Remembering two exceptional Minnesotans: George Latimer and Joe Selvaggio

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It’s my ecumenical joy to jointly salute George Latimer and Joe Selvaggio, friends and generous leaders who died recently.

The first Center of the American Experiment event ever was a daylong conference in April 1990 titled “The New War on Poverty, Advancing Forward This Time” and featured major conservative scholars, policymakers and activists such as Linda Chavez, Charles Murray and Robert Woodson Jr. Even though this was the center’s premiere, we made certain that speakers on the right didn’t have the stage to themselves, as we juxtaposed them with major liberal leaders locally such as Sandra Gardebring, Earl Craig and St. Paul’s Latimer.

I had known George since the 1970s, before he was elected mayor, and liked him. And because I also enjoyed his humor, I figured he would be the perfect DFLer to moderate a panel discussion on “What Do Conservatives Have to Offer in Fighting Poverty Anyway?” with Chavez, Murray and Peter Bell. Amazingly to some, maybe many, he agreed after only a few minutes of my pitching, and by so doing, contributed early credibility to a new conservative and free-market institution, for which I remain most appreciative.

At the end of the day, a man by the name of Joe Selvaggio, who I had not known, introduced himself and said now that he had seen my program, I should see his, Project for Pride in Living, a superb anti-poverty venture I had not known about. I naturally agreed and when visiting a short time later, I watched a videotape of a young African American man who was having a hard time finding a job because, I recall him saying, he was homeless and there was no way for potential employers to contact him. I told Joe something like, heck, I was now running a think tank and looked forward to helping solve the problem.

Condensing the next several months, one idea led to another, and along with other new friends we invited a half-dozen or more executive directors of local homeless shelters to a meeting at American Experiment to expand the discussion. If I recall correctly, everyone we invited showed up, not necessarily because of my partly known name but because of Joe’s great reputation and that of the other leaders who had come aboard. One of the people who attended the meeting on a July morning was the executive director of the shelter at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in south Minneapolis, Diane McGowan, whom I had never met.

Radically condensing matters further, 15 months later Diane and I were married at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Edina, with a vanload of her shelter guests plus a couple of hundred varied people joining in the celebration. Joe always proudly took matchmaking credit for our union, for which Diane and I have gratefully granted for 33 years.

George and Joe, eternal blessings. Two valued friends and exceptional Minnesotans.

Mitch Pearlstein is founder emeritus of the Center of the American Experiment.