The Foreign Service Journal, June 2012

switchboard in Washington, when both brothers were working for that network. She said: “This is Marvin Kalb’s mother. Is my son Bernie there?” After Bernie left NBC in 1984, Marvin shared the NBC booth with Ann Garrels, a young newcomer who joked about rooming with such a renowned, erudite figure. She liked to show off a sweatshirt she had received as a wedding present. Across the front, it said, “Marvin Who?” Bernie once told the story of a visit he and columnist Joe Kraft made to Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu in Saigon, on the eve of a groundbreaking presidential election there in 1967. It was a key period of the Vietnam War. Thieu, seeking re- election, was frustrated by allegations of irregularities. “How can I convince people that the election will be fair?” he asked. “Lose,” Kalb deadpanned. It was a one-liner that Kraft treasured — and repeated — for years. Madeleine Plays Ball Secretary of State Albright visited Moscow early in her tenure to call on Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who had been suffering health problems. When she emerged, my AP colleague, Barry Schweid, asked her how Yeltsin was feeling. “Oh, he was at the top of his game,” she said. Schweid followed up: “What game was that? Senior shuffleboard?” Albright laughed loudly. Weeks later, she was called on to throw out the first pitch of the season opener at Baltimore’s Camden Yards. With the State Department media watching from the press box, Albright bounced the ball in front of home plate. Her spokesman, Jamie Rubin, said the pitch “broke too fast” — as if Albright had a curve ball in her meager arsenal. We all laughed. Tales from the Press Room When I began covering State for the Associated Press, the main point of interaction between the department and the press was the noon briefing. Reporters were only permitted to use a pen and paper — no cameras or recording devices. Instead of grand- standing, respectful exchanges be- tween the press and the spokesman (Robert J. McCloskey in those days) were common. J U N E 2 0 1 2 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 39 I sometimes found traveling abroad with Secretaries of State overrated.