The setting was the turbulent 60’s. She-a lonely rock star at the height of her career-had asked a friend to find her a date for a Texas barbecue. He-an earnest graduate student of philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin-was a devotee of rock and Country & Western. The two, according to his recollection, “sat under the Texas sky, talked and had a couple of beers.” When the Washington Post disclosed the identities of these two players, it wasn’t hard to see why the match didn’t last. In what must surely rank as one of the least likely blind dates of all time, the “he” was William J. Bennett, now Secretary of Education, and “she” was Janis Joplin.

“Hey, that really is none of your business.” – William Bennett, when asked what he and Janis did on their date.