He’s ‘Hard-Nosed as Hell,’ but Her Work Almost Brought Him to Tears

I am an Orange County conservative, an ex-World War II Marine, well-educated and hard-nosed as hell. Consequently, I don’t choke up easily. However, J. Michael Kennedy’s story (“Truth and Consequences on the Reserva-tion,” July 7) almost brought me to tears. What can you possibly say about Elouise Cobell of the Blackfeet Nation that begins to be adequate? It’s too bad that people like her only come along once in a while. How much better the world would be if it were full of Elouise Cobells.

I guess most of us have some goal in life. Hers just happens to involve two nations and thou-sands of people. The one thing that worries me is, what happens when the Native Americans’ lawsuit against the federal government for land-use payments is over? What will she do? How do you replace a life ambition? That’s a pretty hard act to follow.

John Waugen

Anaheim