THE KEY MOMENT IN George Mitchell's LIFE
 

I realize there is some overlap between Maria's version of George and the things I read about him.  Hopefully the Reader will not object if I retell the key story in George Mitchell's improbable rags to riches climb in more detail.

In 1931, George and Maria's mother Katina suddenly passed away from a stroke.  Their father Mike completely fell to pieces at the loss of his wife.  Soon after that Mike broke his leg in a serious car accident.  Deciding he was in no shape to be a father, Mike told his oldest sons Johnny, 20, and Christie, 19, to move to Houston and get a job.  Then he forced his brother to take George, 13, and his sister-in-law Virginia to take Maria, 11.  Bitter, Mike then dropped out of sight to nurse his wounds both mental and physical. 

Mike Mitchell eventually resurfaced, but he had become a different man.  Mitchell completely ignored George and Maria to pursue a life of babes, booze, and bets.  Working as a petty hustler who did odd jobs for the Galveston Mafia to earn gambling money, Mike Mitchell was perpetually broke.  Meanwhile George and Maria developed something close to hatred towards their worthless father for abandoning them.

Well aware his father would be of no help with college, George spent long hours after school catching fish in Galveston Bay.  He would sell whatever he caught to the local seafood restaurants.  By the time he enrolled at Texas A&M, George had acquired a nice nest egg.  However, it was not enough. 

George constantly scrambled for tuition money.  Forced to work a neverending succession of part-time jobs, one day he had an interesting idea.  Since A&M was a men's college, the campus was full of lonely boys who missed their hometown honeys.  George sold gold-embossed stationery to lonesome young men pining for their missing sweethearts.  However, this clever idea was hardly sufficient to pay his way through college.  He waited on tables at the residence hall for 25 cents an hour.  He built book cases and sold them to A&M cadets.  He sold candy.  He sold stationary to lovesick freshman.  Unfortunately, Texas A&M had a very strict tuition policy: pay on time or ship out.  Sometimes when Mitchell was short, he would borrow the rest from a friend and pay him back later.  Mitchell did whatever it took to make the monthly payment so he could continue his studies.  Three times George came within a whisker of being tossed.

Unfortunately, there came a day when no matter how hard he tried, George could not scrape enough money together.  This was the Depression Era.  Jobs were hard to find, even part-time jobs.  Certain he would be forced to drop out of school in the middle of his Junior year, this felt like the end of the line.  Desperate, the young man thought about asking his father for help.  George dreaded making this move.  For one thing, it was a long shot.  Depending on how the cards had been falling, half the time his father was penniless.  More important, George's pride prevented him from asking his worthless father for anything.  However, what choice did he have?  Asking his father was literally his last hope.  George swallowed his pride and wired his father for money.  He needed $29, the monthly tuition at A&M.  Although $29 may not seem like much here in the 21st Century, back in those days that was a high threshold.

In George Mitchell's own words, "As usual, Dad didn't have a cent to his name.  Unbeknownst to me, my dad went up to Sam Maceo, the Godfather of Galveston, a man he barely knew.  He said, 'Mr. Maceo, sir, my son is the top student at Texas A&M, but he is going to get kicked out because he doesn't have any money.  Can you help?'"

Sam Maceo, the infamous gambling impresario, stared at George's father impassively for a moment.  He knew Mike Mitchell was a deadbeat.  Realizing this might be a con, Maceo was skeptical.  Nevertheless, without a comment or question, Maceo reached in his pocket, then wordlessly handed Mitchell a hundred dollar bill.  This was an enormous sum in 1935, equivalent to $2,400 in 2025.

THE MAN WHO RESCUED AMERICA FROM ARAB OIL DEPENDENCY
 

George Mitchell is a true American hero.  Considering my admiration for this man, I regret to say that I never had the chance to meet him.  He died a year and a half before I ran across his photo. That said, due to my curious relationship with Mr. Mitchell's sister Maria, from the moment I read about him, I felt a powerful connection.

Although Fracking is a controversial subject, when done properly the benefits are great.  Say what you will about Fracking, without it America would still be under the cruel thumb of OPEC domination.  I am old enough to remember long lines of cars waiting for gas and Arab threats to cut oil supply even further.  Thanks to George Mitchell, that problem is a thing of the past. 

Fracking, short for 'hydraulic fracturing', is a process that uses pressurized water to crack open rock formations in order to release oil and natural gas.  No one had succeeded until Mitchell came along.  Nor did success come quickly.  Throughout his 15 years of failure, Mitchell was forced to endure the wisdom of the crowd that said it could not be done.  Like Thomas Edison, George Mitchell was one of those people who refused to quit till he got it right.  Thank goodness he stayed with it.  Ignoring the naysayers, George Mitchell's shale revolution freed America from its heavy dependence on Arab oil. 

George Mitchell went on to create The Woodlands, an affluent city just north of Houston.  Mitchell had purchased a huge tract of land in the midst of a thick Texas pine forest and he was determined to preserve as much of the surrounding forest as possible.  Mitchell was an early conservationist who became a persistent voice for environmentally-responsible economic growth.  Mitchell wished to demonstrate how civilization and nature could be intertwined harmoniously if humans were willing to use sufficient imagination.  With these ideas in mind, he created The Woodlands by building homes and commercial areas within the beautiful pine forest to exist in harmony.  Mitchell's master plan called for preserving trees, protecting the environment, minimizing flooding and creating ways to blend homes and forest together.

The Woodlands won a Special Award for Excellence in 1994 from the Urban Land Institute.  One can only wonder what Mitchell's many critics had to say now.  Indeed, Mitchell's understanding of how to integrate modern technology with environmental responsibility was light years ahead of its time.  People have called The Woodlands the 'City of the Future'.

George Mitchell dreamed of becoming an astronomer back in high school.  He built his own telescope to help satisfy his curiosity.  Mitchell loved to dream about outer space.  Assuming he would study astronomy in college, throughout high school he concentrated on math, physics and chemistry. 

However, one summer his older brother Johnny arranged a job in the oil patch.  At this point Mitchell became enthralled with the hunt for petroleum.  Realizing the search for oil would be a more profitable profession that looking for life on other planets, Mitchell redirected his college goal to petroleum engineering. 

One of George Mitchell's greatest traits was his loyalty.  He understood the education he received at Texas A&M was what enabled him to become a success in his chosen field.  Consequently George Mitchell came to love Texas A&M with a passion.  Over the course of his life, Mitchell donated $100 million dollars to the school.  In so doing, Mitchell became the greatest benefactor in the history of Texas A&M.  George Mitchell is a legend at his alma mater and deservedly so.

When Mitchell pledged millions to jump-start an astronomy facility on the campus, he had a secret agenda.  He still wanted to explore the mysteries of the Universe.  Mitchell talked about it so often his friends teased him about his love of outer space.  His friends referred to Mitchell as 'The Star-struck Billionaire'. 

George Mitchell did not have many letdowns in his life, but there were a few.  Mr. Mitchell's passion for astronomy set him up for his greatest disappointment, the failure of the Super Collider Particle Accelerator.  A particle accelerator is a device that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to high speeds and contains them in well-defined beams.  The idea is to unlock the secrets of the atom.  When completed, this ambitious project would have formed a giant circular tunnel around Waxahachie, a city south of Dallas. 

Mitchell was instrumental in getting the Superconducting Super Collider project approved by President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.  Sadly, it was killed off in the 1990s due to budget cuts.  The project was left half finished.  Had the Supercollider been completed, it would have boosted energy 20 times larger than any accelerator ever constructed.  No doubt the Supercollider would have allowed the U.S. to retain dominance in high-energy physics.  Mitchell was devastated at his loss.  This project had been his baby.  It took him a long time to get over this setback. 

As a visionary, one can assume that Mitchell understood the practical long-term benefits of this project far better than the average man.  But there was nothing he could do about it other than accept defeat, something he wasn't used to.

Picking up the pieces as best he could, Mitchell quietly saved the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer at Texas A&M University.  Then he funded research to create stronger magnets to help in cancer research.  The list of his good deeds goes on and on.

Watching Mitchell mope around, one day a friend said, "If you love astronomy so much, why not build something at A&M?" 

What a great idea!  Since Mitchell was dying to renew his love of all things interstellar, why not build an Astrophysics center indeed!  Boys and their toys, right?  First Mitchell funded the Giant Magellan Telescope high in the Andes Mountains of Chile. 

For good measure, Mitchell endowed the Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy, an astrophysics lab designed to research complex issues of the universe.  Mitchell needed a celebrity to get his Physics institute off to a rousing start.  Mitchell knew just the guy, Stephen Hawking, the world’s most famous scientist since Albert Einstein.  Mitchell had met Hawking during his work on the Supercollider project.  Hawking was impressed at the depth of Mitchell's interest while Mitchell was equally impressed with the professor's profound insight into the mysteries of life.  The two men formed a deep friendship. 

Mitchell brought Hawking to lecture at A&M on four different occasions.  During Hawking's stay, the world-renowned physicist would delight in traveling across campus in his wheelchair.  He loved to interact with astonished students who liked to greet him with a Texas-sized "Howdy, how ya doin', Dr. Hawking!" 

George Mitchell had to grin.  Nothing like a warm Aggie welcome for the world's most famous scientist!  In Mitchell's words:

"Stephen loved to cross campus in his motorized wheelchair and surprise people.  He would scoot from the Student Center across to the Physics building.  Many an Aggie stopped in their tracks upon seeing Stephen Hawking roll across campus with a big smile on his face.  'Is that really who I think it is??'

Stephen enjoyed their enthusiasm and liked having them stop to say hello to him.  This chance to connect with the school's hero-worshipping students was very special for him."

In addition to their intellectual brilliance, both men shared a sense of humor.  Late in his life, George Mitchell was no longer able to walk.  Now Mitchell, like Hawking, was confined to a wheel chair.  Did Mitchell, once a swift tennis player, dwell on his problem?  No, of course not.  Competitive as always, Mitchell challenged Hawking to a wheelchair race.  Next thing you know, the two friends were racing each other down the long corridors.

Wouldn't you love to see a video of that??

George Mitchell named The Woodlands after his wife Cynthia Woods (Wood-Lands, get it?)  Then he named the nearby Cynthia Woods Pavilion after his wife as well.  Cynthia had an interesting sense of humor.  Cynthia laughed at how her husband's curious naming-quirk had given her pop culture status.  She loved to tease him about it.

"Gosh, George, let's call your next city 'The Cynthia'.  Or you could rename your annual Mardi Gras party 'The Woodspecker Ball'.  Instead of 'Dickens on the Strand', we could have 'The Parade of Cynthia Wooden Soldiers'!" 

Cynthia Woods did much more than help her husband George find names to honor her with.  In addition to serving as inspiration to Mitchell throughout their time together, Ms. Woods raised 10 exceptional children.  That was quite an accomplishment.

Cynthia was born in 1922 in New York City.  She and her identical twin Pamela moved to southern Illinois at the age of eight.  The young Miss Woods was an excellent student.  At the age of twelve, she won the county spelling bee.   Cynthia's family fell upon hard times during the Great Depression.  In search of work, the twins and their mother moved to Houston in 1938.  Both girls supported their mother as teenagers by working day jobs while attending night school at the University of Houston.

The story of how George and Cynthia met is sweet.  Oddly enough, however, they each told a much different version of the encounter.  I like George's version better, but let's hear what Cynthia had to say first. 

Following the 1941 Thanksgiving football game between the University of Texas and Texas A&M, Cynthia was introduced to a young A&M graduate named George during their train ride back to Houston.  George was a buddy of sister Pamela's current boyfriend.  Cynthia was accompanied by a blind date.  She was not happy because the man had been drinking heavily.  In addition, Cynthia sensed something special about this guy she had just met.  He seemed very smart, something she found attractive.

How could she ditch her drunken date in order to check out this interesting young man?  Cynthia persuaded Pamela's boyfriend to lure her inebriated date elsewhere on the train for a while.  Sitting close by in another seat, George had been watching.  Seeing the opening, George wasted no time occupying the vacant seat next to Cynthia.  Moving fast, George got Cynthia's phone number before her inebriated date could reappear.

Okay, let's hear George tell the story.  His version of the event is much better.  In fact, his humorous retelling reminds me of an old joke.

   Q: What is the fastest way to get the attention of a pretty girl?
   A:  Hang a fake Congressional Medal of Honor around your neck. 

While serving in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II, Mitchell met his future wife during the Thanksgiving train ride, 1941.  George was returning to Houston from the big football game.  Everyone was in a bad mood.  Texas A&M had been undefeated until the Texas Longhorns came to College Station and beat the Aggies 23-0. 

    "So here I am on the train.  There are these two attractive girls, twin sisters, identical, both beautiful, very smart.  The one I liked the best had a blind date with an A&M senior.  He wasn't paying any attention to her because he was still upset over the football game and had gotten drunk to dull his misery.

Me?  I had forgotten about the game.  I was more worried how I was going to get this girl's phone number with this guy in my way.  Cynthia must have sensed my interest because she tried to persuade her date to go to the back of the car to take care of something.  However, to my consternation, this guy wouldn't leave.  Maybe he was smarter than I gave him credit for.  I guess my interest in Cynthia was written all over my face because the guy stared darts at me.  Just then this guy noticed my open bag and saw something shiny.  It was my tennis medal. 

I had once been captain of the A&M tennis team and they had honored me with this medal.  He recognized the A&M insignia, so without asking he grabbed my medal and pulled it out for a better look.  The tennis medal was loosely attached to a gold watch.  When the watch fell on the floor, Cynthia noticed it and asked the significance.  Handing it to her for inspection, I explained I had won the watch as the top engineering student of A&M. 

When Cynthia looked at the inscription, her expression changed instantly.  I will never forget her smile.  She found a way to send the guy to fetch her a drink, I got her number and we started dating.  We were married a year later on Halloween.  Cynthia was a wonderful wife and a wonderful mother.  We had 10 children.  I loved her so much.  Everything I did, we did together... family, philanthropy, rebuilding Galveston.  Cynthia was the love of my life."

THE MAN WHO saved Galveston
 

In the 1970s, Galveston's Seawall Boulevard and the important downtown Strand area showed serious signs of neglect.  The beautiful ancient Victorian homes were crumbling.  Now that the city had fallen upon hard economic times, Mitchell's hometown was no longer the tourist destination it had once been.

George Mitchell often brought his family to the Island.  He took special delight in teaching his sons and daughters how to fish.  He would tell them stories about how he grew up here and fished to earn spending money.

George and Cynthia loved Galveston so much they made it their getaway home from Houston.  However, it was getting impossible to overlook the decline.  Every time they visited, they would notice that another old home or old building had fallen prey to the wrecking ball.

One day as they drove down the main boulevard, Cynthia remarked, “Someone really should do something to preserve those beautiful old homes.  It would be a shame to see them torn down. So much imagination!”

Mitchell nodded.  He agreed with his wife.  Galveston possessed the finest Victorian architecture in the Southwest.  It was sad to see these stunning homes destroyed.  They deserved to be protected. 

Mitchell talked it over with Cynthia in earnest.  They agreed the citizens who lived in Galveston lacked resources.  No one had the money to finance the much-needed restorations on their own.  Nor was there a city leader strong enough to mobilize a community rescue effort.  Mitchell felt terrible.  He could not take it any more.  Someone had to do something about the decline.  With a deep sigh, Mitchell realized he was the only man with the conviction and resources to do something about it.  This was a very important moment for him.  If Galveston could be saved, it was up to him. 

By chance, on a 1972 visit to Savannah, Georgia, George Mitchell learned about an innovative preservation program which included a revolving fund for buying and reselling endangered properties.

Seeing the merits of this program, Galveston's native son put the restoration project on his back.  He dispatched six members of the Galveston Historical Foundation to study Savannah’s achievements, then find ways to adapt them to his home town.  Contributions from local foundations helped establish a revolving fund for Galveston that initially saved over 30 buildings.  The main contributors were George and Cynthia Mitchell. 

Mitchell took immense pleasure in lavishing his personal fortune on the island where he was born.  He cheerfully provided the money necessary to restore the city's historic downtown Strand District.  However, the restoration did not take place overnight.  Over a period of 40 years, the Mitchells invested $175 million in rehabilitating historic properties in The Strand National Historic Landmark District. 

Today Mitchell Historic Properties oversees Galveston properties owned by the family of George Mitchell.  These include hotels such as Tremont, Galvez, and Harbor House plus several buildings in the historic Strand District and Pier 21 along the harbor.

Of all the projects Mitchell was involved in, the one that really caught his fancy was reintroducing Mardi Gras to Galveston.  This popular festival had disappeared during World War II.  George Mitchell had long dreamed of restoring the Island's splendid tradition.  In 1985, George and Cynthia were in the process of remodeling the elegant Tremont House Hotel in the historic Galveston Strand District.  This, of course, was the hotel the ghosts had once haunted after drowning in the flood of 1900.  Figuring the ghosts might return for a good Mardi Gras party, George and Cynthia scheduled the revival of the Mardi Gras celebration to coincide with the Grand Opening of the Tremont House Hotel.

The 1985 revival was spectacular.  The dedication featured a mile-long parade saluting "The Age of Mythology."  The streets were jam-packed as a crowd of many thousands came out to celebrate.  This had been a great idea.  Galveston's Mardi Gras was back to stay.

George Mitchell was a human dynamo.  He used his immense willpower to personally restore Galveston to economic prosperity.  No one asked him to do it, he just took it upon himself.  His contribution is one of the most noble efforts I have ever come across.  Mitchell cared so much about his home town that he dedicated himself to resurrecting the economy of an entire city and restore its traditions.  This was an amazing accomplishment. 

George Mitchell is a legend today in Galveston.  As well he should be!  The number of projects he was involved in is absolutely incredible.  However, of all the things he did, 'Mitchell's Master Stroke' put Galveston back on the world map.  That is the subject of our next chapter. 

Can you guess what George Mitchell did?  Let's find out.