Scott Fitzgerald: “I conclude by saying that Senator Paul Simon was a credit to the State of Illinois and a credit to the Senate, and we…”

“I conclude by saying that Senator Paul Simon was a credit to the State of Illinois and a credit to the Senate, and we will miss him. God rest his soul and may God bless his widow and family. Exhibit 1 [From the Chicago Tribune, Feb. 28, 1997] In Praise of a Decent Former Politician (By R. Bruce Dold) One of my best lessons in southern Illinois politics came with Paul Simon's 1984 campaign for the U.S. Senate, the one where he dusted Sen. Charles Percy and made amends for his one big political loss, the 1972 bid for governor. Simon planned to hit about 13 towns in one day, moving from Vandalia to Cairo and over to Carbondale, with a brief stop at his Makanda home to show off his Lincoln book collection to the handful of reporters with him. He'd be meandering over a few hundred miles, which normally would require a helicopter. For Simon, all it required was Joe Bob Pierce. Joe Bob is something of a Renaissance man--an electric power lineman with a Baptist divinity school degree who can drive like a bat out of hell, that last talent being the one Simon required that day. So the trip went like this. We would drive to the Franklin county Courthouse public square, and Simon would give a little speech, and then he would do the real campaigning.…”