Remembering Woodie Flowers

REMEMBERING WOODIE FLOWERS

October 31st, 2019

It has taken me a bit to collect my thoughts on the recent passing of Woodie

Flowers. When I originally set about to write about him, I was only emotionally

charged. How can you not be if you were in his orbit?! Now, with some time

passed, I have processed a bit to think of some of the most lasting memories,

and more importantly, things I learned from him.

I remember him telling me the specifications he needed for his FRC kickoff

speech back in 2000. He said that he needed a monitor, Mac Book, lavalier

microphone, and a power strip to charge his drill. Me, thinking that he was

simply standing at a podium to present in front of a thousand people was giving

his thoughts and direction to the audience, didn’t understand Woodie fully yet.

He was trying to teach his audience. The drill? He ended up proving to the

audience that using a simple drill, you could move a 175-pound man up and down

on his wood-built elevator. Quite a demonstration!

I was also standing with him and about 5 others that fateful moment on September

11, when we all learned about 911. It was hard to understand, and visualize. We

were in a meeting and a little disheveled, and he said “Let’s all take a moment

of silent meditation to collect our thoughts.” And then we all dispersed. Always

in the moment, understanding his potential impact on others while considering

how others felt.

I felt lucky when in a room full of people, he would make eye contact with me

and always come to shake my hand and ask me what was new, where my travels had

been, and what books I was reading. Of course, he would recommend books to me

which I can’t remember how many of his recommendations I did read over the

years. Sometimes, I felt like I was in the deep end of my intellect trying to

comprehend the books he would recommend, but it was always worth the effort. Of

course, I remember the times when it was just the two of us- once in a Chinese

restaurant in Georgetown talking about geo-politics, and once in a restaurant in

Cambridge where we talked about food and art. You always knew you were in a good

conversation with Woodie when he would say “I would argue that.....”

Some of the things I admired about him, is that he was unabashedly smart- but

didn’t assume anyone else he was talking to wasn’t. Woodie would also talk about

Margaret like they were one in the same. A singular person- Woodie/Margaret. I

loved that they were so right for each other. And she, just a gracious and kind

to me as Woodie was. I also loved that Woodie was always interested in me first,

when of course he had far more interesting things about him than I did about me.

Truly gracious! I also loved that his public persona was exactly who he was. He

wasn’t one person on the microphone and then another one on one. Usually when I

would reflect on a conversation with Woodie, I would think “I never thought of

that before”.

And after all of this reflection, I realize....I am not so unique. This is how he

made everyone feel in his orbit.