September 2, 1996: While ascending Mount Kilimanjaro, Fred Martine drops his backpack. His companion picks it up but loses his footing, managing to say only, “I’ve got your back … ,” before tumbling to his death. At the memorial service, Martine wipes away a tear and says, “His last words were ‘I’ve got your back.’” Peter Beard attends the service and spreads the expression to the Hamptons.
July 20, 1998: Reading her toast at her sister’s wedding in Santa Monica, Ursula Breckmeyer drops a page midsentence: “My sister was always … ” A waiter looks for it. “There,” she points. He holds it up. “For me.” She grabs the page and repeats: “My sister was always there for me.” The line, hinting at unspeakably vague troubles in her own past, strikes a chord. The audience is suitably moved. The phrase spreads to weddings and funerals down Sunset Boulevard and throughout the L.A. freeways onto the national highway system.
