Graham TT Molitor: A Futurist for All Seasons

Graham Molitor was larger than life, no matter how you measured. Even his name, with the expansive TT at its center, hinted at his patrician background. In fact, he was one of the few people I had ever seen wear an ascot. But he was also a swell human being. He gave uncounted hours of his time and talent to the World Future Society (WFS), including General Counsel duties, which, based on my own experience, I would not wish on anyone.

Due in part to a rather wide gap between our political pathways, Graham leaning to the right with myself more independent, I cannot say he was a close friend, but he was certainly a respected colleague. His tours of duty for the White House and on Capitol Hill spoke volumes concerning his skills and tactical savvy, which also served him well in a foresight career.

A portion of that career was spent in government and politics (including trying to get Nelson Rockefeller elected U.S. President as his Director of Candidate Research) and he was a Legislative Counsel in the U.S. House of Representatives.

As CEO of the consulting firm Public Policy Forecasting Inc., he served a range of clients across numerous issue areas. Prior to that, he held government relations positions at Nabisco and General Mills, and was part of the White House Conference on Food, Nutrition, and Health. He also served on the White House Conference on Youth and the White House Conference on Social Indicators and was Research Director for the White House Conference on the Industrial World Ahead.

And he was not afraid of a challenge. I remember with some fondness how he went head to head with Joe Coates as part of a spirited debate at an early WFS General Assembly concerning whether American culture was declining or thriving. Graham took the “declining” position and held his own—which was no small feat. Some have said that Joseph was raised by wolves, and it showed in his debating style.

I was never sure that Graham felt he made the right decision in moving to a golf course in Pennsylvania when he retired, as he loved to be in the thick of things. But it was certainly true that he kept active, as I continued to run into him at Foundation for the Future conferences and the WFS offices.

In addition to donating a substantial portion of his policy report library to WFS when he moved to Pennsylvania, I was fortunate enough to come away from that move with his gorgeous Biedermeier rocking chair and hardwood Nordic Track exerciser, built to the original specs. He definitely lived well and with style.

We were both members of the District of Columbia Bar and both served as General Counsel to the WFS at different points. As well, we both were undergraduates at the same school, the University of Washington in Seattle. He went on to teach at both American University, Washington, D.C., and Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland.

He always treated me well and was the classic patrician gentleman. His Encyclopedia of the Future project proved to be a suitable match for his skills, and he was kind enough to include me in his stable of “go to” writers, to fill the blank spots as they became apparent in the editing process.

Graham was a great student of politics and history and loved to cite the quote which lamented, “The budget must be balanced, government indebtedness must be reduced, arrogant authorities must be controlled, people should learn to work again instead of living off the public dole.” He would then follow by pointing out that it was a quote from Marcus Cicero (106-43 BC), concluding that there was nothing new under the sun. But despite the truth that history does repeat itself, he was also convinced that there are periods in which great change does occur, and that we are in such a period at present.

The last time we talked, we were both at a meeting of the Foundation for the Future in Bellevue, Washington, which he assisted in organizing back in 1997. And as usual, he looked like a million dollars, was the life of evening outings, and was even sporting his trademark cravat. He will definitely be missed.