Bobby Chinn Instagram – Flew into Hanoi for a quick rehearsal with the band, but walking through the old quarters, riding on the back of motorcycles around town and catching up with old friends gets me all nostalgic. Uncle Ho was my kind of guy. He lived a very interesting life. Accomplished so many things but I think would have been considered a failure for most of his life to put it mildly. His trajectory to politics via, A gardening, a poet, a baker, a teacher a journalist etc. He did a lot, but his true passion was working towards independence; founder of the communist party at 50, then becoming the president of the democratic republic of Vietnam at 55. Not exactly the traditional route, but it was a passionate one!
This a funny story I heard from @qdavidj founder of the Q Bar, the first iconic bar in Vietnam in the mid 90’s who attracted the who’s who. Now @smallsbangkok in Bangkok)
During the American Vietnamese War, a war correspondent was regaling the story of returning home and got an assignment to interview Maye West. It goes like this
MW ‘So where have you been. I haven’t heard from you in years?’
Reporter ‘I’ve been in Vietnam covering the war’
MW ‘Vietnam. Vietnam? Oh…. I used to know a great guy in Vietnam. His name was Ho something’ she went on Ho.. Ho… ‘ and as she struggled to remember the name the reporter volunteered with a suggestion
Reporter Ho Chi Minh?
MW Ho Chi Minh! That’s right Great waiter, great great waiter!’
The reporter never really knew if she was kidding or serious, as uncle Ho worked many jobs in Paris to support himself and is rumored to have worked in some swank places including The Ritz | Posted on 21/Sep/2023 12:20:40
