LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — Looking around the basement of his home, it's clear that Larry Cook, a presidential historian, has a passion for his work.
He says it's Rosalynn and former president Jimmy Carter who gave him the courage to pursue it as a career.
"He said, 'Rosalynn and I are extremely proud of what you do for history.' And I said, 'Well, thank you, sir.' And he said, 'Well, frankly, we think you should do more of it,'" recalled Larry Cook, presidential historian.
So Cook told his wife he was selling the family business to document the lives of the presidents and first ladies.
So naturally, when Cook heard about the passing of former first lady Rosalynn Carter, it was heartbreaking.
"It helped. We were talking to friends from all over the United States last night, and we were just sharing memories, and we were smiling and laughing at some of the memories, and it was good because it was a good thing to do, and that's what Rosalynn would want us to do," said Cook.
Cook remembers Rosalynn as having a big role in her husband's political career, "When people went into that voting booth in 1976, you know, of course, Rosalynn wasn't on the ballot. But she was on the voters' minds when they pulled that lever and elected him the 39th President of the United States." And also as one of the most influential humanitarians of all time.
"For what she did for the benefit of the world, to benefit all people that with mental illness and for caregiving and for vaccinations and even for the monarch butterfly, preventing them from becoming extinct has been her like her newest project, and now there's butterfly gardens, Rosalynn Carter butterfly gardens, all over the United States and it's helping to keep the beautiful monarch butterfly viable," explained Cook.
Cook and his wife Diane will travel to Georgia next week for Rosalynn's funeral and will continue their work in preserving her memory for decades to come.
