Meeting Paul Andrew Hutton for The First Time

 December 2, 2020

   He's a big deal now in history circles but I remember when the Top Secret Writer was just a lowly professor of history. Not distinguished at all.

BBB Meets The Top Secret Writer

   I met Paul Andrew Hutton at the El Dorado Hotel, Santa Fe, New Mexico, back in 1996. Ed Mell, myself, and our two sons, Carson and Tommy, were in town for the Maynard Dixon Art Show and someone (I can't remember who) said, "You've got to meet this college professor. I think you might hit if off. He is a fan of the Razz Revue." Well, that did it. That this crazy guy would even know WHAT the Razz Revue was blew my mind. And so we met in the dining room of the brand new El Dorado Hotel, off of the plaza, and I wasn't disappointed.

The Razz Crew (yes that's Ed Mell,

second from left, and Dan The Man, far right).

   Hutton and I hit it off immediately, trading war stories and talking trash about history, what we loved and hated. We've been friends ever since and I don't ever take on a project, without talking to him first.

Hutton and BBB at Festival of The West, Scottsdale, Arizona, early 2000s

Hutton, The Ranter

   One of the things I love about Paul is his ability to go off on a rant at the drop of a hat. It is a thing of wonder to see and hear. The boy can literally just spin out an answer about history, fluidly, loquaciously, and seemingly without effort. We will be driving along some back road and I'll ask him about the American revolution and I will get this answer, totally off the cuff: 

   "The American Revolution was the only truly successful Revolution—Russia, France, and Mexico all failed. And while we have huge disparities of wealth we also have an open and free society where anyone can prosper with hard work, smarts, and a little luck. We do not have a class based system. Even cutups from Kingman, Arizona and orphans from Frankfurt Germany can realize their dreams—and that, my boy, is why I am so in love with this country."

—Paul Andrew Hutton

Postscript: the orphan from Frankfurt Germany is this guy: