R.I.P.
Sometimes people die. Sometimes I write about them. Some people wish I wouldn't, but facts are stubborn things. More from my back pages:
Condolences to the Robbins family for the death of former Springfield Newspapers honcho Carroll Robbins. The man had his virtues, but the orgy of praise being heaped upon him is only part of the story. In this morning's paper we read, "Carroll Robbins was the very model of the news executive, a professional, trained to sort out the difference between news and nonsense, between special interest and public interest, between fact and fiction, between knowledge and guesswork," said David Starr, president of The Republican. "He felt that it was his mission to leave the community he lived in a little better than he found it. He succeeded."
Oh c'mon now, can anyone look around Springfield and say that's true? If Springfield is a community that has been failed by its media - and its current situation proves that it has - then Carroll Robbins must take his share of the blame. For years his paper provided aid and comfort to the worst kind of scoundrels and mediocrities, foisting on the public misleading information about their bad policies. To recall the dark side of Carroll Robbins, read this Boston Globe article by clicking here. Rest in Peace Mr. Robbins, but your sins are not forgotten.
I'm very upset to hear about the senseless death of Springfield mayoral aide Steve Pegram. I didn't know him well, but he introduced himself to me once at Charlie Ryan's campaign headquarters, which was then located in the old ballerina studio next to Angelo's on Boston Road. He claimed to be a big fan of this website, proving him to be a man of good judgment. Unfortunately, he apparently had a darker side, with Saturday's paper revealing that he has been associated with shady undesirables such as Shannon O'Brien, Dan Kelly, Scott Harshbarger and Mo Jones.
The circumstances of Pegram's death remain a mystery as I write this, but the details don't really matter. Like a lot of people I thought Steve had a lot of potential, and it just sickens me to see it all thrown away.
I am saddened to hear of the death of Springfield's North End power-player Barbara Rivera. Although I rarely agreed with her politics, I always considered her an authentic community activist of the kind one always hopes to see more of - courageous, blunt and bold. That was especially true in her early years when she could be counted on to be seen waving a sign and chanting slogans wherever demonstrations were underway for her cherished liberal causes. Her special contempt was for the welfare department, which she considered an elitist and unresponsive bureaucracy that played favorites with its clientele.
Ironically, in her later years that was some of the same criticism that was leveled at Rivera, that the web of organizations and social service providers she had assembled beneath the umbrella of the New North Citizen's Council had itself become insular, bureaucratic and overrun with cronyism. To her critics, Rivera herself had become what she had once despised.
The question now is what next? The North End has always been heavily rumored to be a haven for corrupt social services organizations. Some thought that there might be some action taken by the Feds last year when a daycare center intended for welfare mothers returning to work instead was discovered to have filled valuable seats with the children of the daycare employees. Who knows what to believe? But with Barbara Rivera gone and the allegedly corrupt North End network of social agencies no longer shielded by her prestige, some are hoping that that particular house of cards is about to fall. Maybe, but don't hold your breath.
This NO PARKING sign near the UMass Journalism Department has been transformed by a sticker into a different sort of ban.
1 comment:
On the Robbins comments...can I have an "amen"?
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