[SkateDC] Margaret Bui-Quan[Off Topic]

[George Marinkovich]

Thanks to all who came out to our dinner with Margaret last weekend.  It was good to see everyone again.  We'll be doing it again next year, precise date and location to be determined.

As usual Margaret brought along some photos from the past year.  Among pictures from her travels, there were a couple photos of Margaret's mother being presented with a medal at what looked like a very elegant affair.  Turns out it was the Légion d'honneur.

The National Order of the Legion of Honor, established by Napolean Bonaparte in 1802 as the first modern order of merit, is the highest decoration awarded by France.   Past Legion of Honor recipients include (among many others):  Alexander Graham Bell, Julia Child, Winston Churchill, Sean Connery, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, Salvador Dali, Marlene Dietrich, Clint Eastwood, Dwight Eisenhower, Gustave Flaubert, Alfred Hitchcock, Victor Hugo, Akira Kurosawa, T. E. Lawrence ("of Arabia"), Louis Pasteur, Luciano Pavoratti, Alexis de Tocqueville, Jules Verne, Elie Wiesel, and Alvin York (of "Sgt. York" fame).   Some pretty august company, no?  The very rough equivalent in the U.S. would be the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Of course, the French have also awarded the Légion d'honneur to Jerry Lewis and Céline Dion.  What can I say?  I think you may need to be French to understand, and perhaps even then, not fully.

Sherlock Holmes was also a fictitious recipient of the Legion of Honor, courtesy of Arthur Conan Doyle in "The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez."

It's not entirely clear why Margaret's mother was made a Chevalier in the Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur.  I like to think that if Margaret told us, then she'd have to kill us.

By the way, If you're watching the 56th Presidential Inaugural on TV, and they happen to show a shot in the reviewing stand of Mrs. Roberta McCain (John's 96-year old mother), you might be able to see Margaret sitting next to her.

Cheers,
George