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Greg Packer lives on Long Island and likes to be quoted in news stories, both in print and on TV. He makes himself visible at big events and is always ready with a quip. He's been quoted more than 100 times, something first noted last week by the conservative columnist Ann Coulter and picked up on by Slate's Mickey Kaus, who used it (no surprise) to slam the New York Times. Packer is now the subject of a short profile in the NYT -- "My opinion is always valid, and I always have an answer for everything" -- and today in the Wall Street Journal.
Turns out Packer has also made a few recent appearances in the L.A. Times. In a staff story from New York after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, he showed up at St. Patrick's Cathedral for a special Mass to mourn victims:
"First in line was Greg Packer, 37, a highway maintenance worker from Huntington, N.Y, who wore a T-shirt that said 'May God Bless N.Y.' on the front and 'This Shall Not Stand' on the back.
'I'm Jewish, but this is the USA and this is my chance to say a prayer for the missing in all these posters,' he said, staring at photos of missing trade center workers plastered on street signs outside the cathedral."
Almost a year later, his name was mentioned in connection with the message he left at the World Trade Center site: "Thank you to all our heroes. May God Bless America. Greg Packer. Huntington, New York, USA."
He also showed up in an Associated Press story the paper ran on this year's St. Patrick's Day parades: "'I'm representing Ireland and New York today. It's a day for happiness and to be together,' said Long Island resident Greg Packer, who sported a bright green wig and a painted green mustache at New York's parade. 'It's a day to take in the Irish culture that we have in the city.'"