They used to say if 60 Minutes knocks on your that is the end of your career. Well I talked to them today about my time being President Bush (41)'s photographer at the White House. The interview went well. I will have to wait to post the link to the story. As I understand it this is a web story and not a TV broadcast piece. There lately seems to be more and more interest in President George H.W.Bush and since I spent so much time with him folks have been knocking on my door for interviews. CBS TV is preparing to do a documentary on the Presidential Photographers. In the history of the country there have been only 10 people to be Presidential Photographers. I'm number 5. Stay tuned for this and several other projects in the works.

Former Vice President of the United States Al Gore was the Key Note speaker at an Energy Summit in beautiful Georgetown,Texas. Georgetown,Texas where I live uses 100% solar and wind energy. Mayor of Georgetown Dale Ross is leading the nation in moving Georgetown in this effort. Mayor Ross introduced Vice President Gore and they both did an interview with Japanese TV. Below are a few photos from this event. I used my Nikon D810 with my Nikon 200-500mm lens for the Al Gore speech and I used my Nikon D750 with my Nikon 28-300mm lens for the close up candids.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 24, 2017
 
Contact:         Jim McGrath, Spokesman
                        Office of George H. W. Bush
                        [email protected]
                        713-240-6260 cell
 
ONE AMERICA APPEAL HURRICANE RELIEF CONCERT RAISES $2.6 MILLION
Over 6.5 Million Online Viewers Watch Five Former Presidents, Lady Gaga, 
Top Music Performers Via YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, OneAmericaAppeal.org

College Station, TX — Five former U.S. presidents reunited for the first time in four years Saturday night at Texas A&M’s Reed Arena for “Deep from the Heart,” a charity concert featuring surprise guest artist Lady Gaga that raised $2.6 million for One America Appeal. Roughly 6.5 million viewed all or part of the event online, which was livestreamed on YouTube, various Facebook pages, Twitter and the campaign’s website OneAmericaAppeal.org.

Since the start of the concert at 7pm CST Saturday, One America Appeal has raised $1.5 million through its website, another $100,000 through Facebook, and $75,000 through Text To Donate courtesy of AT&T. Ticket sales for “Deep from the Heart,” meanwhile, raised another $970,000 for hurricane recovery thanks to underwriting that covered all event expenses.

In terms of digital viewership, the YouTube video of the concert (available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XfPL43Bwg0) has been watched over 250,000 times. The Facebook livestream had 5.7 million views; the Periscope video through @AmericaAppeal had over 450,000 views; and OneAmericaAppeal.org had over 100,000 users in the first 24 hours. On Twitter, the campaign had 1.5 million impressions of its tweets from @AmericaAppeal.
 
“Deep from the Heart” was also broadcast live (all or in part) by Fox News Channel, CNN, C-SPAN and NewsMax. On radio, iHeartMedia and Premiere Networks simulcast the event across Texas – to Corpus, Beaumont, Houston, Bryan, McAllen and Waco.

“We could not be more grateful to the broad range of media partners that helped us bring our ‘Deep from the Heart’ appeal to a global audience,” said David Jones, CEO of the Bush Library Foundation that organized the event. “We especially want to thank YouTube, Twitter and Facebook who came together behind this important cause helping our fellow Americans recover from this devastating hurricane season.”

Just prior to the concert on Saturday, One America Appeal announced raising over $31 million since the start of the campaign on September 7th following Hurricane Harvey. The campaign expanded twice to encompass recovery efforts in Florida from Hurricane Irma, and in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands following Hurricane Maria. 
 
During her surprise performance Saturday night, Lady Gaga announced that she is donating to the One America Appeal to support the mental and emotional recovery of survivors in Texas and Florida. The funds are a part of her commitment to donate $1 million to help those impacted by recent natural disasters including Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Tax-deductible donations of any amount are being accepted at OneAmericaAppeal.org, and cell phone users can text “OneAmerica” to 50555 to give $10. A special restricted account has been established through the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation to collect and distribute donations to every dollar given goes to assist hurricane victims. Donations will be distributed to:
 
* Houston Harvey Relief Fund, focusing on the greater Houston region
* Rebuild Texas Fund, assisting hurricane-ravaged communities across the state
* Florida Disaster Fund
* Juntos y Unidos Por Puerto Rico, launched by First Lady Beatriz Rossello and a private sector coalition
* The Fund for the Virgin Islands
 
I had the good fortune to be at this event doing photography. Below are a few of my photos from this great event.

Back in 1973 I started working for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Washington, D.C. as a photographer for the department. I traveled on assignments photographing urban development of cities around the country. Also at HUD I was a part of the HUD FEMA Disaster Team and photographed U.S. Senate hearings and on occasion I would even cover events at the White House. One of my favorite things to photograph and be a part of was when we worked with Habitat for Humanity. I was fortunate enough to travel around the world on Habitat builds and work with several U.S. Presidents as they supported Habitat for Humanity. 
As I moved back home to Texas I got involved as a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County in Texas
This past week we did a panel build in Round Rock, Texas for a home that will finally be built in Cedar Park, Texas. As I understand it this new home will go to a women and her family who immigrated from Ethiopia. 
What an honor for me to be a part of Habitat for Humanity for all these years. Below are some photos from our panel build this past week.

As some of you know I own a 2002 C5 Torch Red Corvette and have been into Corvettes since my time at Highland High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico where my best friends brother had a Corvette. We used to drive his Corvette around town to the hang out drive inns showing off his Corvette. Anyway, that introduced me to Corvetting and I have had 3 Corvettes over the years. 
This year the Texas Coast was hit by Hurricane Harvey. Sweet Rides of Central Texas which is a Facebook car enthusiast page did a fundraiser at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin,Texas for the victims. !00% of the money raised, and I understand Sweet Rides of Central Texas raised $7000 in 4 hours, went to victims of Hurricane Harvey distributed by the Salvation Army. Sweet Rides is known for doing charity events using their great cars to attract participants and or kids who have medical issues. As a participant in these charity car events I usually take photos highlighting Sweet Rides of Central Texas. I am a Nikon user and have been for 50 years. One of my favorite Nikons that I use now is the NikonD750. I like it because of the Wifi option. Usually at the charity events I will take photos on my Nikon D750, transfer the images I like to my iPhone6 Plus (getting ready to upgrade to the iPhoneX) and then post on Facebook to highlight the cars and the charity event. We should all find time to volunteer. Volunteering is a great way to give back to your community.