To know Mr. Hoot is to love Mr. Hoot. I have never seen a person acquiesce to his surroundings more easily than this man. This photo is proof of two things. He sat clear across the room from his wife at the fan breakfast. Not b/c they were in a tiff, heck no. It was b/c he is good at working a room all on his own. Secondly, he sat there and talked so effortlessly that 20 minutes later, he still hadn't eaten a bite. Now, that's a mate...in more ways than one.
Oh, one other story...hence the SMELT BOY caption:
We ate pretty much every meal at the Ruby Tuesdays that is a portion of the Hampton Inn. At the second meal, Bob said to Marvin, "I'd like to order off of the menu."
"Okay," the kindly Marvin said and proceeded to listen intently to Bob's explanation of what he would like to order. When Bob was done with his explanation and then his order, the kindly Marvin looked across the table at me and said, "What??"
I just shrugged and said, "Dunno."
Bob said, in only the slightest of exasperated voices, "I'd like Smelt. Don't you have Smelt?"
Marvin just tried not to look too confused and said, "Um, no."
After that, you guessed it...Mr. Hoot became SMELT BOY!!