DCI TRIP TO SAN ANTONIO TX/PHOENIX AZ 16-20 JAN 1980

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP05T00644R000301020001-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 20, 2009
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: January 16, 1980
• Content Type: MISC

STAT
Approved For Release 2009/04/20 :CIA-RDP05T00644R000301020001-8
Approved For Release 2009/04/20 :CIA-RDP05T00644R000301020001-8
 Approved For Release 2009/04/20: CIA-RDP05T00644R000301020001-8
20 January 1980
STAT
Dear family,
The big event of the week was that Patricia and I took four,
days off and went out to Phoenix for a tennis tournament. Once
a year the John Gardner tennis ranch in Phoenix has a charity,
tournament for senators, a few government. officials, a few
businessmen, and a few Holl wood ersonalities. Our friends
here in Washington, who have been involved in
this arranged to get us invited.- I accepted on the hope that
I would be able to take some time off and get a break from the
rather strenuous Iranian-Afghan routine.. As always, things
seemed busy up to the last minute but I just decided that it
was worth getting away for a few days.
We flew out after I had given the President one of my
regular briefings on Wednesday noon. We made a stop on the
way to do some business and that delayed our getting to Phoenix
until about midnight. What a marvelous place we found we
had come to, however. John Gardner's tennis ranch is on the
north side of the Camel Back Mountain. It's a series of small
adobe guest houses scattered up and down the hillside with one
central dining room facility and tennis center. We, however,
were given one of three full-scale houses that are on the property.
Some people apparently buy these as an investment. They're
rented out most of the year but the owner can come and use them
when he wants.
Thus, we had a lovely three-bedroom home with a large
living room with fireplace, our own tennis court adjacent to
the house,. and a magnificent seven-foot diameter heated
Jacuzzi whirlpool. From the terrace there was a lovely view
up to the Camel. Back hump.
The next morning we found out that just everything about the
place was delightful. The food was absolutely magnificent. The
service was superb in every respect -- a lot of young people,
all of whom just couldn't do enough to help out. I did a little
business in Phoenix on Thursday morning but came back in time for
lunch and a tennis lesson that Pat had signed me up for. Following
STAT that she and I played tennis with the She was so
improved that we trounced them the first set ut slacked off and
lost in the second.
The first night we went to a cocktail party at John Gardner's
house which was way up above the ranch perched on the side of the
mountain with one of the most spectacular nighttime views we've
ever seen. There we began to see the galaxy of stars who were..
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 Approved For Release 2009/04/20: CIA-RDP05T00644R000301020001-8
? ~ ?
coming to this event. There were twelve senators, most of whom
I knew fairly well and some of whom were quite good friends.
From the business world there was an assortment of people, some
young and some old, but all good tennis enthusiasts. Among
them were all the moguls of U.S. baseball, including the overall
commissioner and the presidents of the two major leagues. From
.Hollywood Merv Griffin was the leading person and he apparently
participates in this event every year. He brought with him
Eva Gabor, Clint Eastwood, and Carl Reiner. Patricia has been
ribbing me ever since I was introduced to Clint Eastwood in the
crowd and didn't catch his name. I was on the verge of asking
him what he did when I heard someone mention his name!
Some of the more interesting people were not as notorious.
For instance, my tennis partner for Friday and Saturday was
Alexander Shields. He is a men's clothes designer, primarily
tennis clothes, with a store on Park Avenue in New York. He and
his wife turned out to be delightful people. On top of that he
was a good tennis player and between us we managed to take second
place in the part of the tournament that was just for the guests
and celebrities. The other part was just for senators. We lost
to Merv Griffin and a young businessman from Los Angeles who was
a terrific tennis player.
Another young and interesting person was Gay Talese, author
of the books The Kingdom and the Power and Honor Thy Father. He
has a new book coming out in May called T ~ Neighbor's Wife. It
traces the revolution in sexual mores in the United States over
the past sixty years and a discussion of how and why sex has become
so much more public today. Interestingly, he does this not by way
of a study or a textbook but by turning it into a story -- not a
novel, as he uses real persons' names.
All in all it was a marvelous and relaxing opportunity for
us -- interesting company -- a lot of tennis (I played over
a hundred and four games in three days and had two lessons) --
and marvelous surroundings and food.
We flew back on Sunday in time. to watch the Super Bowl.
I feel rested and relaxed..
Approved For Release 2009/04/20: CIA-RDP05T00644R000301020001-8