Celebrating Smokey Bear!!! My Livestream with Darley Newman!

I’ve "Impressed" Everywhere, Man -- 40 Years of Making Headlines

By Robert Hudson Westover

What does it mean to be seen, read or heard by over one billion people? Well, apparently not much--or much. 

I say this because as I completed a bibliography (of sorts) of my published works, broadcasts, and newspaper quotes, I soon realized that with the coin of the realm of what I do for a living in public relations, media hits and impressions, I have, well, somewhat conquered the world. I mean from just 1999 to 2000 my media impressions alone where over 100 million!

Like Johnny Cash, "I've been everywhere, man.”

Yet, unlike the country music legend, no one knows my name, man. Truth is if I were to get hit (the bad kind of hit) by a meteor doing yardwork the headlines would read: local man killed by meteor. Not, “man who did all this amazing, fun and exciting stuff”—you know him, right?

Robert in the New York Times,
Easter Sunday, 1999

Robert standing next to a
Smokey Bear sign in
Griffith Park, Los Angeles

So, all this begs the question: Why do so many of us in the public relations world (and its cousin profession, advertising) desire that brass ring of fame--of recognition?

And we do.

I guess it’s the desire to be relevant, immortal. Right? I mean, we’re all going to go from this amusement park called Planet Earth sooner or later—even if we can all live more than 100 years--someday our number comes up and we’re escorted out of the place--with most of us leaving as if we had never been here at all.

I did have that moment of feeling relevant once and it was, well, meteoric. It happened at work. A new intern had started for the summer. She had come in from Los Angeles and me also being a native Los Angelino I went over to introduce myself. As I welcomed her to the shop I said, “Hi, I’m Robert Westover and I work on…” at that moment she looked like she had seen a ghost. I had to asked her if everything was ok—I mean she was literally shaking. She said yes everything was ok and then explained to me that an article I had written about conservation vs preservation in managing our national forests and grasslands had inspired her to follow a career in wilderness land management!

So perhaps this is why we carve our names into those proverbial trees or want to have a building, park bench, or something named after us. It’s our hope, I think, that future generations might stumble on one of our achievements and connect the dots to get an outline of who and what we were and how we added to the Autobiography of Us.

Now I can see why I have done a lot of carving on trees. Maybe I might even have a billion more carved by the time I’m escorted out of Planet Earth having been “everywhere, man.”

My Bibliography and How I Came Up With Over One Billion Impressions

The list below is by far not exhaustive of all hits and impressions my news stories have generated over the past 40 years. In fact, none of my media awareness campaigns where my name isn’t mentioned appear below.

I’ve organized my major media awareness and personal achievement third-party validation* reach into nine categories:

·        The SS United States awareness campaign (1998 to 2005),

·        Stories related to my service in the United State Marine Corps (2004 to 2006),

·        My historic run for Congress in 2000 (as the first openly Gay man in Virginia’s history),

·        My time as a ballet dancer and actor (1982 to 1992),

·        My husband and my LGBTQ activist work (2012 to 2015),

·        My performance art character, Lord Westover, and other royalty related stories (2010 to present),

·        My articles/social media livestreams with the USDA Forest Service (2007 to present),

·       My work in bringing awareness to the importance of the Digital Millennium Copy Right Act (1999 to 2000),   

      Miscellaneous: Jackie Kennedy connection, book credits, career promotion articles, movie, TV and other videos.

A photo seen around the world of Robert and Tom
taken on the day the US Supreme Court ruled in
favor of Gay marriage equality. This was the lead
photo on the Huffington Post that day. 
(Courtesy photo, Huffington Post)

I need to point out that many of my hits and impression happened when the Internet age was just getting started (or before the Internet even existed!) so the reach was much more limited. For instance, before the ubiquitous use of Internet search engines the New York Times, like all major newspapers, could count its possible impression by its subscribership x 3 as it was estimated that up to 3 people would share a story via hardcopy in those olden days. In fact, this is exactly how those of us in the Public Relations world calculated the worth of a hit to our clients.

Robert's first news story

Now, with something like 20 million subscribers, and the ability to easily send a story to reach far more than 3 people per subscriber, the impressions generated by the New York Times is potentially well over 100 million. It is for this reason you’ll notice that my hits in the New York Times, that were not picked up by its syndicate, were in the several millions vs the syndicate pickups that exceeded 75 million impressions—but would now be in the hundreds of millions. It’s a little confusing for sure!

By far the largest media story I was ever part of happened in June of 2015 when the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gay and Lesbians having the legal right to marry nationally. The side story of my marriage of 15 years (at the time--we're now at 22 years and counting!) to my husband, Tom Fulton, was picked up by nearly every major media outlet in the US and by the Agence France-Presse (AFP), the oldest and largest media outlet in the world. With bureaus in over 100 countries the AFP’s potential impressions exceed 2 billion. I cut this figure to 500 million as many of the dozens of newspapers and broadcast news stations that picked up the story internationally were the English editions as was the case in both China and India.

And just for fun I added my book sales and my acting career “hits” as they certainly deserve some mention, though the impressions are difficult to calculate.

National/International Broadcasts:

CNN (SS United States Foundation, 1999) 15 million impressions

ABC World News Tonight (SS United States Foundation, 2000) 20 million impressions

BBC World News (SS United States Foundation, 2000) 350 million impressions

PBS New Hour (LGBT issues 2015) 10 million impressions

AFP (LGBT Issues 2015 – Was picked up and broadcast internationally in dozens of news stations and newspapers as well as being picked up by Getty Images.) 500 million impressions

PBS News Hour (Capitol Christmas Tree 2015) 10 million impressions

Op Eds and other published pieces:

Soundings Magazine (SS United States Foundation, 1999)

Westmoreland Times (SS United States Foundation, 2000)

Letters to the Editor:

Christian Science Monitor (Ballet 1990) 100 thousand impressions

New York Times (SS United States Foundation, 2004) 3 million impressions

USA Today (SS United States Foundation, 2000) 5 million impressions

Features/Articles/Mentions in Newspapers:

Morro Bay Sun (Ballet, 1981)

San Luis Obispo Tribune (Ballet, 1981)

Associated Press (Chicago Sun Times—SS United States Foundation, 1998) 2 million impressions

Washington Post (job promotion/Arnold Worldwide, 1999) 1 million impressions

Washington Post (Run for Congress, 2000) 1 million impressions

Wired Magazine (DMCA cover story, 2001) 3 million impressions

Maritime Magazine (SS United States Foundation, 2003)

Honolulu Star Bulletin (SS United States Foundation, 2003)

Seattle Times (SS United States Foundation, 2003)

Readers Digest (USMC, 2005) 100 million impressions

Washington Post (Washington, DC ANC work, 2005) 1 million impressions

Washington Post (Grand Mother’s obituary —appeared first in the San Diego Times Union, 2007) 1.5 million impressions

USA Today (Real Estate Issues, 2009) 5 million impressions

Washington Post (Lord Westover/State of the Union Contest, 2010) 1 million impressions

Yahoo News (Royal Wedding/William and Kate, 2011) 3 million impressions

Christian Science Monitor (Lord Westover at John Stewart Rally, 2010) 100,000 impressions

South Tahoe News (Forest Service, Fire story, 2014)

TSI Magazine (Forest Service antique furniture story, 2021)

The Patriot (Forest Service fire story, 2021)

Roanoke Times (also appeared in Advent News and Opera News Forest Service fall colors, 2021)

Quotes in Articles of Major National and International Media Outlets:

New York Times (SS United States Foundation--Save the SSUS–1999 front page national section and entire syndicate including Dallas Morning News, Detroit Free Press and the Times Herald) 75 million impressions

New York Times (SS United States Foundation), Visit to New Port News in Metro section)—1999) 2 million impressions

New York Times (SS United States Foundation, 2003 NCL buys SSUS/Front page national section entire syndicate including the Times Herald) 10 million impressions

New York Times (SS United States Foundation--Commodore Anderson obit– 2004) 4 million impressions

Newsday (SS United States Foundation – 1999)

Newsday (SS United States Foundation, Book – 2002)

Philadelphia Inquirer (SS United States Foundation, 1999 – 2004) 500 thousand impressions

Orange County Register (SS United States Foundation, 2002-2006) 300 thousand impressions

Wall Street Journal (USMC 2004) 6 million impressions

Huffington Post (LGBTQ issues – lead picture 2015) 12 million impressions

CBS News (LGBTQ Issues 2015) 15 million impressions

Yahoo News (LGBTQ issues 2015) 3 million impressions

Muck Racker (Stories written about the USDA Forest Service—not exhaustive)

Books:

SS United States, Fastest Ship in the World (Turner) sold over 20,000 copies

Lessons in Nobility (self-published) sold over 1000 copies

Nobility Lessons for Dummies (self-published) sold over 10,000 copies

Academic Recommendations/Scholastic References:

Course Hero (Forest Service – Conservation vs Preservation)

Course Hero (LGBT+ Issues)

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review (Forest Service -- Conservation vs Preservation)

A Man and His Ship – The Story of America’s Greatest Naval Architect (SS United States Foundation reference)

Janet, Jackie and Lee (Jackie Kennedy bio where I am both quoted and referenced)

Jackie: Public, Private, Secret (Jackie Kennedy bio where I am both quoted and referenced)

Movies/TV/Livestreams/YouTube:

IMDb (entertainment listing) 

Uncle Joe Shannon (MGM/Actor -- 1978)

Love Thy Neighbor (ABC/Actor -- 1982)

MCI (national ad campaign/actor--1993)

Historic run for Congress (News 8, Washington, DC)

DNC National Convention in Los Angeles (News 3 LA -- DNC spokesman, 2000)

History of Veteran’s Day (History Channel/highlighted--2004)

Meet Robert Hudson Westover (Faces of the Forest Service, 2016)

Woodsy Owl’s 50^th Birthday (Forest Service livestream)

Pride Month (Forest Service livestream)

JFK's Summer White House (You tube video that features Hugh D. "Yusha" Auchincloss, Jackie Kennedy's beloved stepbrother.) 

Smokey Bear’s 78^th Birthday (Ad Council livestream)

*Third Party Validation is a term used in public relations to emphasis the importance of a media outlet selecting to broadcast a story without being paid to do so by the firm or author. Unlike paying for advertising space, something anyone can do, third party validation means one has had to convince an editorial board that the story is worth being disseminated to the public. 

God’s Love in icons both large and small

 By Robert Hudson Westover

Who hasn’t turned the wheel of a kaleidoscope and looked in amazement as a hidden cluster of crystal beads, painted mirrors and glass create color patterns that make you wish you could jump into that little handheld toy? Of course, now we have virtual reality goggles which almost make one feel like they are doing this—diving us into a galaxy of iridescence--but virtual isn’t reality.

However, in Paris, the City of Light, such a place does exist, a real structure made of stone and glass but mostly stained glass. It’s the chapel built over 800 years ago by the good king of the French, Saint Louis, and the Parisians call it the saint’s chapel or Sainte Chappelle. From the moment you step into this sacred space of a million fragments of colored glass you are transfixed by the eye sensory overload of so much color.

Sainte Chapelle in Paris

You are in the kaleidoscope.

And it’s in this place of Holy wonderment that my husband and I had a rare encounter with a person who studies and creates, or I should correctly say, writes the spiritual arts of sacred colors that prefigured the glowing stained glass imagines of Biblical scenes seen in so many churches and cathedrals.

It’s called iconography and the artist’s name is Sue Jones. A devote Christian from Texas, Sue had never really liked icons and thought the (often) small rough wood blocks with two dimensional painted figures of Jesus and his mother, Mary (and many other saints) almost ugly and even kind of strange.

An icon of the Archangel Gabriel
by iconographer Sue Jones 

However, all that changed when she started visiting an icon “writing” class held at her church, “I started understanding the significance of the meaning behind icons. An icon is to be written, not painted, and read by the onlooker,” said Jones.

The class is called The School of Sacred Arts and the master iconographer leading the course, Jane Ladik, has her work all over the world. Jones explains the icon writing process taught to her by Ladik as one that starts with a pattern and the writer is always referring to the pattern, “just as we refer to our master pattern, Jesus Christ.”

Jones added, “Back in the day when people could not read, they would know what they were looking at, the colors have a message, and other things you see, curly hair, a knob on the forehead, even where the eyes are looking. Writing an icon is done in prayer, contemplating the life of the saint.”

In fact, when you see Mary, or the saints, it indeed does appear that the eyes are often not looking in the same place. Jones explains that this is because the icon both looks at the observer while also keeping an eye on the heavenly realm.

Listening to Sue that day in Sainte Chapelle, and feeling the holy spirit move me, I looked up at the many images of the stained glass and thought about the stories of faith they were telling and experienced the chapel with new eyes. Iconography, whether in wood, stone glass or paint inspires us all to love God more and experience the promise of his Love through art.

Let’s call it the kaleidoscope of the Holy Spirit.

(Pictured to the left: An ancient icon of Mary and Jesus. The lettering is in archaic Cyrillic and the icon is thought to have written anywhere between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries.) 

A Dream in the Desert leads to an art career in Paris

By Robert Hudson Westover

The Joshua trees were darkly silhouetted against a faint yet deep shade of blue—a color James Purpura would never forget. When he woke up from the dream, in the desert outside Palm Springs, he didn’t know it at the time, but this hue of blue would haunt him beyond just a day of contemplating this unique vision.

He became obsessed with it and bought paints to mix and find it.

A new language of blue.

A new language of art.

A work by James Purpura. One of 13 that will be exhibited 
this November in Palm Springs.

Paris, 20 years later and my husband and I are walking the storied boulevard Rivoli on our way to the Louvre. We were in no rush, having been to the awe-inspiring former “other” palace home of the Sun King, when just a few blocks away, we spotted a rather strange looking building that stood out from the very well-kept limestone and marble facades of Rivoli.

I mean really stood out as in huge blue humanoid looking statues climbing up the façade.

Curious as he is my husband wanted to go for a closer inspection. He was utterly fascinated. I wasn’t. Just another weird art gallery, I thought as we entered the foyer of 59 Rivoli, a former hotel now covered in paint of multiple colors and a strange assortment of odd-looking art. Everywhere. As we ascended the stairs of the seven-story structure, we soon discovered that there were at least 30 artists of varying talent either displaying or creating their art.

As we looked at the amazing, contemplative and wonderous works I remembered one of the lessons I learned when I worked at the NationalEndowment for the Arts in Washington, DC: Every new great artist must distinguish themselves from the past and other artists. To break new ground, they need to speak a new language of art.

As we turned a tight corner in the maze-like complex, we stumbled on James Purpura’s studio and looked into colors in such placement as I have never seen before, an interpretation of reality both surreal and accurate and that blue. That Purpura blue.

Lucky for us James had just come back from an errand and we struck up a conversation. Somewhere in between James’ normal pitch to sell his art to us, and me being pulled into his alternate realties on canvas, I thought, “I not only want to buy one of his works, I want to help promote him.”

James Purpura's surreal take on the
Eiffel Tower in this painting is one of his most
well know works.

As a fulltime PR specialist, I was in no position to commit fulltime, but I went to work talking James up to anyone and everyone in the art world I happened upon. Then, when James was given the distinct honor of having his work displayed by the city of Paris in the 5th district across the street from the famed Pantheon I wrote a blog which has been viewed over 5000 times—for a yet-to-be, world-famous artist this is a big number. 

I know enough about art to know that James is the real thing. All I can say to those thinking of buying his work is to do it now. It won’t be long before the whole world knows about the dream in the desert.

This Pride Month I Honor LQBTQ Hero Frank Kameny

Let us never forget that we stand on the shoulders of giants. Frank Kameny's efforts to fight for Gay Rights throughout his long life means we all owe him a debt of gratitude. Yes, Gay is Good! 

Watch my tribute video: Happy Pride!

Lord Westover: A Prince Among Princes

Lord Westover: A Prince Among Princes: Heaven has gained a Noble Prince and we, here below, have lost a man of such impeccable character that it is truly hard to believe he will n...

Queen of The World

How Queen Elizabeth II’s noble behavior has out shone the character of every British Monarch in the history of her nation and perhaps even the world.

By Robert Hudson Westover, the creator of His Grace, LordWestover (obviously).

When Princess Elizabeth ascended to the throne of the United Kingdom in 1952, Winston Churchill predicted that the nation’s new Queen Elizabeth would usher in a renewed Elizabethan era—as in the first English queen named Elizabeth. That first Elizabeth presided over what would become the world reach of a tiny island realm into the superpower Britannia and would rule the seas—for hundreds of years.

Many laughed at the irony of such a statement from Churchill. I mean, Great Britain, the empire where "the sun never sets," was already falling apart. It had, by 1952, lost many of its overseas colonies including India and South Africa. Anyone with any political savvy knew once magnificent Britannia, the largest empire ever known to man, was soon to be just another one of Europe’s “regional” powers.

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II (Courtesy photo.)

So was Churchill dreaming? Or was he sensing something far beyond our traditional concepts of national boundaries and cultural imperatives?

Clearly, he left no deeper insight to his statement. But I believe he was on to something. And, yes, he was right. He was right not because Elizabeth Windsor has extended the reach of her kingdom’s physical borders but because she has recreated an empire not of lands but of people—that is to say peoples of the entire world.

Think about it. When people all over the world speak of “the queen” for the vast majority of humanity they are referring to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. Even in my United States of America the term means her, our de facto Queen.

And what a queen!

The Queen has, for nearly 70 years, during some of the most wrenching political crisis imaginable, stood aloft with the Banner of True Nobility for all the world to see: Duty, Country, Family.

In that order.

She has inspired countless millions to be more noble to others, more clearheaded in a crisis and less emotionally reactive to whatever absurdity rears its ugly head—in other words, to be more like her in mind and spirit.

Take a moment to pounder how this physically diminutive woman of towering and steely character, so imbued with noble temperament, has impressed, inspired and amazed you in your own life. Even if you disagree with the concept of The Divine Right of Kings it’s a fool’s errand to find a serious cosmic flaw with The Queen. Yes, Elizabeth Windsor is a person, has flaws like all of us, but I would argue her flaws have been turned into strengths with this woman who stands out (especially now) as a rock of ages for humanity.

The performance art character @LordWestover
was  inspired by Queen Elizabeth.

On a personal level Queen Elizabeth inspired me all my life. I’ve attempted to model her behaviors in my personal crises often resulting in very positive outcomes. 

In fact, the creation of my highly successful performance art character @LordWestover was partially a result of my desire to share these new Elizabethan traits with others. Yes, Lord Westover is a comedic character, but his silliness points to Elisabeth II’s true north of Being Noble in all one says and does.

Some who read this article will think it’s just a fan letter and perhaps they are right. But I can think of no one better to be admired than Queen Elizabeth. 

So, from one of your superfans, Your Majesty, may I say God bless you for launching and sustaining a true and marvelous Elizabethan Era of Being Noble.

God Save the Queen!

Lord Westover Productions' New Arts and Humanities Foundation!

Washington, D.C. -- For 10 years, Lord Westover Productions has been dedicated to the arts and humanities. Now, with the launch of a new foundation, the Anon Foundation (not to be confused with QAnon--yikes), the new non-profits seeks to build bridges to unify all Americans no matter what political party they belong to--with a motto of remembering: We Are Americans First. 

The launch party had a Jackie Kennedy theme as the foundation's founders take a great deal of inspiration from the life of the former First Lady who had a profound appreciation for the arts and it's influence on culture and politics in particular.

Check out the video of the launch party! Anon Foundation Launch Video

Lord Westover Productions has launched a new
effort to bring attention to the arts. 
(Lord Westover Productions photo.)

Special guest for the foundation launch was
Say Yes to the Dress reality show super star
Monte Durham (left) who is self professed huge Jackie Kennedy fan.
(Lord Westover Productions photo.)

.

Jackie Kennedy serves as a type of inspiration
or patron saint of the arts for the Anon Foundation
(Jackie by Robert Dyber acrylic on canvas.)

So what does Jackie Kennedy have to do with Anon Foundation you might ask?

"Jackie Kennedy serves as type of inspiration for the new foundation," said Robert Hudson Westover, Chairman of the Anon Foundation. "I've admired her dignity and grace since childhood and she very much believed in the power of art to reach across all cultural, political and monetary boundaries."

Lapin Bleu Garden Video

The video is an end of summer view of our beautiful gardens. Every year at Easter we put Holy Water taken from the Grotto of the Virgin Mary outside the Justinian Wall in Istanbul and sprinkle it into the fountain which is the centerpiece to the garden we have dedicated to the Virgin Mother. 

See it here: Lapin Garden Video

Lord Westover: Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Nobility for All ...

Lord Westover: Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Nobility for All ...: Celebrate Lord Westover’s 10 year anniversary by being Noble! By Robert Hudson Westover Ten years ago this summer a noble star w...

An Open Letter to Our Beloved American Family

Dear America - Let us start by saying  we have unwavering support for our incredibly positive American way of life. We lead the world in the newest ideas of making progress, and being positively progressive, contrary to much of what is said by many. We Americans, since our founding and throughout our history, continue to strive to be better, especially in expanding matters of freedom and equality.  

Tom and Robert, a married Gay couple for
20 years have
Loved America all their lives. 

It amazes us on how much We all work to improve our lives and our communities and our bellowed country--just look at the progress for LGBT rights over the last 30 years!  And We continue to find inspiration from our still cutting edge founding documents, confidant that tempered with understanding, history, and wisdom that each generation, both the young and old, will aspire to new heights as we celebrate our freedoms engaging freely in enterprise, civil rights, and important national priorities. 

We, more than ever, demand freedom of thought given to all, but without misrepresentation, which then flow towards actions which exalt good, and create beauty and order which is conducive to human flourishing. And We should always welcome newcomers from around the globe who are able to build up America, with their unique and exciting capabilities, as they contribute to strengthening our national fabric today and into the following centuries. 

So let's, together, raise up hard work, self-reliance, loyalty to and love of nation, faith in God, honesty, strong families, and minimal class consciousness--the American way. 

We are overwhelmingly a fair people, greatly underestimated by our adversaries. During this time of disruption, all should know that things are not always what they seem on the surface, or as we are being told by many. So don't be taken in by the rancor and chaos some contribute to around us. These are the crashing waves of a temporary storm but the strong calm currents have never been disturbed by the ferociousness of the violent and self-consumed. 

Do not be afraid to stand up for what is right--and America with all her blemishes, glory and hope is a shining light to the world. WE will build an even stronger and more resolute America able to further anchor to the enduring values developed and codified by imperfect messengers of liberty.  

Though inarticulately at times, we are fighting to sharpen our vision of needed changes to make America as great as possible. This is a wonderful goal. Now with the veil more removed, the true challenge to our past, present and future--America herself--stands is stark relief to the horrific history of man's inhumanity toward man. We are now actually even more up to slaying the true dragon--the hatred of the principles of liberty for all enshrined in our founding documents. Many now know that they have billions of miles to go, if they in fact can EVER sleep.

Like so many of us in our great American family, WE believe in equality for all and the idea that our country, despite the challenges we now face, is and will continue to be the best hope for the betterment of humanity. But we also know that our creator gave us the precious gift of conscience--of choice to do right or wrong--and that, unfortunately, many of us chose wrong over right far too often in the past, in our present and likely in our future. But this is not an indictment of America but rather the manifest human condition that our founding principles continually force us to examine and forge a more perfect union.  

With All Our Love and Devotion,

Tom Fulton and Robert Hudson Westover