When I was in college at the University of Arizona, I met a delightful and charming woman by the name of Sarah who happened to be in three of my art history classes.

We found it so amusing that the two of us were in so many classes together that it was inevitable we would become friends.

The year was 1965 and I had taken a light class load because I was working almost full-time on the production of a major exhibition that would open across campus on November 1, a tribute to President John F. Kennedy.

I had produced a smaller version of the show the previous year to much success and the idea of producing a much larger show was something the University Library was excited about and agreed to sponsor, which like the first, was based on my extensive magazine collection.

Sarah and I became chums and the following December, weeks after the Kennedy show closed, she invited me to a cocktail party at her Uncle Jack's house, which was adjacent to The Arizona Inn, the spectacular resort owned by the family.

I had never been to a cocktail party before and so I asked Sarah what I should wear.

"Do you have a jacket and tie?" she inquired. I said I did and she replied that would be fine.

I had already been to Sarah's house which was so large that I quipped to her as I walked into it for the first time that I thought it was a Hilton.

As I waited in the living room while Sarah was inside, I happened to glance at a photo album on the table and was shocked to discover photographs of Teddy Roosevelt.

When Sarah came into the room, I asked her about the pictures and she casually commented that they were taken when Teddy and his bride honeymooned at the family ranch in Northern Arizona, in the town of Williams, not far from the Grand Canyon. This event took place around the turn of the century.

 I also learned from Sarah that her grandmother, Isabella Greenway, was the first woman to serve in Congress from the state of Arizona and that she also founded The Arizona Inn, which the family still owned.

I realized that quite unwittingly I was now associated with perhaps the most prominent family in Arizona and it was a revelation, particularly since I was a third generation Italian-American who knew nothing about high society.

Indeed, my world and the world of the Greenways had nothing in common, and other than the fact of my chance meeting with Sarah, the odds of my becoming part of their world were nil.

But it was the success of the Kennedy show that resulted in the invitation I received to the stellar cocktail party at her Uncle Jack's house.

Sarah and I were just friends - we were not involved at all - and there was simply no reason why she should have asked me to the party other than the fact that because of the Kennedy show I just happened to be the most acclaimed student at the University of Arizona in the fall of 1965.

Everyone knew who I was. The show was a tremendous success and was covered extensively by the press. I even received letters from Bobby Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy thanking me for my efforts.

So when Sarah and I entered her Uncle Jack's house, which was even more impressive than Sarah's, I was quite star-struck by everyone I encountered, not the least of whom was Jack Greenway, the most distinguished looking man I ever met.

Tall and dashing, impeccably attired in a tuxedo, Jack grasped my hand when Sarah introduced us and said, "Ah, yes, our Kennedy man!"

In just a few words Jack Greenway won me over and we would be good friends until his death thirty years later.

But I was completely aware of what was happening, that I had crossed over into a world I had never been in before and that it was quite a privilege as well as an honor to be part of such an important and prominent gathering.

So I kept quiet and listened attentively to everything that was being said. I knew enough to realize I was completely out of my element, but I was determined to fit in by not making any major gaffs and I did not, conducting myself properly to such a degree that Sarah complimented me at the end of the evening.

"I'm so glad you've enjoyed yourself," she said. "Everyone loved meeting you."

Yet at night's end, Jack Greenway made a point of giving me so much attention that when Sarah was ready to leave, she left without me, which was not a disaster since her house was just up the block from Jack's.

Frankly, I was stunned that such a prominent and important man would give me the attention he did, but I soon realized that Jack had taken a great interest in me even before he and I met.

He was very active in University affairs and knew all about the Kennedy show even before Sarah told Jack of my involvement in it. And he could not have been more effusive in his praise.

"You have done something for the University of Arizona," he began, "that no one has ever done. Your show has made the school shine on the national level and for that you will always be remembered. You have a great future ahead of you and I would like to be a part of that future."

To say that I was taken aback would be an understatement. I was on cloud nine. No one of such prominence ever spoke to me the way Jack Greenway did that night by the fireplace in his palatial mansion.

In time I realized that because of the Kennedy show, Jack Greenway took me under his wing and decided to be my mentor, a role he played with considerable effort as the years went by.

When I left that night, Jack turned to me and said, "You must come back for lunch. I have something for you."

I told Jack I would be delighted and a week later I arrived at his house for lunch which was served by the pool. After the meal, we retired to his favorite sitting area in the house which was flanked by an oversize window that overlooked the spectacular patio.

As Jack and I sat down he handed me a book, his copy of John Kennedy's Profiles In Courage which Kennedy had inscribed to Jack. He also gave me an article from the local paper about JFK's visit to Tucson in 1958 and Jack's role as Kennedy's host since Jack was head of the Democratic Party in Arizona.

Jack also told me an amusing story about JFK, who out of frustration because he could not find his cuff links, hurled his suitcase across the room, scattering its contents everywhere.

Looking at Jack, Kennedy mumbled that Jack would make certain to have the mess cleaned up to which Jack responded he would.

"We had a long talk here by the window," Jack continued. "Politics, of course. He was a very appealing candidate and was determined to become president. I had every confidence he would."

"In fact," Jack added, "you're sitting where he sat that night."

Then Jack showed me a photograph of JFK standing in the Hall of Statuary of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, the building where Congress is located.

"That statue behind Kennedy," Jack continued, "is of my father, John Campbell Greenway. When Kennedy learned about the statue, he made a point of having himself photographed in front of it and sent the picture to me, something I appreciated very much."

Jack explained that the Federal Government asked every state in the Union to nominate two people to represent their state in the Hall of Statuary. Arizona selected Jack's father, John Campbell Greenway and Father Kino, the Jesuit priest who founded the missions of Arizona.

Jack went on to explain that his father and Teddy Roosevelt were best friends and had ridden together at San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American war. They also dated the same woman, Isabella, who was the belle of Washington society and who chose John Campbell over Teddy Roosevelt.

However, the Roosevelts remained close to the Greenways and in the Thirties when Isabella Greenway opened The Arizona Inn, Eleanor Roosevelt made a point of being there for the festivities.

Years later when I was living in the Bay Area, I called Jack to see if it was a good time to visit and he said, "Let me get my old friend, George Bush, on the plane and you can come in tomorrow. You'll have his room."

Needless to say I was curious how Jack knew Bush and when I asked him about it he told me that he and the senior Bush were roommates at Yale and had been friends ever since.

Jack also told me a wonderful story about Bush. One summer years earlier Jack faced an empty house for the summer with no house guests since work was being done. He called Bush and asked him if he knew of anyone who wouldn't mind a bit of discomfort and Bush said he knew just the person - one of his sons - who spent the summer with Jack that year.

Jack couldn't recall which son it was and after Jack's death I wrote President Bush at his Library in Houston and asked him if he knew which of the sons it was.

The president's assistant replied to my letter stating that according to President Bush it was his son, The President, who spent that summer in Tucson at Jack Greenway's house.

As a footnote, the photograph of President Kennedy standing in by the statue of John Campbell Greenway in the Hall of Statuary of the Capitol Building in Washington can be seen in Thomas Meier's book, The Kennedys: America's Emerald Kings. A paperback edition has just been released.

Also, it should be noted that the Bush and Kennedy families are friends as demonstrated by the fact that the Bush Library gave Senator Ted Kennedy an award.