How to Talk to a Weatherman

Now that William Ayres is all over the news, my own experience of socializing with a former member of the Weather Underground might be mildly relevant again.

Mrs. RSI and I have been long-time friends with the sister of Kathy Wilkerson who was a fairly well-known member of the Weather Underground, involved in at least one bombing, etc. Every once in a while, we socialize with Wilkerson when she comes out to Kentucky. Last summer, we saw her when she was visiting for her niece's wedding reception.

I can't say that I know much about Wilkerson's Weatherman days. It's never come up. Like most middle-class people, most of her conversation centers around kids. Wilkerson has a daughter who was in graduate school the last time I saw her. I've got two daughters. We talk daughters.

Wilkerson recently published a somewhat remorseful memoir of the 60's entitled Flying Too Close to the Sun. It's supposed to be a very good book.

But I wouldn't have known she was a "60's radical" from talking with her.