Lalo Guerrero
& Sons at the White House
January 9, 1997
by Mark Guerrero
After
being nominated by a professor at the University of California
at Irvine by the name of Robert Garfias, my dad, Lalo Guerrero,
was selected to receive the National Medal of the Arts for
the year of 1996, along with playwright Edward Albee, jazz
musician Lionel Hampton, actor Robert Redford, songwriter
Steven Sondheim, dancer/choreographer Bella Lewitzky, author
Maurice Sendak, arts patron Vera G. List, theater director
Zelda Fichandler, opera conductor Sarah Caldwell, photographer
Harry M. Callahan, and the Boys Choir of Harlem. At
the same ceremony, the Charles Frankel Prize Awards were given
to five recipients, including Mexican-American educator Arturo
Madrid, and television journalist Bill Moyers. Some
other past winners of the National Medal of the arts, which
was established in 1985, include Aretha Franklin, folk singer
Odetta, television producer Norman Lear, singer Lydia Mendoza,
Antoine "Fats" Domino, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Gregory
Peck, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, bluegrass guitarist/vocalist
Doc Watson, Bob Hope, Harry Belafonte, Dave Brubeck, Gene
Kelly, Pete Seeger, Cabell "Cab" Calloway, Ray Charles,
playwright Arthur Miller, writer John Updike, James Earl Jones,
banjo great Earl Scruggs, country singer Roy Acuff, violinist
Isaac Stern, Riley "B.B." King, opera singer Beverly
Sills, Ella Fitzgerald, composer Aaron Copeland, painter Georgia
O'Keefe, and film director Frank Capra. My dad's in
some illustrious company, indeed.
The ceremony took place in the afternoon on Thursday, January
9, 1997 at the Mellon Auditorium at the Department of Commerce
in Washington D.C. My dad was accompanied on the trip
by his two sons, Dan and me. When we arrived at the
Mellon Auditorium for the ceremony, we were taken to a green
room behind the stage. All the recipients and their
families were there having wine and mingling. It was
announced that the President and first lady would be coming
in to meet everyone. They put us all in a semi-circle
and the President and Mrs. Clinton came in and went down the
line shaking hands with and meeting everyone. An official
White House photo was taken of every meeting. We were
then ushered into the theater and my brother and I were lucky
enough to be seated front row center. The Boys Choir
of Harlem performed music by George Gershwin and Duke Ellington
prior to the ceremony . After the speeches by Mrs. Clinton
and the President, the awards were handed out individually
to the recipients who were all seated on the stage behind
the President’s podium. After a paragraph or two
spoken by President Clinton about each recipient, the President
and first lady would walk over to the recipient, place the
medal around his or her neck, shake hands, pose for a photograph,
go back to the podium, and repeat the process. There
were scores of news photographers to the right of the stage
with cameras flashing throughout the ceremony. Right after
my dad received his award, as the Clintons were starting to
walk back to the podium, my dad reached for Hillary’s
hand saying “did we get the photo?” The
President and first lady went back to my dad and posed for
a second photo with my dad. When President Clinton got
back to the podium he said, “that guy’s still
got a lot of salsa.” The audience erupted in laughter.
What absolutely amazed and impressed me about Hillary Clinton,
was after my dad’s photo was taken with the her and
President Clinton, she looked at my brother and I, who were
taking our own photos of the event, and said to us, “did
you get it?” It was amazing that with all the
people she had just met in the green room and the hundreds
of people in the audience, she remembered that my brother
and I were my dad’s sons and was aware enough, and cared
enough, to ask if we got our photos. The ceremony ended with the
Boys Choir of Harlem performing “Amazing Grace.”
That evening, we were picked up at
our hotel by a chauffeured minibus to take us to the White
House. In the minibus with us were, most notably, Lionel
Hampton and Steven Sondheim, who were staying at the same
hotel. It was quite an experience being in small vehicle with
a jazz legend and a Broadway legend, who wrote the lyrics
to the songs in “West Side Story” and words and
music of many other
major plays, later turned into motion pictures. We arrived
at the White House and were taken to a side entrance.
The people who met us at the door knew who we were without
asking any of us. Dressed in
tuxedos, we entered the state dining room filled with maybe
100 to 150 people sitting around circular dinner tables of
eight. As each person entered the room, his or her name
was announced over a public address system. It was very
unreal when I entered having my name announced, “Mr.
Mark Guerrero,” following “Mr. Robert Redford.”
We were intentionally seated at different
tables so that we could interact with new people. The
seating was assigned, with a name card at each place setting.
I wound up at a table with Steven Sondheim, former Miss America
and Los Angeles television news anchor Tawny Little, the head
of the Library of Congress, and four others. My dad
was at a table which included Robert Redford. There
were many other famous people at the event including actor/director
Rob Reiner, super model Lauren Hutton, actor Ron Silver, and Chicana singer Tish Hinojosa. After a great dinner,
consisting of roasted swordfish with grilled vegetables and
basil potatoes in a leek nage, an endive salad, and a frozen
pear parfait in caramel and raspberry sauce, served on the
famous red china purchased in the '80s by Nancy Reagan, we
were led into the east room and seated for a concert by the
great Jennifer Holliday, backed by a small combo. On
the way in we all had the opportunity to meet and shake hands
with the President again, which was once again photograped.
After the show, we were ushered into
another room where the party was to take place. The
United States Marine Band, which included a bass player and
drummer with a full kit, played all kinds dance of music for
dancing, including rock & roll. Champagne was served and
people loosened up and had a great time socializing and dancing.
In the meantime, we were all free to wander around certain
rooms of the White House, including the first lady portrait
room. I remember walking in there with my drink in my
hand and looking out the window at the Washington Monument
with snow around it and thinking “is this happening?”
It was very surreal that a kid from East L.A.
was partying in such an historic building with the President
and first lady. In the course of the evening, somehow
my cummerbund fell off and was lost. I noticed it was
gone and mentioned it to my brother. Later, he was
wandering around and happened to find it neatly folded on a
window sill. President Clinton was very down to earth
and approachable. In fact, my dad walked up the the
President from behind on the dance floor between songs and
tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. With
secret service men looking on, President Clinton turned
around, smiled, and put his arm around my dad. My dad
thanked him for the award and a great night, which was a
highlight of his life. Later, I walked past the
President in a hallway and thanked him myself for the great
night. He shook my hand, smiled and was
very friendly. At one point my dad, who was fortified by several
drinks, thought he might ask the first lady to dance.
I thought that at my dad’s age, 80 at the time and
the alcohol in his system, it would not be a good idea.
I strongly advised him not to do it and, after some thought,
he agreed. Who knows, maybe it would have been o.k.,
but it wasn’t worth the risk of him falling down and
knocking Hillary over.
Around midnight, the party was over and we were taken back
out to our minibus and back to our hotel. My dad said
it was the crowning achievement of his life and that he never
felt more “American.”
Mark, Dan, and Lalo Guerrero with President Clinton (The Mellon Auditorium, Washington D.C.- January 1997)
Video of Lalo receiving the National Medal
of Arts
