Tag Archives for Providence Journal

Passages – Life and Times of Morris Nathanson

Published in RINews Today on October 7, 2023

Painter, Illustrator and Restaurant/Hospitality Designer Morris Nathanson’s artist studio is just a stone’s throw away from his childhood home on Japonica Street in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Growing up poor during the depression in his Pleasant View neighborhood, settled by Armenian and Syrian immigrants who worked in the surrounding mills, he would see his home and surrounding properties demolished to make way for Interstate 95. This made him skeptical of the policy of Eminent Domain, as it left his family and neighborhood languishing for years in expected dread of demolition, years before it was to occur, destroying the spirit of his neighborhood. It was this singular policy that encouraged his work in historic preservation.

Morris, raised in a Jewish household, was a lifelong adult member of Temple Beth El on Providence’s East Side.  He practiced his faith throughout his life including the orthodox values taught to him by his mother. 

Morris, a spitting image of Mark Twain, or maybe even Albert Einstein, because of his distinctive head of hair, always wore colorful bow ties, considered by many to be his trademark look. He was a man who made a definitive impact on the international art and design scene. In the City of Pawtucket, he was the force that initiated the City’s art scene by bringing the strategy of adaptive reuse of underutilized and vacant mills to city officials, a concept he learned from his years of working in New York City as a restaurant designer and watching the development and transformation of the industrial mill buildings in SOHO.

My friend, Morris, passed away peacefully at the ripe old age of 95 in September, one year ago.

Over two decades, this writer would visit Morris on Saturday afternoons sitting in his living room drinking cups of freshly brewed coffee. The cozy room is surrounded by large bookcases jam packed with literary classics, architectural, art and design books, and walls filled with artwork he created throughout the years, and of course the piles of newspapers, specifically the New York Times, Boston Globe and Providence Journal, that he read daily.  We would talk about Pawtucket, world events, and he would reminiscence about his amazing life’s journey from his childhood in Pawtucket, to the international world he lived in later in his life.

The War Years

Morris was motivated to enlist in the military service because of the Nazi’s policy of exterminating all Jews. His family was aware that they lost many of their relatives in Europe as they were transported to the concentration camps where they perished.  

Walking into the Pawtucket post office on Montgomery Street, registering for the draft at age 17, with the required parental approval to enlist in the Navy, he, like many young boys, left Pawtucket East to fight in World War II.

This memory never faded from his mind.

After his basic training at Sampson Naval Base in upstate New York, half of his class of Navy recruits were assigned to the U.S.S. Catamount (LSD 17) and the other half were sent to the U.S.S. Indianapolis. The U.S.S. Indianapolis was a Portland-class heavy cruiser which was charged with a top-secret mission – to deliver the uranium and other components for “Little Boy,” the first nuclear weapon to be used in combat, to Tinian Naval Base.  The bomb would be dropped on Hiroshima the following week.  After the ship’s departure to the Philippines for training duty, it was sunk by a Japanese submarine. Sinking in just 12 minutes.  Out of the 1,195 crewmen onboard, only 316 survived.  The survivors faced injuries, dehydration, and shark attacks. It was the luck of the draw for Morris to be assigned to serve on U.S.S. Catamount, and not the U.S.S. Indianapolis.

Morris remembered the U.S.S. Catamount among hundreds of naval ships in Tokyo Bay, carrying special equipment to be used during the occupation of Japan. His ship would ultimately not have to participate in the all-out ground invasion of Japan because of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  His ship was one of 260 vessels of the Allied navies present in Tokyo Bay when Japanese officials on the U.S.S. Missouri signed the declaration of surrender on Sept. 2, 1945.

With Japan’s surrender, the members of Morris’ crew were sent on shore to rout out any Japanese soldiers hiding in caves.  A terrifying moment for Morris occurred in the caves, not from meeting enemy soldiers, but realizing he was lost and he couldn’t read the signage written in Japanese. Fortunately, fate smiled on Morris and brought him out to safety. 

On a light note, during his Naval service Morris was recognized by his crewmates for his artistic talent.  He was always selected to do any assignments involving illustrations.  His favorite project was designing Mother’s Day cards for his shipmates.

Fighting Antisemitism and Civil Rights for All

Experience aboard the U.S.S. Catamount gave this young medic his first awareness of systemic racism.  Witnessing first hand man’s biases and prejudices motivated him throughout seventy-five years of his long life to fight for the equal rights of all.  Morris’s civil rights activism solidified his belief that human rights are essential to life and recognized that they must be consistently fought for.  Which he did.

Morris participated in the Freedom Rides of 1961, Dr. Martin Luther King’s campaigns in Selma and Birmingham, Alabama, and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.  For anyone not familiar with the dangers and complexities of these marches – these courageous civil rights activists were subjected to threats, beatings, mass arrests, bombings and even murder.  Our criminal justice system in the 60s more often than not, turned a blind eye to the plight of those protesting against these injustices.

When Morris was discharged in 1945, like so many servicemen, he took advantage of the GI Bill, enrolling at Curry College in downtown Boston.  During his second year, with his best friend, Donnie Shear, they began to seek out Colleges, “anywhere warm” he would say.  They ultimately transferred to University of Miami.

At the University of Miami, he earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Theatre and Fine Arts.  He was a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi, a Jewish fraternity on campus.  He later went on to the New School for Social Research in New York City to study Theatre.  At that time, he wanted to become a playwright and director for the New York stage but fate would bring him back to Rhode Island with a call from his mother asking him to return to help her provide for his younger siblings.

Finding a Niche in the Design Sector

Ultimately, the young college graduate took his first job as a social worker in Providence.  Morris worked for two years in the Charles Street neighborhood assisting struggling Italian families and although his supervisor offered to send him to graduate school in Boston to get a Bachelor of Social Work degree, he instead decided to follow his dreams and passion (suggested by his high school teachers) to become an artist.

Rhode Island would be pivotal to Morris by guiding him into his new profession.  His first design job, sort of like a one degree of separation, began when his brother Abe decided not to accept a job offered by the Providence-based Paramount Restaurant Supply Co.  When Morris heard this news, he went and applied for the job the next day and got it. This job officially propelled him into the restaurant design sector, working with the best, David Friedman, owner of Paramount Restaurant Supply Co.

Friedman had one of the largest design shops on the East Coast. The company designed case goods for numerous department stores in New York City, which had luncheonettes and restaurants.  Interesting enough, Morris’ first designs were drawn on paper napkins in front of his new clients.  However, that was very short lived as Morris immediately undertook developing a serious design department.

At age 24, Morris, head of the design team at Paramount, developed and designed the first franchise in American history, Dunkin Donuts. While working with Friedman he also designed restaurants in the pavilions of the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, New York.

When Morris left Paramount Restaurant Supply Co, he retained his relationship with Friedman which became a lifelong friendship. His artistic flair and design talents were brought out in his new company, Morris Nathanson Design, ultimately attracting clients throughout  Rhode Island, the U.S., and later, internationally.   

His most notable design projects locally include Hemenway’s, Ruth Chris Steak House, 22 Bowen, restaurants and bars for the Inn at Castle Hill, Capital Grill, Pizzeria Uno, Joe’s American Bar & Grill, Mills Tavern, Waterman Grill, Red Stripe and for those who still remember, the beloved Ming Garden and McGarry’s Restaurant in downtown Providence.  He also had clients in the legal, medical and retail sectors.

Well-known clients outside the Ocean State included Nathan’s Famous, B.B. King Blues Club, Carmine’s, Docks, Rue 57, Oceana, Virgil’s and Angelo and Maxie’s in Manhattan and the Hyde Park, New York-based Eveready Diner featured on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-in and Dives” television series.  Another accolade for the Eveready Diner is the 1995 visit of President Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin to the diner for a meal during their summit held at the summer cottage of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose property is across the street from the diner. 

Morris was also instrumental in the ongoing development of Johnson & Wales University.  School leaders asked him to visit the renowned chef, Louis Szathmary, owner of The Bakery, in Chicago and a New York Times best-selling cookbook author, “The Chefs Secret Cookbook,” to review his extensive culinary collection which filled two Brownstones in Chicago.  Morris persuaded Szathmary to donate his entire collection of culinary memorabilia  to Johnson & Wales University and convinced the University to build a museum to house thousands of the historic artifacts that he so graciously donated.

An Early Advocate for Mill Adaptive Reuse

Morris did not forget or leave his old Pawtucket neighborhood.  With his offices in Providence, he would later return to his roots in the blue-collar community of Pawtucket and purchase the decaying Rhode Island Cardboard Manufacturing complex, now known as Blackstone Studios, just across the street from his former high school, East High, now Tolman High. 

Morris’s historic mill sits by Pawtucket’s Veterans Memorial Amphitheatre, an outdoor music venue he designed at Roosevelt and Exchange Street. Then the Exchange Street Bridge was later renamed the Morris Nathanson Bridge in his honor in 2010.

Over the years, Morris and his wife Phyllis renovated the former manufacturing mill building (ultimately located in Pawtucket’s 307-acre Arts and Entertainment District) to become the new headquarters of Morris Nathanson Design and also created artist studios and lofts, gathering a community of artists to live and work.  These artists and craft persons, residing in his mill, would become independent contractors of his design firm and would be hired to work with his company on many restaurant design projects. His clients loved this concept because it made it easy to manage all their design needs in one building. 

With the experiences learned in redeveloping their mill, Morris and his wife, Phyllis, took on developing the former Lebanon Knitting Mill and Vesta Underwear which sat on the banks of the Blackstone River.  The project is now known as Riverfront Lofts which houses 59 live-work condominiums for artists.  The success of this project was unrivaled in the state.

The Nathansons were leaders encouraging other artists to rehabilitate vacant buildings throughout Pawtucket and statewide. As an early advocate for mill adaptive reuse, Morris was in the forefront of developing Pawtucket as a highly visible and respected arts and entertainment center.  He led the efforts in the blue-collar community to change to zoning ordinances (locally and statewide) to assist developers to rehab vacant and underutilized mills to allow live-work spaces.

While residing in Rhode Island, Morris has lived his life on the international stage as a designer of award-winning restaurants, concert spaces, and hospitality venues. He was widely recognized as the father of modern restaurant and hospitality design.

A Prolific Fine Artist Who Made a Difference  

A lifetime member of the Providence Art Club, Morris was a highly respected and prolific fine artist, with numerous exhibitions in Providence and New York. The Pawtucket native’s paintings, prints, wood sculptures, and drawings reflect nearly a century of work, and trace his truly extraordinary and vibrant life through bold colors and iconography that pulled from personal history.

Mr. Nathanson was a founding board member of Trinity Repertory Company. One of Trinity Rep’s earliest set designers, he was also in charge of its relocation to the Emery’s Majestic Theater (now the Lederer Theater Center), which has been the theater’s home for over 50 years.   

Among his many activities in Rhode Island, Morris served as a member of the Providence Historic Commission and the Pawtucket Armory Association, he played a critical role in securing the historic armory from the State of Rhode Island and oversaw the design and build of the Sandra Feinstein Gamm Theatre and the creation the Jacqueline Walsh School for the Arts. He also offered his time and expertise to the City of Pawtucket’s Riverfront Commission, the Pawtucket 2020 Committee, the Pawtucket Foundation, and the Pawtucket Arts Collaborative.

Morris also found time to design and teach courses at the Rhode Island School of Design, and served as a design consultant to Providence Mayor Joseph Paolino Jr.  He also served as a commissioner under the direction of Antoinette Downing on the Providence Historic Commission.

Morris is the recipient of numerous personal awards and recognitions, including honorary doctorates from Johnson & Wales University and Rhode Island College. Morris has been inducted into the Pawtucket Hall of Fame, and been awarded the Pawtucket Foundation Heritage Award, the Arts and Business Council of Rhode Island’s Small Business Award, and the Pell Award from the Trinity Repertory Company for his life-time contribution to the arts. He was awarded the Paul Harris Award, Rotary’s highest honor by the Pawtucket Rotary Club.  

Morris has also been designated as a ‘Thought Leader’ by the American Society of Interior Designers, considered to be the best in the design community. 

Upon his retirement in 2008, Morris was asked by Boston University Culinary School to donate over 400 hand-drawn renderings of restaurants, hotel and resort projects, to become part of the new “Morris Nathanson Design Collection” at the Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center.  Boston University recognized Morris’s lifelong work by calling him “the pioneer” of modern restaurant design. 

The Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center also houses Martin Luther King’s letters, papers and archives, a fitting tribute to Morris’ years as a civil rights advocate.

With the international acclaim and recognition that Morris has received in his 95 years of living, Morris always would tell you where he comes from Pawtucket, a man who never forgot his roots.

Morris never consider himself retired; he just had a job as a full time artist.  

Morris is survived by his loving and devoted wife, Phyllis Van Orden Nathanson, and their son, John David Nathanson, and Josh Nathanson and Kim Nathanson Arsenault, from his marriage to Roxie Sgouros, along with four grandchildren, Emma, Sarah, Lily, Adrian and his sister Rachel Schuchman.

Morris’ legacy as an artist and designer lives on in his three children.  Josh and Kim are both involved in restaurant and hospitality design while John David is a following his love and passion creating animation films at DreamWorks in California.

Supporting Young Artists

Morris says that he knew that he would become an artist at the tender age of six years old, remembering that he would draw on the walls.  As he got older, he continued to sharpen his drawing skills. An elementary school teacher identified him as having artistic abilities and faculty at Tolman High School encouraged him to follow his passion for the arts.

To recognize the encouragement that Morris received throughout his schooling, Morris’s family has created “The Morris Nathanson Tribute Fund,” a scholarship supporting Rhode Island students aged K-12 to participate in Saturday youth classes at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) which he himself attended as a young boy.  The family hopes that the Rhode Island community will give generously to the “Morris Nathanson Tribute Fund” at RISD so that poor children with artistic talent may have the same opportunity to explore and cultivate these talents as he once did. 

Donations can be mailed to:  Morris Nathanson Scholarship Fund, Rhode Island School of Design, Office of Institutional Advancement, 20 Washington Place, Providence, RI 02903. 

By Herb Weiss and Phyllis Van Orden Nathanson

Herb Weiss, LRI -12, is a Pawtucket-based writer who has covered aging, health care and medical issues for over 43 years.  To purchase his books, Taking Charge: Collected Stories on Aging Boldly and a sequel, compiling weekly published articles, go to herbweiss.com.

Phyllis Van Orden Nathanson, wife of Morris Nathanson, continues her work as an arts advocate.

Never forgetting will help us keep the promise of “never again.”

Published in RINewsToday.com on February 1, 2021

During a Pro-Trump rally, as thousands of rioters swarmed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, Robert Keith Packer, sporting an unkempt beard, came wearing a black hoodie sweatshirt emblazoned with the phrase “Camp Auschwitz,” in white letters, the name of the most infamous of the many Nazi concentration camps where 1.1 million people were murdered during World War II.  Under a skull and bones at the bottom of his shirt was the phrase, “Work brings Freedom,” a loose translation of the phrase “Arbeit macht frei” that was inscribed above the main entrance gate at Auschwitz and other concentration camps’ gates. 

Packer’s image, 56, a former welder and pipefitter, was circulated widely on social media and by newspapers, evoking shock and disbelief.

Packer, a resident of Newport News, Virginia, was not the only anti-Semitic rioter that day, according to a report released by the Miller Center for Community Protection and Resilience at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and the Network Contagion Research Institute. The report identified at least half a dozen neo-Nazi or white supremacist groups involved in the failed Capitol Insurrection who had also attended President Trump’s “Save America” rally speech. 

In recent years, anti-Semitic incidents have become more common in the Ocean State.

In 2017, the Providence Journal reported that the New England chapter of the Anti-Defamation League recorded 13 incidents of anti-Semitism in Rhode Island. Nazi swastikas were painted on a Providence building, at Broad Rock Middle School in North Kingstown, and even at a Pawtucket synagogue.

Anti-Semitism is Nothing New

But, anti-Semitism, exhibited at the “Save America” rally, has been in our country since its founding, and in fact, has been around western societies for centuries.  Over three years ago, torch marchers, some wearing Nazi-style helmets, carrying clubs, sticks and round makeshift shields emblazoned with swastikas and other Fascist symbols, and others entered the one-block square in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, to protect a controversial Confederate monument, chanting “Jews will not replace us” and “Blood and Soil” (a Nazi rallying cry).  

The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) 2014 Global Index of Anti-Semitism documented world-wide anti-Semitism. The survey found that more than 1 billion people – nearly one in eight – around the world harbor anti-Semitic attitudes. Carried out by First International Resources and commissioned by the ADL, this landmark survey included 53,100 adults in 102 countries representing 88 percent of the world’s adult population.

Over 30 percent of those surveyed said it was ‘probably true’ that Jews have too much control over financial markets, that Jews think they are better than other people, that Jews are disloyal to their country, and that people hate Jews because of the way that Jews behave. 

Most troubling, the ADL study found a large gap between seniors who know and lived through the horrendous events of World War II, and younger adults who, some 75 years after the Holocaust, are more likely to have heard of or learned that six million Jews were exterminated by the Nazis’ “Final Solution.” Nearly half of those surveyed claim to have never heard of the Holocaust and only a third believe historical accounts are accurate.

Gearing Up to Fight Antisemitism

On Jan. 14, the American Jewish Congress (AJC), a global Jewish advocacy organization, briefed the FBI on the continuing threats of anti-Semitism to the nation. 

“Antisemitism fundamentally is not only a Jewish problem; it is a societal one. It is a reflection on the declining health of our society,” Holly Huffnagle, AJC’s U.S. Director for Combating Antisemitism, told the FBI officials on a video conference briefing. “Education is essential, to clarify what constitutes antisemitism, the various sources of this hatred, and what effective tools are available for law enforcement to fight antisemitism,” she said.

The presentation of AJC’s second annual report on antisemitism in the U.S. took place in the wake of the January 6 assault on Capitol Hill, where anti-Semitic images and threats were openly conveyed by some of the rioters.

AJC’s 2020 report, based on parallel surveys of the American Jewish and general populations, revealed that 88 percent of Jews considered antisemitism a problem today in the U.S., 37 percent had personally been victims of antisemitism over the past five years and 31 percent had taken measures to conceal their Jewishness in public.

In the first-ever survey of the general U.S. population on antisemitism, AJC found a stunning lack of awareness of antisemitism. Nearly half of all Americans said they had either never heard the term “antisemitism” (21 percent) or are familiar with the word but not sure what it means (25 percent).

The AJC experts praised the FBI for its annual Hate Crimes Statistics report, which provides vital data on antisemitism. The latest report found 60.2 percent of religious bias hate crimes targeted Jews in 2019. But the report historically has not provided a full picture of the extent of hate crimes, since reporting by local law enforcement agencies is not mandatory.

To improve the monitoring and reporting of hate crimes, AJC continues to advocate for passage of the Jabara-Heyer National Opposition to Hate, Assaults, and Threats to Equality (NO HATE) Act. This measure will incentivize state and local law enforcement authorities to improve hate crime reporting by making grants available and managed through the Department of Justice.

In addition, AJC is asking the FBI to use the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism as an educational tool. The definition offers a clear and comprehensive description of antisemitism in its various forms, including hatred and discrimination against Jews, and Holocaust denial. 

FBI officials in the Bureau’s Civil Rights Unit, Intelligence Division, and Community Outreach Program, among others, participated in the AJC briefing.

Keeping the memory alive about the Holocaust is key to fighting antisemitism, says Andy Hollinger, Director of Communications, for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). “”We are seeing a disturbing trend in the rise of antisemitism and the open display of neo-Nazi symbols, most recently at the attack on the U.S. Capitol. This is a long-time problem requiring a long-time solution. We must remember. Education is key. We must learn from this history-learn about the dangers of unchecked hatred and antisemitism. And we must not be silent,” he says.

Adds Bill Benson, who has interviewed Holocaust Survivors before live audiences at the USHMM’s First Person program for more than 2 decades, observes that the majority of those visiting the museum are not Jewish and many of have little familiarity with the Holocaust, and as a result of their visit are profoundly affected by their experience. “The USHMM provides an extraordinary avenue for educating the general public about the Holocaust and anti-Semitism for those millions who visit it, but it is essential that many millions more learn the truth about anti-Semitism and that must done through our educational systems,” he notes.

“The USHMM does an incredible job of educating and assisting teachers who want to teach about the Holocaust, but far too many school systems do not teach about the Holocaust, without which the gulf in knowledge and awareness may only grow as we lose those first-hand knowledge of the Holocaust,” says Benson.

A 2009 report, “Jewish Survivors of the Holocaust Residing in the United States Estimates & Projections: 2010 – 2030,” prepared by the Berman Institute-North American Jewish Data Bank, for the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, estimated that 36,800 Holocaust survivors would still be living by 2025. As the number of survivors who witnessed the horrors of Genocide and the Holocaust during World War II continues to dwindle, a growing number of states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, and Texas, and have established Commissions to keep this knowledge alive to millennials, GenZ and  younger generations through educational programming and raise awareness through public education and community events to provide appropriate memorialization of the Holocaust on a regular basis throughout the state.

If the Rhode Island General Assembly legislates the establishment of a Rhode Island Genocide and Holocaust Education Commission, its motto might just be, “Never forgetting” will help us keep the promise of “Never Again.”

Red Bandana Fund Concert to be Walton’s Legacy

Published in Pawtucket Times, June 7, 2013

           Richard Walton, who died on Dec. 27, would have loved it.  Five months after his death one late Sunday afternoon, over 40 people including the musicians who had just played at The Red Bandana Fund Inaugural Concert (that was attended by hundreds), family members along with the organizers and volunteers of this fundraiser, gathered to drink beer and reminisce about Walton’s extraordinary life at his favorite Pawtucket hangout, Doherty’s East Avenue Irish Pub.

          People swapped favorite stories for hours, detailing how the late Walton “touched their lives,” noted one attendee, Richard Wahlberg, one of the organizers.  “Every one had such an interesting story to tell about Richard,” he stated, noting that the Warwick resident, known as a social activist, educator, humanitarian, very prolific writer, and a co-founder of Pawtucket’s Stone Soup Coffee House “had made everyone feel that they themselves had a very special, close relationship with him.” 

         Seeing so many of Walton’s friends at June 2nd concert, Wahlberg and other attending viewed the event as a “gathering of the clan” since the audience was really Walton’s extended Rhode Island family.    

 Walton’s Legacy of Supporting the Needy

         The idea to organize last weekend’s fundraiser concert to raise money to support the causes of the late Richard Walton and others like him who work to improve the human condition was literally kicked around a few days after Walton’s death by his daughter, Cathy Barnard, his son Richard and a few close friends, noted nationally-acclaimed children’s entertainer and storyteller, Bill Harley.   

          According to Harley, an annual fundraiser, supporting the newly formed Red Bandana Fund, would replace Walton’s annual birthday bash – usually held the first Sunday in June – to raise money for Amos House & the Providence-Niquinohomo Sister City Project and other progressive causes.  Over 24 years, Walton had raised large sums of money for these favorite charities, attracting hundreds of people each year including the state’s powerful political and media elite to celebrate his progressive causes at his family compound located at Pawtuxet Cove in Warwick. 

         Coming up with a name for Walton’s fundraiser that would ultimately be tied to his unique fashion sense and was the idea of her brother, Richard, states Barnard.  Her brother, like most people, had a vivid, visual image of his father, who had long white hair and beard, being known for wearing his trademark worn blue jean overalls, a red bandana and Stone Soup baseball cap.

          “When Dad’s closest friends came over to the house after his death they wanted one of his red bandanas to remember him,” Barnard remembered.

       “It was like a talisman to them,” stated Barnard, that became a great way to create the perfect moniker and recognition for an upcoming fundraiser.

          Barnard says that her father didn’t opt for a traditional burial, so there would be no monument of stone over his grave to remember him or a place for family and friends to visit.  His cremated remains were scattered the day before the Sunday fundraiser by his family and very close friends in his beloved garden and sent by paper boat from the inlet where his compound was located into Narragansett Bay.

         But, there is The Red Bandana Fund now, says Barnard, noting that “we cannot think of a more appropriate memorial.”  Over 300 people attended the inaugural Walton fundraiser, bringing in more than $12,000 from ticket sales, silent action and raffle.

          At this event, the first recipient of The Red Bandana Fund Award, Amos House, was chosen because of Walton’s very long relationship with the Providence-based nonprofit.  He was a founding board member, serving for over 30 years, being board chair for a number of years.  For almost three decades, the homeless advocate spent an overnight shift with the men who lived in the 90-Day Shelter Program each Thursday bringing them milk and cookies.  Each Friday morning he would make pancakes and eggs in the soup kitchen for hundreds of men and women who came to eat a hot meal.

 Putting the Pieces Together

         The organizers were gathered by Bill Harley on the advice of Richard’s family and those closest to him from the progressive community and organizations Richard was affiliated with.  In true Richard Walton fashion this was a largely self organizing group built on the complementary strengths of the members, noted Wahlberg.  Over five months, this group had planned all the organizational facets, from marketing, pre-selling tickets, booking Shea High School, recruiting volunteers for the day of the event, along with getting items donated to be sold at a silent auction and raffle.

         With the decision to host a fundraising concert, “it became incredibly painful to have to limit the list of who we would invite to play,” said Harley, noting that every one who knew Walton wanted to perform to pay tribute to him.

          As Rudy Cheeks, of Phillipe + Jorge’s Cool, Cool, World, would remark in his May 31st column, the two hour concert would be an amazing blend of folk and traditional music, a little bit of classical, along with singer-songwriting greats, all sharing the same stage for the evening.  They included: widely recognized singers and song writers, Bill Harley, Kate Katzberg, Atwater-Donnelly, Sally Rogers and Howie Bursen, Christina Tompson, accompanied by Cathy Clasper-Torch on fiddle and Marty Ballou on stand up bass.  Consuelo Sherba opened the concert by playing a short classical set.

        According to Harley, who served as the event’s musical director, internet files of the selected music (three songs for each performer) went back and forth between those chosen to play, to help them to quickly learn the music to be played at the upcoming concert.  He noted that each song had to have simple chord arrangements with words that the audience could easily remember. Most important, “these songs were chosen to reflect who Richard, the person was,” he said.  Amazingly, the musicians would gather just two hours before the performance to practice with each other.

 Those Who Knew Him

         At intermission, I caught up with Andy Smith, former music critic at the Providence Journal who now covers hard news for that daily paper.  He knew Walton for years covering Stone Soup Coffee House and sporadically attending his legendary birthday party over the years.  “No one could hang out in Rhode Island without knowing about Richard Walton,” he says.  That’s true.

         The Red Bandana Fund Inaugural Concert was a “very sweet, very nice chance for people who know Richard to come together and celebrate his life,” observed Smith, noting that “the best way to do this was through music.”  He would have had a good time if he were here today, says Smith, adding that  “May be he is here [in spirit].”

         Like many attendees, Jane Falvey, treasurer of Stone Soup Coffee House noted, that Walton touched many lives. “Like stones cast into a pond, the ripples form ever-widening circles that overlap, and so it was at the inaugural Red Bandana Concert – Richard’s many circles embracing each other in remembering and celebrating his wonderful life and the purpose he created in all of us,” she said.

        Also in attendance, Dr. Michael Fine, Director of Rhode Island’s Department of Health, who came with his wife, Carol, called Walton  his “old friend,”  giving him a unique descriptive nickname, the “Prince of Pay it Forward.”

         Dr. Fine believes that Walton understood the value of living in a democracy. “He taught us about this value and gave us examples of what we would have to do each and every day to keep it alive,” he said.  Walton also taught us how to take care of each other,” stated Dr. Fine. 

         Linde Rachel, a resident of Maureillas, France, and companion of Walton’s for 9 years who traveled with him throughout Europe, Africa and the Baltic States, sees an important message in the songs sung at last Sunday’s The Red Bandana Fundraiser.  “The songs were all about being part of a community, the one that he helped to create and was part of,” stated Rachel.   

         Days later, Barnard tells me that she is thrilled with the success of The Red Bandana Fund Inaugural Concert.  “We were amazed at the large turnout,” she says, noting that she even met people in person she had heard her father talk about over his long years.

         “We’re hoping that this will be just the beginning and not the end of it,” says Barnard, the beginning legacy of her father’s long-tradition of giving back to those in need.

       Her father would surely nod his head in agreement.

          For more information about donating to The Red Bandana Fund, go to http://www.soup.org/page1/RedBandana.html.

         Herb Weiss, LRI’12, is a writer who covers health care, aging, and medical issues.  He can be reached at hweissri@aol.com.