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David Holzman's avatar

Kinky Friedman is pretty funny. But so, according to Andrew Solow, son of the recently departed Nobel economist, Robert Solow, was Milton Friedman. At the very recent memorial for Solow, Andrew recounted a Solow visit to Friedman, then at Stanford, which was quite hilarious.

When he was still around, my father, gone now these last 22 years, would tell a story about how I, at age 2, had jumped into bed with Milton Friedman. My father, also an economist--Solow and his wife had hosted my parents' wedding--had said that Friedman had come to stay at our house in Seattle, following a rape on the University of Washington campus, ostensibly to protect my mother. In the story, my father would recount that after finding a strange man in my parents' bed, I'd beaten a hasty retreat back downstairs, and found my mother on the living room couch where she'd spent the night, and I'd said to her--and this was what my father had thought was so funny--"where's the other guy?!!"

It didn't occur to me to ask my father about this crazy story when he was still around.

So I tried to think of who might know something about this. I had my own doubts about the story. My parents were left wingers, and Friedman, of course, was a right winger. My mother was a tough character, and it was hard for me to imagine her putting up with a right winger.

Most of my parents' economist friends were gone by this time, but Robert Solow was still around. I told him the story, and asked him if he knew anything about it. "THAT'S PREPOSTEROUS!" said Solow, his voice dripping with amusement!

But when, after his death, I'd mentioned the story in a note of condolence, Kate Solow, daughter of Robert, said that her father had been friends with Friedman. But she didn't provide details. After hearing Andy's stories about the Solows' visit to Friedman, the answer to my conundrum was obvious. Friedman, going to Seattle early in his career, a place where he'd likely never been before, and likely didn't know anyone, had almost certainly asked Solow who he should look up in Seattle. And Solow would have given him my parents' info.

So, yes, I really did jump into bed with Milton Friedman. But no, I will never recount that story in the middle of a tryst!

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Brian Lennon's avatar

Don't stop doing this!

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