READY FOR THE GOP

The time is drawing near. Within months, Dallas will be deluged with thousands of visiting Republicans and reporters. And though the Republican National Convention may seem distant to most of us, to Linda Perryman, it’s very close. She’s the executive director of the Dallas Welcoming Committee for the convention. During August 1984 Perryman will play hostess for the City of Dallas.

Perryman is a Dallasite who -with two weeks’ notice and a great deal of urging from close friends on the East Coast – “temporarily” moved to Washington, D.C., in 1976 to work on Gerald Ford’s presidential campaign. She has worked in Washington ever since.

Although her educational background is not political (she has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Texas), she advanced quickly in Washington. She first opened mail for the Ford campaign, then, she worked on the John Con-nally campaign with Jim Brady. Not long after that, she became a staff assistant in the White House office of media relations. As such, she and five others worked as liaisons for the out-of-town press.

Even though she was settled in her position at the White House, Perryman recently accepted the temporary assignment with the welcoming committee. She says she was a prime candidate for the position because of her background in media relations and because of her familiarity with the Washington press corps and Dallas.

Already, she is working long hours in the newly formed position. She says that the welcoming committee’s job is hazily defined as providing a “fact book” for the convention’s 8,000 to 9,000 visiting reporters; coordinating cultural events; planning tours, receptions and educational programs for the delegates; providing information and speakers for local organizations; and welcoming foreign visitors and assisting them with housing.

Perryman will work with a large steering committee headed by Committee Chairman David G. Fox, chairman and chief executive officer of Fox & Jacobs Inc.

The welcoming committee, a nonpartisan group, will work in conjunction with several other organizations, including the Republican National Committee, the Dallas Republican Host Committee, the City of Dallas. Eventually, Perryman will divide her work between 16 subcommittees. But until then, it’s a one-woman show.