By Josh James
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wuky/local-wuky-999791.mp3
Lexington, KY – Family, friends, and admirers of the late Gatewood Galbraith gathered in Lexington Thursday night to celebrate the man one supporter called "the greatest governor Kentucky never had."
A standing-room-only crowd packed the Carnegie Center as speakers bid farewell to attorney, author, and political fixture Gatewood Galbraith. Supporters, decked out in old campaign buttons and shirts, tossed their hats into a ring on the floor, where they would be collected for charity. Richard Taylor, a college friend of Galbraith's, was waiting in line to share his memories with an oral historian.
"I didn't agree with every idea he had, but you had to love Gatewood," Taylor said. The perennial candidate, who passed away at 64 earlier this month, may not have won any races for statewide office, but he did win the respect of his colleagues and even political opponents.
"He was an iconic figure and one of those figures that I thought would be here forever. We're going to miss him, all of us, and we truly loved him," Congressman Ben Chandler said in his remarks.
Galbraith, a former marine, was honored with a six-gun salute at the close of the service.