Gary at the American Life League Conference

By Willie Walter

Gary's first appearance at the American Life League Conference occurred when he joined a group called Crossroads as they completed their coast-to-coast walk. Gary walked with the young people from Crossroads as they made their way to the steps of the US Capitol building in Washington, DC. There were several speakers and presentations at the Capitol. Gary read his open letter to Eddie Vedder there. Although he was nervous, he did a great job!!! He got a great response from the audience there.

Back at the conference hotel, Gary was a special guest at the luncheon. He was presented with a "courage" award and was asked to read his open letter again. He wasn't prepared to read the letter a second time, and he stumbled just briefly at one point, but again, he did well. I was very proud of him.

Gary was a very popular person at the conference! The pro-life folks really seemed to embrace him, and he was welcomed as a member of their "family". He posed for a lot of photos and shook a lot of hands that day. He was pulled in many different directions, but handled it with his usual grace. Bryan Kemper, the founder of Rock for Life, took good care of Gary - even remembering to order a vegetarian lunch for him.

For those who care about such details, Gary was dressed casually, in a gray-ish T-shirt and jeans. He has blondish curls - I think he referred to the "blond" part as "my west-coast hair" or something to that effect. He said his friends tease him when it gets frizzy.

I was very, very proud of Gary. You know, he's never really taken on the role of "spokesperson" for anything before. While I still don't think he's entirely comfortable in that role, he obviously feels that it's important to become involved in this cause. While I don't entirely agree with his philosophy, I support his desire to speak out and state his beliefs. He did so admirably. It was nice to see this whole other group of people embrace him and acknowledge what a wonderful person he is. I was proud when Bryan Kemper introduced our little group to someone as "Gary's fans".

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