Rome:
(An excerpt from Erik Larson, The Wright Brothers):
“The American ambassador to Italy, Lloyd Griscom, was one of those who went flying with Wilbur [in Rome].”
Houston:
I was surprised when I read that, because Col. Griscom was my godfather. I knew he had been Ambassador to Italy, but didn’t know about his flying in the new-fangled flying machine. Then I was surprised at a party a few years ago when I met a man named R Griscom, who incidentally has the same first name as my husband. Oh, I said, are you by any chance related to Col. Lloyd C. Griscom? Turns out he was—as I thought I remembered from my mother’s conversations—Col. Griscom’s grandson. We decided we are god-cousins.
Tallahassee, FL:
Col. Griscom and his family lived in the northeast, and spent a lot of vacation time in Maine. They also spent time in Tallahassee, where he owned the local newspaper, The Tallahassee Democrat. My father spent almost all of his adult life at the Democrat, beginning in 1928 as Circulation Manager. He was a reporter and a photographer before becoming Editor and finally Publisher.
Estes Park, CO and Rangeley, ME::
R and I spend much of the summers in Estes Park, where we attend The Parish Church of St. Bartholomew the Apostle. I love the name and the church. We hang out with the rector, S, and his family. One day when we were sitting on the front porch, S was telling us about the church in Rangeley, ME where he had formerly been rector. I can’t for the life of me remember the context in which this topic came up, but he mentioned a stalwart parishioner named R. Oh, I said, was he by any chance R Griscom? Well, of course, yes, he was.
It’s a small world.
So Close to the Other Side 