Lighter Side of Martin O’Malley

Des Moines Register from July 2014:


Q. What is your dream job?

A. “Secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.”

Q. What kind of car do you drive?

A. “I drive a Ford Escape. I’ve driven it for 15 years.”

Q. How do you get your exercise?

A. “I go to the gym pretty regularly. Cardio and weights.”

Q. How do you unwind after a typical day at work?

A. “Typically I don’t get to unwind after a day at work. When I get some time, I’ve taken to stand-up paddle boarding on the rivers of Maryland.”

Q. Favorite book?

A. “Thomas Merton’s ‘Seven Storey Mountain.’ ”

(After resigning as an English literature teacher at St. Bonaventure College in New York in 1941, Merton, then 26, went to a Trappist monastery in Kentucky, according to Merton.org. He completed “Seven Storey Mountain” — his life story and the exploration of his conversion to Roman Catholicism — in 1946. He spent 27 years in the monastery, which he said brought about profound changes in his self-understanding and propelled him into the political arena and peace movement of the 1960s. One quote from the book: “The more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer, because smaller and more insignificant things begin to torture you, in proportion to your fear of being hurt. The one who does most to avoid suffering is, in the end, the one who suffers most.”)

Q. And do you have a favorite movie?

A. “Lawrence of Arabia.”

(The 1962 film is about the daring raids of a British army officer-turned-desert warrior who fought alongside Arab irregular troops.)

Q. Do you have any vacation properties?

A. “No.”

Q. Is there a quote or photo you keep in your wallet?

A. “I carry photos of my kids.”

Q. Do you have a favorite food?

A. “Pizza.”

Q. Any little phobias?

A. After a long pause for thought:“None that I’m aware of.”


read: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/iowa-politics-insider/2014/07/06/lighter-side-martin-omalley/12209141/


Jon Hill