MARY LOUISE KELLY, host:
And now we take a moment to remember William Donald Schaefer, the famously feisty mayor of Baltimore and later the governor of Maryland. He lived by the motto: Do It Now. As mayor, he used any method he could to transform a crumbling, post-industrial Baltimore into a tourist destination. Schaefer once jumped into a seal tank, clad in a Victorian era swimsuit - rubber duck in hand - to gain attention for the city's downtown aquarium.
RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
But the flip-side of his Do It Now approach was a strong will and an occasionally sharp temper that expressed itself through provocative comments. According to The Washington Post, he once answered a citizen critical of him by writing, quote, "I'm glad you have recovered from your lobotomy."
The life-long bachelor died from undisclosed causes at a Baltimore nursing home. He was 89.
This is NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
