All of Colorado’s living ex-governors and the one who’s still in office – that John Hickenlooper fella – sat in on the same panel discussion Thursday, weighing in on the heavy issue of partisanship in  contemporary politics. Yes, all five of them: Dick Lamm, Roy Romer, Bill Owens, Bill Ritter and Hick himself.

They of course shared some great perspective and telling insights – Lynn Bartels of the Secretary of State’s Office gives the details via her blog today – but it probably wasn’t as engaging as Lynn’s own perspective on having covered several of them during her years as a political reporter.

Here’s just one nugget:

…And while at the Rocky Mountain News, I was assigned to write Lamm’s and Romer’s obituaries and have them ready to go, you know, just in case. Yes, awkward, but Lamm was very gracious when I explained why I was interviewing him. My lede: “Dick Lamm did his duty today.”

If you don’t get the “duty” reference, you haven’t been around long enough.

Really a fun read; here’s the link again. Lot’s of good pix, too! (We used one; be sure to check out the rest.)