August 1939, in Medford, Oregon
EDUCATION:
1966: Bachelor's degree in journalism, University of Oregon
1975: Fellowship to study government and public policy at Washington, DC, Journalism Center
CAREER:
1966-72: Reporter and news analyst, KOIN and KING-TV, Seattle
1978-90: Mayor of Seattle
1990: Director, Harvard Institute of Politics, John F. Kennedy School of Government
1995-2006: Director, National Program Office for the Urban Health Initiative
Deng visit opened door for maritime trade
Special gift
He said the city government got some good advice from the state government and the University of Washington that helped it prepare for Deng's visit.
"We knew we needed to prepare a business meeting for the delegation, a dinner, and of course, a gift for the delegation," Royer said.
As for the gift, Professor Robert Kapp from the University of Washington suggested something that would be meaningful to the Chinese delegation.
"Kapp said, 'The Chinese admire getting things done and accomplishment. They want to do things right. Why don't we put together something that shows them how you make things happen in Seattle. I can't think of any piece of art or memorabilia that would be more important than showing them how you make your government work. In their eyes, that would make you unique,'" Royer recalled.
So the city departments started collecting documents, explaining how they governed utilities, how they regulated historic places, how they trained the police officers, how they cleaned the streets, and other things.
"We had a bunch of people working on the huge project and ended up with four big boxes," Royer said. "At one point we put them on a truck, took them down to the hotel where the delegation was staying, unloaded the boxes and explained to the delegation what we had done."
In June 1979, Royer, along with nine other mayors from big US cities, visited China. During the delegation's 14-day trip, they visited 12 Chinese cities.
"It was a goodwill tour, the first delegation of local officials to go to China during the normalization (of relations)," he said. "For me, the purpose of the trip was to meet with the local officials, talk to them about basically what's in the 'box'.
"We did hope our boxes would help and were always wondering, were there some young Deng Xiaopings, universities or local government officials, seeking truth through facts, being interested in the information we had collected and carefully studying these documents? Did these documents give them an idea or two that helped build a great city?"
