Former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral Thursday at Washington, D.C.’s National Cathedral was as formal a ceremony as any this country has produced, with a motorcade, honor guard and presidential colors.
Formality was exactly the opposite of what Buzz Scher experienced when he spent three days with Carter in Anchorage 25 years ago.
“The second we met him, he was just so — it's not really a good term, but down to earth,” said Scher. “He was just so open, friendly.”
Carter was in Anchorage in 2000 to celebrate the anniversary of his landmark conservation law, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. The 1980 law left a historic mark on Alaska, by greatly expanding its national parks, refuges and other conservation system units.
On a more personal scale, Scher says Carter made a big impression on him, too.
“President Carter was, without hesitation, the most interesting, pleasant and engaging person I have ever met,” Scher said.
His extended visit with the ex-president started with Carter’s desire to see some birds while he was in Alaska. Someone reached out to Scher and Thede Tobish, two of Alaska’s top birders, measured by the number of species they’d sighted.
Their mission: Take the former president and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, out birding over three mornings.
They had some challenges. For one thing, it was August — not a great time to spot or hear birds in Anchorage.
“You're listening for chip notes, looking for something moving in the brush, and you're generally trying to be very, very quiet,” Scher recalled. “But here's a man that we didn't want to be quiet with. We wanted to hear his story.”
Tobish said Carter obliged them.
“I remember asking him, ‘Mr. President, I know you don't drink alcohol because of your religious beliefs, but how did you deal with the Russians with your SALT II treaty meetings, and their vodka?’” Tobish recounted. “And he said, ‘That's a great story.’”
Carter revealed to them that he had a special drinking glass made with a false bottom so that he didn’t have to drink all the shots that were poured.
The birders had three Secret Service agents trailing them, “replete with the trench coats and everything,” Tobish said. At Connors Lake, Carter wanted to call the agents over to where the scope was set up, so he could show them a pair of Pacific loons.
“They're incredibly beautiful birds in breeding plumage,” Tobish said.
Carter called out. The agents didn’t notice. Carter shouted louder and waved his arms. That got the agents running at them, alarmingly fast. Scher recalls putting his hands in the air to avoid a painful misunderstanding.
Another challenge: Carter was incredibly friendly. Early one morning, Scher and Tobish took the Carters to Westchester Lagoon, along one of the busiest bike trails in Anchorage. Joggers would freeze in their tracks at the sight of the former leader of the free world.
“That would be your natural reaction, just, ‘what do I do now? There's the president.’” Scher said. Carter “wouldn't waste a millisecond. He would just turn right towards them, walk up to them, put his hand out: ‘Hi. I’m Jimmy Carter. Nice to meet you. … How are you today?’”
It cut into Carter’s birding opportunities. But Carter grasped that for a passerby, sighting him was a special moment, no less important than his sighting of birds.
“He was so gracious. No ego at all that I could see,” Tobish said. “But respect for other people was so strong, also. I mean, here was a guy that could maneuver between global decision-making and talking to birders on the Coastal Trail. He made it seamless.”
Tobish and Scher say they felt honored to spend part of three days with Jimmy Carter, even if the birding was less than spectacular.