Al Simpson

Alan K. Simpson
born Sept. 2, 1931

Al Simpson has had his share of bruising debates during 18 years in the U.S. Senate. But in politics, as in life, he has found there's more to be gained through compromise than conflict.

"Bob Rank was a guy from Cody who was a Golden Gloves boxer. He'd hit a guy, and the water from his hair would fly up and hit the lights and sizzle," Simpson remembered from his high school days.

Rank later was a two-time collegiate heavyweight champion boxer, but as a Cody High School student, he was the core of teacher Bill Waller's boxing program.

"'I'm going to teach you how to box,'" Simpson recalls Rank telling him.

"Well, I'd seen what he had done to the other guys — they would box him and come out with blood on their mouths," he said.

After much goading, Simpson put the gloves on and took Rank's advice to hit him as hard as he could.

"I thought it would be a terrific blow, but he just laughed," Simpson said. "So I brought another one right up from the floor and laid it under his chin and took off running. I was in City Park while he was still yelling, 'Come back. I'm not finished with you.'"

That was the extent of Simpson's boxing experience, at least inside the ring.

"It was a wonderful place to grow up," Simpson said of Cody, adding that there were "no paved streets" at the time, and around his family's house near the Episcopal Church, "there was nothing out there but a prairie dog village."

Those who came before him provided for the future — his future — Simpson said.

"Somebody built the red school and put me through high school. Somebody built those things for me and I don't know who they were, but I hope I will have done something for the next generation," he said.

He continues to champion the local school system, and can be counted on to serve as chairman (and be a personal backer) for just about any civic project aimed at boosting Cody's fortunes. "I'm one who loves to watch progress," he said.

It is perhaps because he lived in Cody at a time when there was so little that Simpson continues to work to give the town more.

"The thing about Cody that is unique is the young people want to come back. Not immediately. They want to get out of town, but they eventually come back," he said.

"There's a friendliness that's still here. You walk down the street and if you nod at somebody and say, 'Hi,' they will too," he said.

"People don't care who you are," he said, adding that everyone is treated equally.

The son of a Wyoming governor whose son is a leader in the Legislature said he is still stopped on the street and lectured about politics or asked about how he's recovering from prostate trouble six years ago.

But mainly, he said, the town forgives those who make mistakes and own up to their transgressions. That's something he learned first-hand at 17, after confessing to shooting mailboxes around town with a group of rowdy friends.

"There's always a shot at redemption in this town of great soul. They'll give you a second chance," he said.