If you wanted to make an announcement in Washington, D.C. in 1969,

and you wanted to make it bold, something the press would pay attention to.

You did it at the Mayflower Hotel.

Stuffy chic, peppered with chandeliers and floral moldings.

Basically, imagine the kind of hotel your grandparents would think is classy.

And so, Jock Yablonsky sat in the Pan American room at the Mayflower Hotel on May 29th waiting

for the media to arrive.

Today, Jock would announce that he was challenging Tony Boyle for the presidency of the United

Mine Workers.

Ralph Nader, the celebrity consumer advocate, had invited his many press contacts,

but refused to say what the press conference was about. That seemed to be top secret. Not a single

person knew what was about to happen. We weren't certain whether or not the word would leak out

and that there might be an effort

on the part of the mine workers to try to crash it.

Chip Yablonski, Jock's son, a high school football player turned lawyer, was there that day.

My cousin Steven and I were dressed in suits at the door, looking for press credentials to admit people.

As 11 a.m. neared, a parade of journalists made their way in. NBC, ABC, the New York Times,

the Washington Post, all the big outlets, all curious as hell. As they walked in, each reporter

was stopped at the door by one of the two

Yablonsky boys, pretending to be bouncers. Ralph Nader stood quietly in the back. He was just

there to show that Jock had his all-powerful seal of approval. The room neared capacity.

There was a palpable buzz in the crowd as Jock walked in and sat in front of a U-shaped table,

...