JOHN LACEY AND THE POWER OF A FRIEND’S WORD

I first met John A. Lacey at a cocktail party hosted by the Plain Dealer for their Board of Contributors. (I was a member of that board from 1984 until 1994, when the Plain Dealer discontinued it.)

All I knew about him was that he lived in Ashland after he retired from the foreign service of the U.S. State Department. He wrote a monthly column for the Forum Page of the Plain Dealer. I always read his pieces because they were well written and packed so much information into 750 words.

John suggested we meet again and bring our wives, which we did, and for several years the four of us would meet every other month.

Anita and I thoroughly enjoyed our luncheons with John and Lorene Lacey. John always came with an agenda, which we seldom followed. Anita and I were far more interested in listening to the stories John and Lorene told us about their assignments in Hong Kong, Singapore, and other places in the Far East.

For example, John told us of the time he and his diplomatic counterpart from Great Britain had to settle a serious trade dispute in Hong Kong. They agreed to meet one evening at the home of the British diplomat. John knew the meeting would last for many hours, so as he was walking to the diplomat’s home he stopped at a liquor store and bought a large bottle of brandy.

The meeting ended with an agreement after they had consumed the entire bottle of brandy. John said he wasn’t drunk, but admitted that he had a little difficulty walking home. Once home, he had the presence of mind to write down all the points on which they agreed. Exhausted, John signed the summary and went to bed.

The next day he called the British diplomat to set up a meeting for the afternoon. When they met, John showed him what they had agreed upon and asked the British diplomat to sign the paper.

After his counterpart read the document he said, “John, I had so much brandy that I can’t recall all those points you say we agreed on. But, if you say I agreed to them I’ll sign the paper because I know you to be a man of your word.” With that he took the paper from John and signed it. Being a Brit, however, he suggested ways the document could be improved by a better choice of words.

“In those days,” said John, “your word was your bond.”

Are those days gone? If they are, will they ever come back? We cannot vouch for the words of others, but we can vouch for our own.

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