a joke, but he tried. And I’d keep saying, “You don’t laugh at your own
jokes.” And he’d be laughing at what was coming and he wouldn’t even get to the punch
line. But he was very good at one-liners. They would just come to his mind. He could do
that very nicely.
Hughes: Do you remember a great one-liner?
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