Nany Evans oral history.indd - Washington Secretary of State

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number of times but it’s still solid. In the beginning it was a white Naugahyde sofa. It’s a Miller design, and it’s been recovered many times. I also married a sailboat. Hughes: You had a sailboat right off? Evans: He already had it. I married that. There were certain things in his life that just came along as part of the deal. I remember that car so well. Dan thought it was just great. We drove from Spokane down to Reno and then went over to the coast, to Carmel and up to San Francisco. We stopped by to see my sister Barbara in Lake Oswego, Oregon. We took movies all along the way. That’s another thing I married – a 16mm movie camera, which we took to Europe with us a year later. It was big and bulky but it took great movies. We have some great movies from San Francisco and Carmel. We have a wonderful set of movies where I was wearing a really pretty cotton dress. And I had a big straw hat. We went into a little delicatessen – that’s still there actually – bought some salami, and a baguette, and some cheese, and a bottle of wine, and some Blum’s chocolates. And we drove out to a place on the beach and Dan put the camera on a tripod or something. I’ve got this hat on and he’s sitting there. And he takes a close-up of the Blum’s chocolate. And then I’m slicing up the bread and putting on the salami. Then he gets the corkscrew and he tries to open the wine, but it won’t open. Hughes: This is like early Spielberg stuff! Dan Evans, the director. Evans: Absolutely. Oh, listen, Christmas mornings with him were terrible because of the camera. All the kids had to line up for his movies. But at any rate, he stopped the camera for a moment, and got the wine open. Then you see us sitting there and eating our salami and drinking our wine. Hughes: So did Dan say to you, “Well, someday I’m going to be governor; we’ll have three kids, and we’ll live in a mansion and have teas and receptions”? Evans: Obviously not. I probably would have said “no.” Hughes: “Listen, Dan, I need more than three days to think about that!” Evans: Exactly. There was no talk of governorship. There was no talk about anything like that at that time. Hughes: In a 1974 interview, you said, “He grew on me. … He didn’t come on strong … 36
He hadn’t dated all that much. The thing I remember most, other than that he was a very nice person and a very handsome man, was his intrigue. Each time I went out with him I learned something new. I saw a man of depth.” Evans: Is that what I said? Hughes: You did. And I really like the word “intrigue.” Evans: Well, that’s the way it was. Gee, what else do you have there? Hughes: Oh, all kinds of stuff. Your life is an open book. There are no secrets from The Legacy Project. They say you’re supposed to Google yourself and see what you can find out. Evans: Nah. Hughes: “I didn’t know what I was getting to,” you added. “I knew he was a legislator, but good heavens – at that time the Legislature was two or three months every two years. I had no idea he would ever run for governor, and I don’t think he did either.” Meantime, you’re pretty soon a mom. When does Dan Jr. arrive? Evans: November 25, 1960. Hughes: So were you still teaching part-time? Evans: No. When we got married I quit teaching. It’s shameful, but I have never worked for money since we were married. Hughes: Well, you have done a lot of other important things. Evans: I’ve been busy, but it only costs money. We don’t get paid; we pay out. … But I need to tell you a story about another wonderful trip we took before our lives got so complicated. Dan was an engineer, and I think around September (of 1959) he came home one day and said, “Well, I quit my job.” And I said, “Really?” (laughing) Or words to that effect. Then he said, “Why don’t we plan a trip?” And I said, “Well, jeepers, don’t you have to get a job first?” He wasn’t worried. He had been working a while so he had some money. I didn’t have any. I was a school teacher. So we started planning a trip. We ended up writing letters to tourist bureaus all over Europe. We ordered a car. And on December 31 st we flew to Los Angeles, saw the Rose Bowl, which the Huskies won, spent the night on the floor of the hotel room of friends of ours, Aylelne and Alan Bluechel. And the next morning flew to Copenhagen on 37
Page 2 and 3: Nancy Evans Research by John C. Hug
Page 4 and 5: certificate says Nancy Ann Bell, wh
Page 6 and 7: England family. There were a lot of
Page 8 and 9: Evans: Yes. My father’s mother wa
Page 10 and 11: Evans: Well, I was a spoiled brat.
Page 12 and 13: wartime. So that was a severe blow
Page 14 and 15: Madrigal Singers. I played the pian
Page 16 and 17: ecause she could say no. So I think
Page 18 and 19: had two grand pianos as well as the
Page 20 and 21: ecause he wasn’t waiting for me.
Page 22 and 23: and then I came. When I competed fo
Page 24 and 25: out of college, living with all the
Page 26 and 27: Christmas program. That was just a
Page 28 and 29: Hughes: What was your first impress
Page 30 and 31: in Vancouver. They were very Britis
Page 32 and 33: Evans: Dan tells this story wonderf
Page 34 and 35: Hughes: I’ve never met Sally Gort
Page 38 and 39: SAS nonstop. You could have 40 poun
Page 40 and 41: Evans: No. I can’t. I think he wo
Page 42 and 43: Evans: Uh-huh. Hughes: Is that the
Page 44 and 45: Evans: That’s right. And lost. Bu
Page 46 and 47: Hughes: As things went along, were
Page 48 and 49: Hughes: Barry Goldwater may have be
Page 50 and 51: Hughes: Did you really find that pe
Page 52 and 53: Hughes: That’s funny. And then th
Page 54 and 55: Evans: Well, I used to always say t
Page 56 and 57: Evans: Yes, pronounced “Poe-gi.
Page 58 and 59: we’re sitting in the drawing room
Page 60 and 61: cabinet wives - the wives of the ca
Page 62 and 63: Evans: Well, Elsie was one. She was
Page 64 and 65: Evans: Yes. And in fact I remember
Page 66 and 67: governor was supposed to arrive at
Page 68 and 69: pointed two pillows for us that are
Page 70 and 71: dog, “Peggy! Peggy! Come here, Pe
Page 72 and 73: een assassinated. So there was a ne
Page 74 and 75: Hughes: I’m told that the chief h
Page 76 and 77: Hughes: Was Neil McReynolds the gov
Page 78 and 79: carpet layer. I was standing there,
Page 80 and 81: just all the time because we were l
Page 82 and 83: Nelsen was his name. We hired him a
Page 84 and 85: Hughes: Nancy didn’t go along? Ev
Page 86 and 87:
The Governor’s Foundation wanted
Page 88 and 89:
ecome “senior” now to separate
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a trundle underneath, so three bunk
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sort of stabbed at it and tried to
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whole thing. I remember I was very
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Hughes: I bet that made a big hit.
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They had been put to bed but they w
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Hughes: I read that you, and I thin
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adjourn. I was young and had never
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at the hotel and said, “Do you ha
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chickens. We don’t like whole chi
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good causes. I couldn’t believe t
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never left your eyes. Paul Newman w
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go back to Dan for a few seconds, b
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Evans: And we don’t carry that ma
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told me that on the first trip he e
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people. Never. Dan had worked quite
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Nancy plays the piano for a sing-a-
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Evans: No. It was organized (in 196
Page 124 and 125:
inauguration of President Obama. Th
Page 126 and 127:
this cute little guy. Then we start
Page 128 and 129:
Evans: No. But we met her and Princ
Page 130 and 131:
the way Pickleball started. The sto
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Evans: Pretty much. I would hope th
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the library, which used to be a lit
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told this story that Jean Gardner c
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Evans: A bit out of the norm. So I
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then sort of a Van Dyke, and finall
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Hughes: Tell me about that. Evans:
Page 144 and 145:
Hughes: Tell us about any other tri
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aquavit, which was terrible. And th
Page 148 and 149:
I remember I was standing in the fr
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early. Well, when Dan was a freshma
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time.” Finally he decided to do i
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and put him on the plane for his ju
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president of the college. He just d
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Evans: Yes. I know he likes and res
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Heffernan: The other question I hav
Page 162 and 163:
He hooked up with a lot of Australi
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think very well. So it was a huge l
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first of January. Then after some l
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But I got the rental furniture deli
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was very interesting. And he always
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Evans: Yes, we did. Hughes: Did you
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So we enjoyed all of that. But when
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was all decorated with very, very c
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me again. But that was my daily wal
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Hughes: You bought a house, tore it
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away after building your first-ever
Page 184 and 185:
had good friends, Sherman and Nouch
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Evans: Yes. And “What about my ch
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learned he was coming to Seattle to
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the fire is lit, the cookies and mi
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very successful and it’s a separa
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Sheppard and she attended the UW. I
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over here. Celia, being a mother, w
Page 198 and 199:
Evans: So they didn’t have to wor
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Hughes: You have always been pretty
Page 202 and 203:
that he’s always easy, but he is
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“Crosscut” 100 Crystal Mountain
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Minnesota 12 Minow, Newt 187 Minto,
Page 208:
Wallgren, Monrad 2 Washington, D.C.
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Nany Evans oral history.indd - Washington Secretary of State

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