The LuLac Edition #5, 346, June 5th, 2025

 

ED MITCHELL

(Photos: WNEP TV)

My first memory of Ed Mitchell was when he ran for Congress in 1976 against Joe McDade. His signature commercial was run during the campaign. It featured Mitchell jogging around Lake Scranton in navy blue running attire. It was meant to depict Mitchell as a man on the path to a better 10^th District. Ik he had in every election since 1962, Joe McDade prevailed.

He ran again in 1980 during the crowded field that included Ray Musto, Dick Adams, Frank Harrison, Tom O’Donnell and a few others including Michell. Musto won but lost to Jim Nelligan in 1980 during the Reagan landslide.

Mitchell along with his supporters were disappointed since he had the pedigree.  After college graduation, he  embarked on a 14-year career on Capitol Hill, first working in the office of Congressman Daniel Flood, D-Pa. He served as a legislative assistant to the late Congressman Allard K. Lowenstein (D-N.Y.) and as an administrative assistant and press secretary to Pennsylvania Congressman Peter Kostmayer from 1978-1981. He was also a counselor to Congressman Paul Kanjorski, also of Pennsylvania. Prior to his service in Washington, Ed served as press secretary and communications director to Pennsylvania Governor Milton J. Shapp. Ed twice ran for Congress before starting his own political consulting business, Ed Mitchell Communications in 1981. In 1987, he returned to Wyoming Valley, where he served local clients seeking positions in public service.

I dealt with Ed as a sales representative when I worked at Citadel Broadcasting and Cable Rep Advertising. He was straight forward, no nonsense and did his best to put his client’s best foot forward. For local politicos who hired him, he was the gold standard in terms of reach and message.

His wisdom and kindness will be missed. 

Here are two examples of his work. One a political ad for Tom Leighton, the other a touching PSA for CEO  and hungry kids.  

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PRESIDENT 

TYLER’S 

GRANDSON DEAD @ AGE 96

Harrison Ruffin Tyler died on May 25^th. He was preservationist and archivist who, at the time of his death in 2025, was the last surviving grandson of the tenth U.S. president, John Tyler (1790–1862). The time between the president's birth and his grandson's death spanned 235 years. Harrison Tyler was prominent in preserving the Tyler ancestral home Sherwood Forest Plantation and nearby Fort Pocahontas. He also donated voluminous historic family materials and funds to the history department at the College of William & Mary, which bears his name. Tyler was also a chemical engineer and business man who co-founded ChemTreat, Inc., a water treatment company.

Tyler was born on November 9, 1928, in Richmond, Virginia, to Susan Ruffin and Lyon Gardiner Tyler President Tyler and his wife Julia Gardiner were his paternal grandparents.Through his mother, he was a descendant of the Harrison family and a great-grandson of Edmund Ruffin. His mother was a teacher and caretaker of the family's historical documents.Tyler’s father was the son olf Julia Gardner who was Tyler’s second wife. He had seven with her and eight with his first wife Letia. 

 Here's a link to a story we wrote in 2021 about his grandfather's second marriage. 

 https://lulacpoliticaletter.blogspot.com/search?q=John+Tyler 

 

 BOBBY KENNEDY SHOT 

IN '68 A GRADE SCHOOL 

MEMORY  

 https://lulacpoliticaletter.blogspot.com/2008/06/lulac-edition-490-june-4th-2008.html?m=1&fbclid=IwAR3sYz_ODehQHOhWxTCbWLShYgUSK00NnGZI-c3dFsAUlKE4D0fcGmJDipE