Hot air balloons can make strange bedfellows. Here’s one about a liberal ex-president scorned by the right, an irascible conservative radio talk show host and a pleasant afternoon above Plains.
Jimmy Carter’s death has brought forth all sort of observations and recollections about his 100 years on earth.
Now, longtime Atlanta radio yakker Neal Boortz has raised his hand.
It all started when Boortz and his wife, Donna, stopped in Plains and watched Jimmy Carter teach Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist, a little brick church in Carter’s hometown.
At the time, 1987, Carter was a one-term president in his early 60s carving out his second (or third) act. He and former first lady Rosalynn had established the Carter Center to help the world’s poor and forgotten.
At the time, Boortz was a lawyer with a talk show on WGST radio. He had not yet moved to WSB or national syndication. He was simply a local pain in the ass, albeit one who the former president knew as a vociferous critic.
After Sunday school, the teacher gazed back into the audience, spotted the radio host and said: “Neal Boortz, I thought you’d be in jail by now.”
The two got to talking when Boortz says he had a “wild hair.”
“I asked, ‘How’d you like to go on a hot air balloon ride sometime?’”
Why not? said the former prez. Weeks later, Boortz and some fellow ballooners returned to Plains, gear in tow.
They were setting up in a park there when the Secret Service showed up. “I got some real scrutiny,” Boortz told me.
And why wouldn’t they? He might have been some wacko planning to toss an ex-president off the side of a high-flying balloon.
“Not only a wacko,” Boortz ventured, “but a right-wing wacko.”
Credit: Neal Boortz
Credit: Neal Boortz
After loading the balloon with government-issued radio equipment, the agent in charge told Boortz they brought the region’s smallest agent to ride in the balloon, a 100-something pound woman.
“I told them this is a standard hot air balloon and it holds three adults, including me — and we need me,” Boortz said.
The agent insisted, so Boortz said, “Well then, Mrs. Carter can’t fly.”
The former president then pulled rank. “Rosalynn is flying,” he said. So the slight agent remained on terra firma in a chase car with Donna Boortz.
Carter, ever the hands-on fellow, insisted on helping with the inflation (something he knew about from the economy during his time in office). Carter held the balloon’s “throat,” the narrow opening at the bottom, as Boortz fired up the burner.
“I told him, ‘I’m gonna send 20 million BTUs of heat past your head,’” Boortz said. “That was shooting five feet from Jimmy Carter’s face. I don’t know how I’m getting away with this.”
The former president stayed on task and heeded directions.
Soon, they were airborne, just Boortz, Jimmy and Rosalynn, with a flotilla of balloons following. Boortz says other balloons floating nearby provided a better experience for motorless flight newbies. The breezes that day were soft, the temps were moderate and the 3,500-foot views were spectacular. A perfect day to fly.
Carter, a former Naval submariner, asked about the flying process and navigation. He happily pointed out local landmarks and chitchatted about the occupants.
“Just normal BSing,” Boortz recalls. “You get up there with people and inhibitions let loose. They talk about anything.”
They passed over a body of water called Rabbit Pond. Boortz asked if that was where the “Killer Rabbit” incident occurred. That was when an aggressive swamp rabbit swam toward Carter’s rowboat as he fished in 1979. He splashed it away with an oar. It was a humorous incident but the story had a life of its own and was used to portray Carter as weak.
“That was a creation of the media,” Carter said.
They heard gunfire. Gulp. They quickly realized it was hunting season.
Credit: Jimmy Carter Library
Credit: Jimmy Carter Library
Carter would lean out and yell down to earthlings, “Hey! It’s Jimmy.”
Boortz interceded. “I said, ‘Mr. President, please. We have 40 gallons of raw propane up here. I don’t want to give anyone any great ideas.’ ”
He paused the greetings.
Earlier, Boortz told the Secret Service he would fly until sunset and put down on a road. And that’s what he did, with blue lights blocking off each direction of traffic.
After landing, Carter noticed Boortz stuffing the balloon into a giant sack, so he jumped in to help. He realized it was tough work, so he shouted to his wife, “Hey, Rosalynn, come help us!”
Soon, Boortz, Rosalynn and Jimmy were kneeling on a country road, stuffing a balloon.
Minutes later, the Boortzes were at the Carter home for a drink and a bite and someone handed Donna Boortz a baby and walked away. A seemingly normal night for the Carters.
I asked about their many deeply held differences. “I didn’t care what his politics were,” Boortz says. “I knew he was an honest guy, a nice guy, a decent guy.”
Weeks later, Boortz got a card thanking him for the experience.
It ended:
“Middle of the Road.
Right at Sunset. Unbelievable.
Jimmy Carter.”
About the Author
