Kudos to Tom
Chimento, my former classmate at Wagner College. Every Thursday for the past
few weeks, he has been posting a wide array of “Throwback” pictures on Facebook,
capturing the essence of the people we knew at our old beloved “School on the
Hill.” Even though Tom was a couple years ahead of me, there are enough
familiar faces in most of the pictures to brighten my day, as well as the day
of quite a few other folks, from the looks of the attached comments.
 |
| The Wagnerian gang - Spring 1983. Scott Lieberman in front Geek with painter's hat in back, next to NY Post reader Thanks for posting Tom C.! |
Last week, to my
surprise, Tom posted a Wagnerian picture, circa 1982-83. Now I always love to
hear about my old college newspaper, for two reasons. First, I was blessed to
serve as editor or co-editor in chief of the paper for three semesters while in
college. Secondly, the Wagnerian was recently named the 14th most
influential college newspaper in the United States, by none other than the
Princeton Review!
Of course, the
comments followed. Scott Lieberman, managing editor of the paper during that
school year, was fronting the group in the picture, and made notice of the old
gang. Scott, who is now an esteemed cardiologist in Tyler, Texas, actually
became famous for his picture of the Columbia space shuttle as it disintegrated
on its way back to Mother Earth. He may be the most noteworthy journalist to
emerge from the Wagnerian. We have some famous writers who graced the staff,
but that’s for another post.
 |
| Dr. Scott Lieberman's picture of the Columbia gained worldwide attention |
Bill Anderson
also chimed in. Bill, who was managing editor in the fall of 1983,
commented on how it was an important year for Wagner news because of the
student killed on a Korean Air Lines hijacked jet, the return of one of our
graduates from medical school in Grenada, and the visit of the Rev. Jesse
Jackson to our campus.
Ah yes, the Good
Reverend’s visit. What a lesson I learned that week.
In 1983,
Jackson, already an esteemed minister, as well as public speaker and figure,
decided to run for the 1984 Democratic nomination for President. At the time of
his visit to Staten Island (weeks before his Hymietown comment cost him the
nomination), he was polling in strong double digits and had a legitimate chance
to win at the upcoming primary.
We knew that his
visit to the Island was going to be short, and his time at Wagner would be very
brief. There would be a speaking opportunity, followed by several questions.
Twenty minutes tops.
Being the cub
reporter (albeit a sports one), I angled for a good spot in the audience. When
the time came, I got my hand up high enough to be noticed. And I was.
“Reverend
Jackson, being that the 20th anniversary of the March on Washington
just passed, do you believe that any true progress has been made with the Civil
Rights movement?” The question went something like that.
Jackson gave a
great answer, and by that I mean his response was awesome, and full of true
Jesse Jackson verbiage. In truth, the gist of his answer was “some progress,
but a lot of work still needs to be done.”
Wow, so Rev.
Jesse Jackson answered my question.
I became doubly
sure of what a great question it was the next day. On the front of the Staten
Island Advance was news of Jackson’s visit to Staten Island. In a sidebar was a
promo for Stevie Lacy-Pendleton’s “exclusive interview” with Jesse Jackson.
My first thought
was “wow, how did she get a whole interview in such a short time?” Then I
flipped to the interview page and found the answer.
I believe it was
the third “interview” question that read, “Rev. Jackson, do you believe that
any progress has been made with the Civil Rights movement?” And Jackson’s great
response from the previous day was now in print, as part of a perceived
one-on-one interview.
In a huff, I
called the paper, and asked to speak with Ms. Lacy-Pendleton. The surprised
voice on the other end noted that she was not in. Unsatisfied with that
response, I went on a short tirade about how dare this reporter take other
people’s questions and claim them as her own. She may have never received the
message.
And up until
Tom’s posted picture and Bill’s comment, I had totally forgotten about the
incident. On a whim, I did a search on the Ms. Lacy-Pendleton. She appears to
be gainfully employed with the Advance 30 years later; in fact, she is listed
as a senior columnist and the deputy editorial page editor.
Great for her. I’m
sure there’s a wonderful explanation why her involvement with the Jackson visit
was listed as an exclusive interview the next day. There’s probably a
legitimate reason.
I just never got
to hear it.
No comments:
Post a Comment