My Impromptus today begins with the topic of conspiracy theories — especially ones having to do with 9/11 (“inside job” and all that). Will these theories go mainstream? Have they done so already? Elsewhere in my column I have notes on a Mossad legend, a small town in Michigan (that has made national news), the English language, etc. Here it is.

I would like to share some words from my friend Manfred Wendt. He worked with us at NRI (our National Review Institute). He is a Texan and counts Diana Denman as his mentor. She was known as “the Godmother of the Texas GOP.”

“Diana Denman, one of the last of the Cold Warriors, has finally gone to sleep,” writes Manfred. He continues,

She was born in Abilene, Texas, on February 20, 1934, and passed away on April 17, 2025. She spent her childhood on ranches in Abilene and New Mexico. This is how she managed to be both Miss Texas and Miss New Mexico, in addition to Miss National Press Club.

Also, she once rode a horse in the lobby of the Mayflower Hotel in Washington.

She graduated from George Washington University with a degree in journalism. Afterward, she went to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. There, she met Ronald Reagan. The first vote she cast was for Reagan to be president of the Screen Actors Guild.

She became deeply involved in Texas politics, helping to turn the state from complete and utter Democratic control into a Republican stronghold. In 1980, she helped found the Young Conservatives of Texas. She served as an adviser and mentor to students from this organization for the rest of her life.

During the Reagan administration, she held a number of positions. For instance, she was a co-chairman of the Peace Corps. She was also an election observer in foreign countries. In the conservative movement, she had a thumb in every pie. She was a member of the Philadelphia Society, the Mount Pelerin Society, and so on.

Diana Denman was “tireless,” says Manfred, in mentoring the young. And he was “her last mentee.” He continues,

She was always the best-dressed person in every room she entered. She had a class and dignity all her own. She was a tiny woman, but carried herself as though she were a six-foot-five Navy SEAL.

She once informed me, in no uncertain terms, that I was poorly dressed. From that moment on, I always wore a tie and pocket square in her presence. One day, I sent her a photo of me in a new suit, and she replied, “It needs to be hemmed by 1/8th of an inch.”

Diana was a walking audiobook about the Reagan administration and the Cold War. She passionately loved the United States and hated communism. She believed in the arsenal of democracy and in equipping freedom fighters to protect their country from communist expansion.

Her legacy lives on in all of us who knew her.