Hussein bin Talal, Ḥusayn bin Ṭalāl; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from the abdication of his father, King Talal, in 1952, until his death. Hussein’s rule extended through the Cold War and four decades of Arab-Israeli conflict. He recognized Israel in 1994, becoming the second Arab head of state to do so (after Anwar Sadat in 1978/1979).
“He won the respect and admiration of the entire world and so did his beloved Jordan. He is a man who believed that we are all God’s children, bound to live together in mutual respect and tolerance.” (US President, Bill Clinton)
“He was an extraordinary and immensely charismatic persuader for peace. At the peace talks in America when he was extremely ill, he was there, talking to both sides, urging them forward, telling them nothing must stand in the way of peace.” (UK Prime Minister, Tony Blair)
“President Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian people and leadership have received with great sorrow and pain the news,” it said in a statement. The Palestinian Authority
South African President Nelson Mandela believed the death would be “deeply mourned by all peace-loving people.”
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan paid tribute to the late king, praising him for his “lifelong struggle to bring peace”. (excerpts from Wikipedia)
In addition to being a great leader and persuader for peace, did you know that King Hussein was also a scuba diver? This is a letter I found going through old papers and photos at my mother’s house this weekend, from King Hussein’s office, placing an order with my father, Willis Lefavour’s scuba diving business (Seacraft Industries) for an assortment of diving related items for His Majesty. This has nothing at all to do with Cape Ann, but I thought it was cool and worth sharing.
E.J. Lefavour
Good Morning Gloucester 
Cool and interesting post ~ thanks ~
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Thanks E.J. for the information. Rick and I actually met Anwar Sadat’s daughter, she was living in Boston.
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We’re just such a worldly group aren’t we, sitting here on the little piece of rock?
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Is the picture of your dad’s store? My husband remembers him because they made a backpack for holding the scuba tank to your body. It was made out of 1/8th inch thick stamped aluminum. He says he remembers meeting him on another boat which, at the time, was also anchored in Folly Cove. He said, “Did you think it would come to this?” They were surrounded by divers and marveled at the number of folk enjoying the water and the sun.
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Yes, that’s a very old photo of Seacraft – probably from 1958 or ’59 when it first opened. What is your husband’s name? I talk to my Dad pretty regularly and he loves going back and remembering people and events from the old days. Was the boat Jim Walton’s Adventure III? They did a lot of diving off Diver Jim’s boat in the day.
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Very cool EJ!
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Fascinating, EJ!
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Bet you enjoyed the walk back down memory lane 🙂
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Very much Dave.
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🙂
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My husband’s name is Fred Calhoun. He says:
Tell her I had a store called SoShoNe in No Weymouth
and used the SeaCraft flat pack on all my 70s at that
time. Worked with Paul Hennessee on the ’59 convention.
Knew one of the partners who opened a restaurant at The
GateWay Marina where we launched our Boston Whaler,
Winchell was his name…I think
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My dad remembers Fred, and Paul Hennessy, whose book “An Introduction to Safe Scuba Diving” Seacraft published in 1962. I just added another photo to this post which shows the tank pack you are referring to. Bob Winchell was my dad’s partner at Seacraft and Gateway Marina, which I have great memories of exploring all about as a kid. My grandparents did the cooking in the restaurant (both having worked at family owned restaurant West Parker’s in Wakefield). He also remembers diving at Folly Cove many times. Small world, especially when it comes to early recreational divers in the northeast.
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Very interesting EJ.
Although not about Cape Ann, its a part of your history. I enjoy reading bits of my friends and fellow contributors’s family history and current interests.
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Very cool.
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Totally cool stuff E.J., and thanks for sharing!
Say, do you think the memorabilia is worth looking into getting appraised?
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Hi Meg – I don’t think it is worth any more than the interesting memories, history and stories they tell – priceless to me, but not worth appraising.
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