My good friend Richard Morgan is running for the position of Hertford College Middle Common Room President (There's a nice photo of both of us on the MCR web page. Scroll down- it's the bottom picture and we're both doing our best Grease impression). He was nominated by Mindy and seconded by myself. Normally at the hustings, the nominator has to get up and say a few words about why he or she nominated this person, but Mindy hates public speaking and so I had to do it. I didn't mind.

"What kind of speech do you want me to give?" I asked Rich, "Something inspiring or low-key?"

He laughed, "Make it like Bono introducing Sinatra at the Grammy Awards!"

So this is the speech I gave tonight:

Rich never did like intellectual elitists snob like me. And I'm not too sure how he feels about guys with tattoos either. But he doesn’t hold it against me. And anyway, the feeling is not mutual.

But us ivory tower intellectuals love Richard Morgan because Rich has got what we want: the common touch, empathy, love; he genuinely loves his fellow man and seeks to embrace us all. From Prince to Pauper, Rich’s the man to go to when you have a problem and you want help. He plays at being tough but this guy, well, he’s all heart. The Ace of hearts. The man. The big bang. He knows your story ‘cause it’s his story.

Who’s this guy that every man who knows him wants to claim as their friend? This man with the soul of music in the body of a statesman. This singer who makes other men poets. This king with the common touch. This leader who gets it all done. Comin’ through with the big stick, or the aside, or the quiet compliment. Good cop, bad cop, all in the same breath. I’m not gonna mess with him, are you?

If you’ve heard Rich sing and heard him play you can feel his emotion. His voice as tight as a fist. Opening at the end of a bar. Not on the beat, over it, playing with it, splitting it like a jazz man, like Miles Davis. Turning on the right phrase and the right song. Which is where he lives, where he lets go, where he reveals himself. His songs are his home and he lets you in. But you know that to sing like that, to play like that, you’ve gotta have lost a couple of fights. To know tenderness and romance you’ve gotta have had your heart broken.

Some people say that Rich hasn’t talked to the them, they wanna know how he is, what’s on his mind. But you know Rich is out there more nights than most coppers on the beat. Doing things. Leading by example. From the front. Taking the hits. Selfless. Generous.

This is the conundrum of Rich Morgan. Left and right brain going full tile but hardly talking. Fighter and diplomat, scholar and athlete, bandman and loner, Troubleshooter and troublemaker. The champ who would rather show you his scars than his medals. He may be soft and gentle to women but I’m not gonna mess with him, are you?

Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to welcome a man heavier than the Empire State, deeper than the Grand Canyon, as recognizable as the Statue of Liberty, and living proof that God is an Episcopalian!

Will you welcome the King of Westerly Rhode Island, Richard Owen William Morgan!

Next time, Rich will be more careful about what he asks from me!