Florida. [fn 4]
Aronow numbered among his friends and acquaintances not just Bush, but many international
public figures and celebrities, many of whom had purchased the boats he built. Aronow's wife was
said to be a former girlfriend of King Hussein of Jordan. Aronow was in touch with King Juan
Carlos of Spain, Lord Lucan (Billy Shand-Kydd, a relative of Princess Diana's mother), Sir Max
Aitken (the son of BriMonaco, Eastern Airlines chairman and formtish press baron Lord Beaverbrook), Per astronaut Frank Bormrince Rainier and Princess Grace ofann, Kimberly-Clark heir Jim (^)
Kimberley, Alvin Malnik (one of the reputed heirs to Meyer Lansky) and Charles Keating, later the
protagonist of the Lincoln Savings and Loan scandal. Some of these exalted acquaintances are
suggestive of strong intelligence connections as well.
In May of 1986, Aronmow received a letter from Nicolas Iliopoulos, the royal boat captain to King
Hussein of Jordan expressing on behalf of the King the latter's satisfaction with a powerboat
purchased from Aronow, and conveying the compliments of King Juan Carlos of Spain and
President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, who had recently been the Jordanian sovereign's guests on
board. Aronow sent a copy of tin which Bush thanked him "with warm regards" for forwhis letter to Bush, from whom he received a reply dated June 6, 1986arding the royal note and added: "I can
repeat that my old Cigarette, the "Fidelity" is running well too. I've had her out a couple of
weekends and the engines have been humming. I hope our paths cross soon, my friend." [fn 5]
Aronow was reportedly a close friend of George Bush. In his book-length account of the life anddeath of Aronow which is the basis for the following analysis, Thomas Burdick quotes an unnamed (^)
Justice Department official relating the comments of one of his friends on the Bush-Aronow
relation: "My friend said, 'I guarantee you I know what the connection was between him and Bush.
It's the boats. The guy loves fucking boats." A Secret Service agent also referred to Bush as a "boat
groupie." [fn 6] But does this exhaust the topic?
Over the years, Bush had apparently consulted with Aronow concerning the servicing and upkeep
of his Cigarette boat. During 1983, Bush began to seek out Aronow's company for fishing trips. The
original engines on Bush's Cigarette boat needed replacement, and this was the ostensible occasion
for renewing contact with Aronow. Aronow told Bush of a new model of boat that he had designed,supposedly a high-performance catamaran. Bush planned to come to Florida during the New Year's
holiday for a short vacation during which he would go bonefishing with his crony Nick Brady.
During this time he would also arrange to deliver an antidrug pep-talk.
On January 4, 1984, GKeys. Earlier in the day, Bush had delivered one of his "war on drugseorge Bush rendezvoused with Don Aronow at Islamorada in the Florida" speeches at the Omni
International Hotel in Miami. Bush and Brady then proceeded by motorcade to Islamorada, where
Aronow was waiting with his catamaran. Accompanied by a flotilla of Secret Service and Customs
agents in Cigarette boats that had been seized from drug smugglers, Bush, Brady, Aronow, and one
of the latter's retainers, the catamaran proceeded through mHouse photographers eternalizing the photo opportunity at every moment. Bush, who had donneoderate swells to Miami, with White (^) d
designer racing goggles for the occasion, was allowed to take the wheel of the catamaran and
seemed very thrilled and very happy. Nick Brady, sporting his own wrap-around shades, found the
seas too rough for his taste.
After the trip was over, Bush personally typed the following letter to Don Aronow on his vice
presidential staionery, which he sent accompanied by some photographs of Bush, Aronow, Brady
and the others on board the catamaran:
January 14, 1984