Say so long to Tom Strickland – two-time U.S. Senate candidate from Colorado, civic leader, upstanding citizen and one of the first U.S. attorneys to get fired by the Bush administration, in 2001.
More than 400 muckety-mucks went to the Ellie Caulkins Opera House on Tuesday night to send off Strickland and his wife, Beth. He’s leaving the Hogan & Hartson law firm to take a job with UnitedHealth Group, the Minnesota health-insurance giant. He’s moving to Minni-noplace.
“This is not to say goodbye,” Strickland said. “This is to say thanks and we’re on to another adventure.”
In a few comments to the crowd, Strickland recalled a Judy Collins concert at Red Rocks that he and Beth went to a few days after they moved here 28 years ago. A storm in the distant plains created a rainbow. “There hasn’t been a day since when we didn’t think that the end of the rainbow was Denver, Colorado.”
Gov. Bill Ritter worked for two years with Strickland – and knows one thing for sure: Strickland can’t type. Watching Strickland bang out an e-mail to a client, Ritter couldn’t believe people were paying his billables to hunt and peck.
The very VIP crowd included Cole Finegan, Mayor John Hickenlooper, David French, Wellington Webb, Charlie Brown, Steve Sander, Ed and Stephanie Harvey, Ford and Ann Frick,, Justice Michael Bender, Bruce Benson, Amie Knox, William Matthews, Barney White and top cop Al LaCabe.
Seeing the light
Cooking Light magazine names Denver as No.7 in its roster of the Cooking Light 20 Best Cities Awards. Seems we have access to nutritious foods and opportunities to maintain physical health and well-being. That’s why we look so darn good.
For a splurge, CL likes Rioja; for a bistro, it’s Duo; pre-theater, it’s Kevin Taylor; and best fine foods are at Marczyk’s.
And June’s Gourmet goes gaga over Fruition, saying, “The advent of tiny Fruition has opened a whole new chapter for Denver.”
101 Nights
Denver Post feature writer Doug Brown is a tired but happy man. On Monday, Crown Publishing Group purchased his very personal book proposal for six figures.
The book follows Brown’s adventures when he and his wife, Annie, pledge to have sex together for at least 100 days straight. “It was a gas,” Brown says. “It wasn’t easy. Day three wasn’t so hard, but day 47? Day 82? It was a pretty tough time just plowing through it. But it was one of the best things we’ve ever done.”
Hollywood is giving the book a long look. Who would Brown want to play himself? “Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.”
It only hurts when he laughs.
City spirit
Former society writer Dawn Denzer’s memorial service is today at 1 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral, followed by a celebration of her life at Strings … Add some hot music to the Aspen Food & Wine Classic. On June 16, the B-52’s will play at Belly Up; John Oates, Emeril Lagasse and Nobu Matsuhisa are special guests … Sez who: “As a child my family’s menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it.” Buddy Hackett
Bill Husted’s column appears Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Friday. Husted also appears Tuesdays and Fridays on “Good Day Colorado” on Fox 31. You can reach him at 303-954-1486 or bhusted@denverpost.com. Take a peek at Husted’s next column at denverpostbloghouse.com/husted.
