3 June, 2024 12 12 Comments

America…

June 3, 2024 By 12 Comments

General Thomas

I spent a long weekend in Washington D.C. a few weeks back.

Our family gathered to celebrate my nephew’s graduation from American University. Andrew earned a doctorate in history with a specialization in antisemitism. Sadly, it’s a timely degree, but it’s also sad because his area of study seems perpetually relevant. We can’t seem to shake the disease of hatred in our land and in our world.

On the plane ride to our nation’s capital, I read “Democracy Awakening” by the historian Heather Cox Richardson. The book chronicles the long struggle in America to live up to the Founder’s ideals that “all men are created equal.”

Since America’s birth, women, Blacks, Jews and just about every ethnic group and sexual persuasion and identity have struggled for equal rights and opportunities.

Yet there’s hope.

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” said Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Indeed.

Change takes a long time, but it does happen. Still, the struggle seems to be endless and at times despairing.

I have friends of every political persuasion—Republican, Democrat, Independent, Libertarian, liberal, conservative, moderate, center left and center right. Every one of them is despairing about the state of our nation–I am too. I’ve never been more worried about our future than I am right now. So, when I flew to Washington it was with a degree of trepidation. We were heading to a graduation ceremony, would there be unrest? Would we be safe?

The campus of American University was calm. We felt safe on a beautiful Spring Day in the capital. American is a beautiful school, the campus is stunning and full of flowers in bloom. It was idyllic.

As we traversed the city, I felt my patriotism awakening. I literally felt it.

Seeing the Washington Monument, visiting the astonishing National Gallery of Art and reveling in the majesty of Embassy Row, I felt immense pride.  America is a beacon for the world. We have accomplished so much and none of it came easy.

Indeed, you can feel the struggle, and the miracle that is America when you are in Washington. You can feel the heartbeat of this country beating on the streets of our capital city.

Washington D.C. sure takes a beating, and yes there is crime, homelessness, and violence but there is a whole lot of beauty and accomplishment in this city as well.

Washinton has been called a swamp and Congress and our inane politics certainly deserve condemnation. Our leadership is not serving America and that is why we don’t feel good or safe these days.

It’s hard to deny that reality. We are broken and actively breaking and that will continue until ‘we the people’ decide we’ve had enough of the clown show. There is so much good in this land, so much potential, so much more we can do–together.

Examples of American excellence and possibility can be found everywhere you look—especially in Washington D.C.

For instance, you can’t visit a Smithsonian Museum and not come away in awe.

Washington is a city that aspires, like our nation. You can see it in the architecture, the beautiful buildings, the magnificent churches, and the majestic statues.

I was particularly drawn to a statue of Major General George Henry Thomas, a Civil War hero located in the center of Thomas Circle. It was sculpted by John Quincy Adams Ward and dedicated in 1879 at a ceremony attended by President Rutherford B. Hayes, three other Civil War era generals and thousands of soldiers.

There are 18 Civil War monuments in Washington D.C. One day I’m going to see them all.

Today, the Civil War still resonates, I think in part because we fear the possibility of another one. That’s an astonishing sentence to write, but the visceral hatred between political sides is real and palpable. And I felt it even more in Washington.

It wasn’t that I witnessed anything—except for a barrage of nasty political ads on TV—it’s just that the Civil War is all around you in D.C. There are the statues, there’s Arlington Cemetery built on the former plantation of Robert E. Lee, there’s the Lincoln Memorial and there are signs for Richmond, the one-time confederate capital which is only 108 miles away.

It’s a lot to absorb and the feelings you get in Washington are complicated and paradoxical, much like the feeling of being American in 2024. There’s immense pride but concern, there’s a feeling of strength and vulnerability and there is a confidence in our greatness but a gnawing worry about seeing it unravel because of the divisions in our society.

Lincoln’s words resonate across the centuries: “A House Divided Will Not Stand.”

I’m of the belief that most Americans don’t want to risk the greatest nation in the history of the world. But I am also of the belief that our political leaders are mostly horrible—and that cuts across both parties.

We have so degraded politics, that our best minds are avoiding service at all levels of our government. We, the people, are paying the price. Of course, there are exceptions, but they are exceptions not the rule and that’s my point. We must do better or we will continue to pay a steep price.

That said, America is sure worth fighting for. It’s a remarkable country and an essential one too.

We are the most generous nation on earth, if disaster strikes anywhere you can count on America to help. The greatness of this nation can fill the Grand Canyon.

But…we are not a sure thing.

We are an experiment. Everything we have built, everything that was fought for can slip away from us if we don’t right the ship.

Everyone has a prescription for how to do that. I’m no different. I think the key is compromise, we must learn to work together, or we will surely perish together.

But in a nation where compromise has become a dirty word, that’s going to be hard. But I sure hope we find a way forward.

We must.

Kerry and Perry…

Wishing my good friends Kerry Koen and Perry Don Francisco the happiest of birthdays. These exceptional men have shaped me in more ways than I can count. Kerry, former fire chief in both Boca and Delray, has become a touchstone for me long after we stopped working together in 2007. I respected Kerry as a chief, he was a great leader, and he built an amazing Fire Department. Kerry is one of those steady leaders, he’s not flashy by any means, but he’s effective and he’s strategic. He’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, and he’s been generous in sharing that knowledge. We have great conversations and I cherish them. He always makes me think about subjects differently. His perspectives challenge you and if you lean in and listen you get a master class in leadership and life.

Perry is similar, but with a very different personality. I laugh and learn when I’m with Perry, the legendary former proprietor of Boston’s on the Beach. Perry has done so much over the years for so many—quietly without fanfare and with great sensitivity regardless of the situation. He’s the guy you want next to you in the foxhole if life gets messy. But he’s also the guy you want to grab a beer with and laugh. Like, Kerry, Perry sees the big picture often before anyone else does. He’s been a fixture in the lives of countless people. I wish them both many years of health and happiness.

 

 

16 October, 2017 2 2 Comments

I Loved Those Days

October 16, 2017 By 2 Comments

It’s not been a good moment for the news media lately.
Fake News has become a hash tag and public opinion polls consistently rank journalists low on issues of trust. But I’ve seen both sides.
I’ve watched lousy reporters botch or miss stories and I’ve seen great ones illuminate our understanding of the world. Broad labeling of people and institutions is the lazy way out–life is much more nuanced.
Readers of this blog know I spent my early career working—very happily– in newsrooms.
Today, I have an ownership interest in the Delray Newspaper and Boca Newspaper but because of a hectic schedule and a day job I don’t get to spend as much time as I’d like “newspapering.”
I miss it.
Especially newsrooms, which are just magical places filled with smart, funny, talented and colorful people.
My favorite newsroom was at the old Monday-Thursday Paper’s on East Rogers Circle in Boca Raton which was later relocated to Fairview Drive in Deerfield Beach.
Those newsrooms were filled with editors, reporters, photographers and assistants and they crackled with humor, activity, the clacking of keys and a fair amount of profanity.
I loved it.
The Monday Thursday Papers (later renamed the South Florida Newspaper Network) was one of the largest community newspaper groups in the country and the largest in the southeast.
We were big. We were good. We were relevant and we covered the news in a slew of cities from Dade to Port St. Lucie.
It was a blast because of the people. I loved coming to work because I was surrounded by talented characters who told stories that were often better than the ones we wrote. Why? Because the stories behind the stories were always better. We live in an area rich with characters and chasing them down often led to some great adventures.
Not that our news stories weren’t good.
They were and we regularly walked away with lots of hardware at Press Association gatherings.
We had grizzled editors, oddball reporters, incredibly inventive photographers and colorful people who designed the pages of the papers  on “flats” using glue, pica poles and exacto knives.
This was all before the advent of desktop publishing which revolutionized the industry and cost a few people their jobs.
We also had a huge printing press, a large circulation department and across the wall sat the advertising sales staff. We believed in a separation of church and state– so to speak– so while we were friendly, those of us on the news side were decidedly our own team.
We ate lunch together, gave each other space “on deadline” and served as each other’s human thesaurus when we found ourselves at a loss for words. After work, we hung together in places like Dirty Moe’s, sharing stories about the people and places we covered.
We had a managing editor named Tom Sawyer, who had a heart of gold but could be a curmudgeon of legendary proportions. We took pride when he praised us and also when we made him turn red with anger. He would chase us out of the newsroom with the famous words: “no news happens here. Get out of the newsroom. Go to your cities.”
And we did.
We hung out at lunch counters—the Green Owl, Ken and Hazel’s, bars—The Frog Lounge, Paradise Club, Powers Lounge, we rode with cops and firefighters, embedded ourselves in ERs and Trauma Centers and spent long nights at city commission meetings writing the first draft of local history. It felt like important work and twice a week our  stories ended up on thousands of driveways.
It felt like we were making an impact. And I think we did. We created a narrative for the cities we covered.
For me, covering Delray Beach, the narrative was of a fascinating and complex city that was determined to rise above its challenges and work together to build a brighter future. There were bumps along the way, but the arc was steady and it was fun to write about the progress and the challenges. It was my graduate education and what I learned from watching mayors, commissioners, department heads, business leaders, detectives, paramedics, volunteers and road patrol officers was invaluable.
Sometimes I find myself missing those days and especially those smart, vibrant and funny people who worked alongside me in the newsroom.
So I went online  to “hear” their voices, and I was able to find some of  their words on the Internet.
While it wasn’t ideal and there were many I couldn’t locate (Jim Baker, sportswriter extraordinaire, where are you?) I did find a few and I managed to enjoy their writing once more.
Here are a  few snippets:
From an editor I learned a lot from…

“As someone who loves history, particularly American history, I have long been astounded by the brilliance of our Founding Fathers. They gave serious thought not only to whether they were being unfairly taxed or lacked fair representation, but to the  question of what rights naturally fall to individuals of our species in the natural order of things — the very essence of liberty. They studied Greek and Roman history, read the works of those civilization’s great orators. And a central ingredient of the philosophical stew which became the spiritual and civil framework for our country was the inherent right to stand up against injustice — even to the point of taking up arms. Patriotism in their eyes was not flag-waving and anthem-singing, but taking bold action, whether on the battlefield or the halls of Congress, to ensure that every citizen be guaranteed fundamental rights associated with “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” (Those words were not just a political catch-phrase to the Founders.)  As an ardent fan of these great thinkers, I support every citizen’s right to protest in whatever manner he or she feels appropriate (and doesn’t physically harm others) and I consider those acts of protest patriotic. Even if it means allowing moral degenerates to peacefully espouse racial and ethnic hatred.”  

From another editor, who I thought was an exceedingly cool human:
“Summer 1985 and I have  press passes at SPAC to interview Aimee Mann and Til Tuesday. I wander off backstage to look around, make a quick turn around a sharp, dark corner, and run smack into this skinny guy with stringy blond hair, who I assume is a roadie until he says in a rich baritone drawl, “Hey, watch where you’re going there.” Realizing that it’s Tom Petty, I fire off an apologetic retort, something akin to, “Uh, oh, you homma, eya, yah,” and run away. I’m relatively certain he secretly dedicated “Even the Losers” to me later that night. (We get lucky sometimes.)
From a reporter who left for a big gig in The Keys.

“We are going to make it. We’re the Keys. We’ve done this before (though not on this level). We know our collective community character, and it is strong. We are going to make it, with all of us helping each other.’

From an editor who became a dear and lasting friend and confidant:

“Yeah, back in the day, there were no helmets or heart guards – just pure unadulterated playing. Our game was kickball out in the street. No helmets, no any kind of guards, and certainly no helmets when we rode our bikes. I actually had a hard time learning how to balance my two-wheeler, so I can’t imagine what it would be like if my head was weighted down with a helmet too. The only game I would admit could use some sort of protection was Dodge Ball – which I’m guessing is probably outlawed these days. Who would sanction kids throwing a big, round hard ball at someone – just for fun? And it was okay to get dirty, roll around in the grass and scrape knees. There wasn’t a lot of germ-a-phobic behavior – no hand sanitizer, for sure. But we all survived.”

From a reporter who spoke with a great Irish accent.

‘Time traveler’ says aliens are coming next year but he has no info on who wins 2018 world cup, clearly a fraud.’

 

I think my old friend from Belfast was reacting to a tabloid headline. He always had a razor sharp wit–most of the journalists I know do. Spend some time in that environment and you either develop one or get cut to pieces.

My great buddy Perry Don Francisco texted me last week to alter me to a story on NPR about community newspapers.

That’s how I met Perry, the legendary owner of Boston’s on the Beach.

I was a reporter. He was making news by doing great things in the community. He never wanted the attention but he liked that the causes got ink. We became close friends over the years and he has taught me a lot.

So following Perry’s advice I caught an NPR podcast last week about newspapers. It was a solid piece.

And it made me think about my newspaper days and all of those great voices who served this community so eloquently. Newspapers were better than tweeting, deeper than Facebook and the photos were better than what I find on Instagram (and I’m a fan and user of all three platforms).

And that’s why I’m so reluctant to recycle the old copies of those papers in my garage. I’m just not ready to say goodbye.

2 May, 2016 0 Comments

Delray’s Finest

May 2, 2016 By Leave a Comment
From left: David Weatherspoon, Thomas Mitchell and Javaro Sims

From left: David Weatherspoon, Thomas Mitchell and Javaro Sims have a combined 75 years of service in Delray.

We attended the 13th annual Delray Citizens for Delray Police Awards Dinner Friday and I have to tell you about it.
I have gone to several of these banquets over the years and Celsius, a company I’m involved with is a proud sponsor.
The event honors officers and employees with more than 20 years of service to our city. This year’s honorees; Assistant Chief Javaro Sims, Captain Tommy Mitchell and Lt. David Weatherspoon combined have over 75 years of service to Delray. All three are exceptional officers who have made a deep and lasting impact in our city. The event also honors the department’s Officer of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Supervisor of the Year and recognizes monthly award winners for the previous year.
The event serves as a fundraiser for the non profit Delray Citizens for Delray Police which, under the leadership of Perry Don Francisco, has supported the officers and their families for 30 years providing scholarships to the children of officers and purchasing equipment not covered by the department’s budget. It’s good to see Perry, an all time Delray great, remain involved in a city he helped put on the map 10 years after selling the land mark Boston’s on the Beach.
It’s also nice to see retirees from near and far return to honor colleagues and connect with the next generation of officers.
I’ve long contended that our Police Department is the unsung hero of Delray’s remarkable renaissance. The hard work and innovative policing strategies employed by the department made it safe for families and investment. It’s a debt we need to remember and their task doesn’t seem to get easier. This is a challenging city to protect and serve.
We had an opportunity to reconnect with some legendary officers from the past: Chuck Jeroloman, Scott Lunsford, Marc Woods, Tom Judge, Ed Flynn among many others and its really special to see that some of those officers have sons who are now serving with distinction at the department. The Police Department took this city back and the new generation of officers are tasked with fresh challenges. Their jobs are not only essential, but one could argue that our very viability as a community relies on their work and their ability to partner with the community.
The three officers honored all came to the department in the early 90s, a time when Delray was beginning to make the turn. In 1993, Delray won its first All America City Award and soon after Florida Trend would name Delray the “best run town in Florida.”
Civic pride was building, people were working together, the political leadership was aligned and city hall was stable after a very rocky prior decade. We were on our way, but much more work remained to be done.
Javaro Sims was a local guy who was passionate about service and the community, especially the youth. A former pro football player, teacher and Olympic caliber sprinter, Javaro was a great fit for Delray. He raced up the ranks becoming Assistant Chief in 2014.
Captain Mitchell has been an officer for 30 years, 26 in Delray. A former NYPD officer, Tommy has worked in a variety of roles from patrol and investigations to vice, intelligence and narcotics. A passionate Yankee fan, Tommy urges young officers to train hard, be safe and back each other up.
Lt. Weatherspoon is a home grown officer born and raised right here.
He was also the department’s first African American K-9 officer who started at the department in 1993 after a stint in the Army. After leaving K-9 he returned to community patrol. In 2006, he led the creation of the Problem Oriented Policing unit which requires officers to approach issues at their root and find innovative ways to solve problems. The program has been a great success.
David is a charismatic guy, with a warm smile and a wonderful family. His relationships in the community are strong, genuine and hugely valuable.
He’s just a solid guy. The kind you want to build around.
Chief Jeff Goldman also honored Officer Joseph Grammatico as “Officer of the Year.”
Known for his productivity, Grammatico racked up 136 arrests in 2015 and Chief Goldman gives him lots of credit for reducing Part One crimes by 8.5% in 2015.
An adherent of “intelligence led policing” Grammatico focuses on active offenders in the community who were committing a disproportionate amount of crime. By removing these prolific criminals from neighborhoods, Officer Grammatico was able to significantly improve quality of life for citizens and business owners.
The department’s employee of the year is Dawn Terrizzi who won an award named after long time employee and standout Patricia Taylor. Dawn is a support services secretary and has worked for the department for 12 years. But that hardly tells her story.
After her family was touched by a homicide, Dawn became a passionate advocate for people in similar circumstances. She volunteers for a slew of victim services agencies and causes including the Palm Beach chapter of Parents of Murdered Children Support Group. She is also active in local food pantries and food drives. Chief Goldman describes her as “an amazing woman”.  Indeed.
Just a small taste of what our department and indeed our city  has to offer.
#gratitude.