This is not a political column. But I would like to say some good words about our first-term Republican governor, Mike Leavitt. I had never met the man prior to his election, and I made some fun of him during the campaign for his silly slogan - "Real and Right."
But what I have seen of him during his short tenure in office suggests a rare and unmistakable class.During the campaign I wrote a column about his propensity for practical jokes with his brothers. It got a lot of interesting public reaction, both pro and con. Some thought a governor with a history of practical joking would be dangerous, others thought it a breath of fresh air.
After his election, the governor walked up to me while visiting the newspaper office and said, "I want to meet you." I was unnerved, and feared I must have done something he disagreed with - or that he might have hated that particular column.
On the contrary. He liked it. In fact, over the weekend in southern Utah he had been reminiscing with members of his family, and they had brought out the column and re-read it. It was then, he said, that he realized he had never thanked me.
Well, I really don't expect anyone to thank me for a column. In fact, I would worry if too many people did, because it would imply a conflict of interest - or that I wasn't very good at stirring up people's minds.
But I was impressed that this new down-to-earth governor would take the time to say some pleasant words to someone he had never met.
Since then, I have heard him speak several times, and met him in other social contexts. In every case, he presented himself and his ideas with good will, restraint - and remarkably little ego.
One night at an evening honoring people who had excelled in the arts, the governor spoke briefly about the recipients, the arts and his first artistic experience as a child in a play. He did so with the self-effacing good humor that has come to characterize all of his public appearances.
He has also shown a credible image at meetings of other governors and even in the White House with a president not of his own party. He has freely and candidly commented about his views, but never in shrill tones.
He is a governor of whom we can be proud.
Finally, the thing that has impressed me the most was his measured, humble reaction to the fire that engulfed the Governor's Mansion only a week-and-a-half before Christmas. For the first time that anyone can remember, we had a homeless governor. Yet he and his wife reacted on television in the same classy way that has become their hallmark.
Although shaken, Jackie Leavitt was personable while explaining the difficulties of getting out of the house once the fire started - and the governor said that first reports asserted they had lost everything - but now he was just "thankful it had not been worse, and especially that no one was hurt."
When the fire started, he raced back to the mansion to help his family, postponing an announcement of the new state budget. Then a few hours later, after meeting the needs of his family, he returned to the Capitol and the affairs of state.
Later, he and Jackie went on a shopping trip for clothes and essentials like toothbrushes, because so many of their possessions had been destroyed.
So I don't know what the rest of his tenure in office holds or how much success he will have - and I am certainly not making any judgment on his programs. But let's admit one thing right now.
This is a man - in fact, this is a first family - with class.