Category Archives for People

Your Later Years: Death Takes Two American Icons

Published in All Pawtucket All the Time on June 27, 2008

In recent weeks, office conversations shifted from the Celtic’s win, the Boston Red Sox games, and Democratic candidate Obama’s run for presidency to focus on the untimely deaths of two  national  icons in the entertainment and broadcast industry.  Baby boomers were shocked when a sudden heart attack, on June 13th, took the life of 58 year-old Tim Russert.  They were even more dismayed when George Carlin, the comedic voice of their generation, died 9 days later.

“Did you take your daily aspirin? Or “how high is your  cholesterol?” or “blood pressure?” were questions swiring around the water cooler.  Many of the Pepsi generation figured that if a youthful-looking broadcast journalist, Russert or and older Carlin,” America’s Funny Man” suddently died of heart disease it might halppen to them, too.

Making Their Marks in the World

Russert, a resident of Northwest Washington, was one of the nation’s most visible baby boomers, serving for almost 17 years as Managing Editor and Moderator of the highly acclaimed “Meet the Press” and political anayyst for “NBC Nightly News.”

In his early politicl creer as a lawyer, russert worked as a special council to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York, and as a conunsel to Gov. Mario M. Como of New York.

A lifelong Buffalo Bills Football fan, Russert, a practicing Catholic, wrote an autobiography Big Russ and Me in 2004, a book about growing up in South Buffalo and the importance of his hardworking father, a World War II veteran who worked two jobs after the war to support his family. Russert’s father taught him the significance of family values and never to take the short cut to accomplish a goal. A book, Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons, published one year later would incorporate letters received from his fans in response to his first book about their own experiences with their fathers.

Russert also received 48 honorary doctorates and racked up scores of awards for his journalistic reporting.

On June 22nd, an irrervent standup comedian, George Carlin, 71, whose cutting social commentary and assute summation of life, who oftentimes stretched both the boundaries of free speech died of heart failure in Santa Monica, California.

Carlin’s “Seven Dirty Words” comedy routine was key to a 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case, F.C.C. v Pacifica Foundation, in which a narrow majority ruled the government has a right to regulate “indecent” material on the public airways.

During his long life, the very hip Carlin was recognized for his cutting edge comedy by receiving two America Comedy Awards, the Funniest Male Performer in a TV Special (1997 and 1998) and the Lifetime Achievement Award in Comedy (2001).

Carline was the first host of Saturday Night Live. He made countless television appearances during his career.  As a prolific writer, Carlin wrote five books and produced 23 comedy records, winning four Grammy Awards. Throughout his career wit/word play, political satire and black comedy would be woven into his monologues performed in major nightclubs and theaters in New York and Los Vegs. He also starred in 14 HBO comedy specials.  Recently he received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and was to receive the award at the Kennedy Center in November 2008.

Touching Lives

Lars Platt, 51, of Platt Realty Group, and  his wife Carrie, a television producer, were shocked with the sudden passing of Russert. “He was so close to our age,” Platt says, noting that his wife had worked with him, too.

Platt said that the unanticipated death of “an icon in the news reporting and broadcast industry,” made the Providence couple think of their mortality and “how important it is to be present in everday life.”

Carlin’s passing also put “a chink in my armor, too,” says Platt. “His humor was part of the fabric of my life growing up.”

Forty-year old Matt Thomas, Manager of Doherty’s East Avenue Café, remembers secretly listening to Carlin’s routine ion a transistor radio in six grade.  Thomas, laughing so hard because of the humor caught the attention of his parents who promptly confiscated his radio, sending him immediately to bed.  Fast forward to his early adult years, Thomas would subscribe to HBO Cable when Carlin’s Specials were scheduled ultimately canceling his cable contract after watching it.

Thomas, who considers himself Carlin’s biggest fan in Pawtucket, attended the comedian’s last theater performance last week in Las Vegas. “It was tremendous,” he said, joking how his sides hurt when he walked out after the show. “He had a lot of fun on the state and even put in a few new bits into his routine.”

As to his impact on society Thomas will always remember Carlin as someone who “shed the light into dark corners that people did not want to look at.”

“If you talked to any comic, they worshiped the ground he walked on,” Thomas said. “He really opened up a lot of doors for others to come through.”  Carlin took the comedic torch when Lenny Bruce died , Thomas says. “We’ll just have to see who will pick that torch up now.”

With their premature deaths, bereaved colleagues, friends, and family members went on the nation’s airways to publicity tout Russert and Carlin’s personal and professional accomplishments. Statements after they died were posted on hundreds of websites and printed in tens of thousands of articles. It is my hope that America’s Journalist and Comedian heard these praises when they were alive.

The Best of…Walton‘s Good Deeds Touch Many in Ocean State

Published June  6, 2008, All Pawtucket All The Time   

        Bright and sunny skies pulled many Rhode Islanders to the beaches for fun and sun last Sunday, but for over 100 of the state s political, social progressive activists and scores from the folk music scene, Pawtuxet Cove, in Warwick was the place to be to celebrate Richard Walton s 80th Birthday Bash.  

          Some of the state’s elected officials included Lt. Governor Elizabeth Roberts, Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian and Representative Grace Diaz, and Representative David Segal who came to support the well-known social activist, homeless advocate and supporter of the poor at his 20th Annual Potluck Benefit.  The event is scheduled annually to raise monies for Amos House and the Providence-Niquinohomo [Nicaragua] Sister Project.  

           Walton estimates that his gathering over the years has raised over $60,000 and this year’s event, with donations still coming in, has already raised nearly $5000.

Potluck Becomes Annual Gathering for Many

            Walton, sitting on a bench wearing his trade mark straw tropical hat and a blue checkered African poncho from Niger, Africa, reflected on the beginnings of his annual potluck fundraiser.  Walton remembers that a friend suggested that he plan a special party to celebrate his  60th birthday in 1988.  Because he did not want to accept gifts, the event would instead become a vehicle to raise money to support two worthy causes important to him. 

           Dr. Fine marks the first Sunday in June on his calendar each year to remember to attend Walton s annual potluck.  “Now it is a part of my life,” says Dr. Fine. “[Walton’s] life gives others an example of a much better way to live,” says the Scituatep hysician  

          Folk Music lovers, Rick and Barbara Wahlberg, met Walton over 20 years ago at Stone Soup Coffee House.  The Cumberland couple have been coming to the Walton s annual potluck for 12 years.   Ten years ago, Barbara says that she took Walton s cue, when she turned 40 years old.  She held a potluck to raise money for Providence-based Dorcas place, a program that promotes adult literacy.

          “Richard is a great example of a humanitarian,” says her husband, Rick, President of Stone Soup Coffee House, located at Pawtuckets St. Pauls Church.  “If we can all be just half the humanitarian he is, it will be a better world,” states Wahlberg. 

           For 20 years, Rudy Cheeks, a co-author of  Phillip and Jorge  column in the weekly Providence Phoenix, has made his pilgrimage to Walton’s backyard potluck on Grenore St.   He says that this potluck gives him an opportunity to see old friends that he sees only once a year.   “Attending this event helps to sustain the spirit of a lot of people,” Cheeks says. 

 Also Caring and Sharing

          Walton’s training at Brown University and the School of  Journalism at Columbia propelled him into a writing career.  During his early years he worked as a reporter at the Providence Journal, and the New York World Telegram and Sun. At Voice of America in Washington,DC, he would initially put in time reporting on African issue, ultimately being assigned to cover the United Nations.

          Over the years the prolific writer would even produce eleven 12 books, nine being written as critical assessments ofU.S.foreign policy. In the late 1960s, as a freelance writer Walton would make his living by writing for The Nation, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Village Voice, Newsday, The [old] New Republic, Playboy, Cosmopolitan and many others.  He was also the former UN Secretary-General U Thant’s personal editor for his memoir, “The View from the United Nations.”

        His writing would give way to activism.  Walton would run for political office and was active in the Citizens Party [the predecessor to the Green Party].  He ran as the political group s vice presidential candidate in 1984 with the radical feminist Sonia Johnson.  They did not win. 

       For more than years, Walton has taught English to thousands of Rhode Island students at the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College.

       Even though he resides in Warwick, Walton has forged strong-ties to the City of Pawtucket. As a folk music advocate, he brought the regionally acclaimed Stone Soup Coffee House and served as its president for about fifteen years.  Walton also sits on the Boards of Pawtucket-based nonprofits, including theGeorgeA.WileyCenterand Slater Mill Historic Site and serves on the Executive Committee of the Pawtucket Arts Festival. 

       In between his social activism, teaching and writing, Walton has traveled to over 50 countries, making return trips to many of them.

      As Walton mingles at this years pot luck, Rudy Cheek voices his hope that one of Rhode Island‘s most notable social advocates has another 80 years to live. “His continued activity and contribution is huge in Rhode Island,” says Cheeks.

     Herb Weiss is a Pawtucket-based freelance writer who covers aging, health care and medical issues.  The article was published in the June 6, 2006 issue of All Pawtucket All The Times.  He can be reached at hweissri@aol.com.

Barbara Rayner Leaves Legacy of Support

Published in Senior Digest on August 2004

Barbara Ann Rayner was a tireless advocate for Rhode Island seniors and community-based services for the past 20 years, according to her peers who looked back at her life. They knew her as a dedicated professional with a great sense of humor.

Rayner, who served as Coventry’s human resource director, the first director of the community’s senior citizens center and later as director of Coventry Human Services, died last month after a long illness.

For five years, she served as director of the state’s Department of Elderly Affairs (DEA) being replaced by the then newly-elected Gov. Donald Carcieri.

She served on the Kent County Coalition of Nonprofit Executives and was a Rhode Island delegate for the White House Conference on Aging. She was appointed by the governor to sit on the Advisory Council on Health, the Commission on Care and Safety of the Elderly and the state’s Para-transit Task Force.

As a former director of the Rhode Island Association of Senior Programs and a founding member of CHOICES, a coalition of community-based care providers, Rayner fought to adequately fund services to keep Rhode Island seniors in their homes and independent.

At the national level, Rayner served as the immediate past chair of the National Institute of Senior Centers, a constituent union of the National Council on Aging (NCOA). She was also a contributing author of the revised Senior Center Standards & Guidelines, and was actively involved in NCOA’s policy agenda and international affairs initiatives.

Rayner was recognized nationally for her advocacy’s efforts when she received the Founders Award from NCOA in 1998, and was recognized on the state-level in 1999 with the Thomas A. Lamb Home Care Award.

Maureen Maigret, director of public policy for Lt. Governor Charles Fogarty, remember that Rayner was “very sensitive to the needs of the elderly and to ageism.”

The former DEA director was a passionate, dedicated professional, says Maigret, who noted that Rayner always knew the importance of laughter and having fund.

Under the DEA tenure of Rayner, home and community-based services greatly expanded in the state,” noted Maigret, saying that she recognized the value of the state providing family support services.

Rick Ryan, director of senior services for South Kingstown, worked closely with Rayner for more than 25 years. “We were very close friends and this grew out of our professional life,” he said.

Ryan says that Rayner was fund to be with and had a tremendous sense of human. She was willing to let her hair down, making her very approachable and real to her colleagues, according to Ryan. As a seasoned professional, she even mentored dozens of others in the aging network both locally and nationally over her 25-year career, he said.

At the national level, Rayner and Ryan, who served on NCOA’s Public Policy Committee were successful in changing the language in the federally enacted Older America’s Act. “Provisions noting that ‘states shall’ were changed to ‘states will’.” This strengthened the act and actually put teeth in it, he said.

Paula Parker, executive director of the Rhode Island Partnership for Home Care, remembers Rayner as “being passionate and committed to community based services.”

The members of CHOICES were very pleased to see her appointed as DEA director and then see her translate this passion for home and community based services through her leadership to creating state programming and policy supporting this level of care,” she says.

Joan Crawley, director of the Pawtucket-based Leon Mathieu Senior Center, notes that Rhode Island’s senior centers network owes Rayner “a debt of gratitude.” Under her leadership as director of DEA, support for Rhode Island’s senior centers grew by leaps and bounds,” Crawley observed, noting that new programs and services and initiatives were dramatically increased under her rein.

“It was her vision to see Rhode Island senior centers nationally accredited,” notes Crawley. “To this end, she not only found money to fund this project but she also worked with each of the 14 senior center directors, giving technical support and encouragement for them to successfully prepare for accreditation, Carwly says.

Crawley says that Rayner wanted no senior center left behind. “I can still remember her proud smile as each of us stepped up to the podium during NCOA’s national conference in Colorado to receive the prestigious recognition of accreditation for our senior centers,” Crawley noted.

Barbara Ann Rayner left behind a lengthy list of accomplishments that benefited senior centers and those who work for and with the elderly. She will be missed.