She was also one our of most quirky Floridans. I like that about her as well. Janet was 6 feet, 2 inches tall and a self described "awkward old maid." Her parents were journalists in Miami but we Floridans remember wild stories about the three of them. Janet's mother wrestled alligators and they had a family of peacocks - all named Horace. I remember that, after she retired Janet and her mom reportedly built a house - all by themselves!
Janet Reno went to Cornell and then Harvard Law School at a time that women didn't do that, especially, 6 feet, 2 "folksy" old maids from South Florida.
As attorney general she was involved in the capture and conviction of huge number of high profile criminals, including:
- the Branch Davidians
- the Unabomber
- Timothy McVeigh
- 1993 World Trade Center bombers
 |
| Janet looks like she's going to beat up Will Farrell and she certainly could have if she chose to. |
And who could ever forget the unbelievably cute little Cuban refugee, Elian Gonzalez? His photo was in our papers every day for months. After the death of Elian's mother, Janet managed to get him reunited with his dad in Cuba.
Janet knew who she was and was comfortable with herself. She had a great sense of humor and even enjoyed Will Farrell's parity of her on SNL. "Janet Reno's Dance Party" was sometimes pretty brutal but at the end of her term she appeared on the show. I remember she came crashing through a wall, wearing the same suit as Will.
Here are a couple of Reno quotes that I hope apply to me as well:
- I'm just delighted to be here, and I'm going to do my level best.
- I'm not fancy. I am what I appear to be.
- If you stand on principle, you'll never lose.
No matter how you felt about Janet Reno, Florida has lost a treasure.
***
