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Former Md. Gov. William Donald Schaefer Dies At 89

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.