Robert Gioia’s brother, Anthony, has been confirmed by the US Senate as a representative to the 63rd Session of the UN General Assembly. I found out about this via an email press release from Courtney Quattrini, an account manager at Travers Collins & Company, sent on October 9. The press release stated that he was confirmed on Friday, October 10, so I recognized it as hot news.

I sent an email to Quattrini on October 10, requesting an interview with Gioia. It’s not everyday a Buffalonian gets called to the UN. I received a reply early on the 11th, indicating she’d try to set something up. On the 13th I replied to see where things stood.

She replied on the 13th that “Ambassador Gioia is in DC, but available any time from 10-12:30 tomorrow to chat with you. He’ll be on a train so asked if he can contact you directly. Will that work?” Sure.

At 7:30pm on the 13th I got an email that read: “I want to make sure Ambassador Gioia is well prepared for your interview. That being said, I would like to politely request that you focus the interview on his appointment as a UN Representative—responsibilities, what it means, how he got there, etc. Just want to make sure the intent isn’t to get into an overly political conversation. Thanks for your understanding and let me know if you have any questions.”

I didn’t reply. I mean, you get an interview with a UN Representative, but you can’t talk politics? What are you supposed to ask? What kind of suit do you intend to wear to the United Nations?

Then, (psych!) I got the coup de grace at 9:55am the day of the interview on the 14th: “I’m so sorry, but Ambassador Gioia has decided to decline your interview scheduled for today. He is traveling for most of the week and has decided not to move forward with a number of media opportunities. My apologies for wasting your time and thanks in advance for your understanding.”

Yeah, actually, there’s something thing I don’t understand. You say he’s decided not to move forward with a number of media opportunities. Could that number, perhaps, be one?

—buck quigley