Dear Members of the Harvard Community:

It is with immense sadness that I write today to share the news of the passing of the Reverend Professor Peter J. Gomes, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church at Harvard University. Peter died last night [Feb 28, 2011] from complications arising from a stroke.

Peter Gomes served Harvard with unparalleled dedication, wisdom, and creativity for more than four decades. He was an original, a teacher in the fullest sense—a scholar, a mentor, one of the great preachers of our generation, and a living symbol of courage and conviction. Through his work and wisdom, Peter has left an indelible mark on the institution he served faithfully over so many years.

In his time here, Professor Gomes witnessed the evolution of Harvard as a spiritual community. From the divisions of the 1960s, which he experienced firsthand as a student at the Divinity School, to today's immense diversity of belief, Professor Gomes, through his generous spirit and moral vision, ministered to all, whatever their particular faith.

Peter was recognized as one of our nation's most distinguished preachers, a best-selling author who participated in the inauguration of two United States presidents. To generations of Harvard students, he was a wise counselor and an admired teacher who presided at every Commencement. To many of his faculty colleagues, he was a cherished conversationalist and a steadfast advocate of Harvard's best traditions. But to me, and I suspect to many others, Professor Gomes was first and foremost a trusted advisor and a true friend.

As we mourn a member of the Harvard family who was both an institutional icon and a living example of the richness of the human spirit, please join with me in commemorating his extraordinary life. He will be greatly missed.

For more information, please view the Harvard Gazette.

Sincerely,
Drew Faust
President, Harvard University

Clifford Truesdell (1944-2010)

Message from Esther Hanig:

Clifford A. Truesdell, IV, died unexpectedly on March 9th at his home in Cambridge, MA. Clifford served as the campaign manager for Barbara Ackermann’s 1978 historic bid for Massachusetts governor, and ran two ballot initiatives, one against nuclear power and, the other, the first ballot initiative in the country against U.S. involvement in El Salvador. Truesdell then engineered Peter Vellucci’s successful state representative campaign and served as Vellucci’s trusted aide.

As many of you know, Clifford was passionate about politics, Cambridge, and his neighborhood, Area Four. In addition to serving as Chair of the Cambridge Democratic City Committee, he was very engaged in efforts to strengthen his neighborhood, primarily through involvement in local community groups and the authoring of a number of downzoning petitions.

He is survived by two beloved sons, Cliff, of San Francisco, CA, and Samuel, of Cambridge, MA. He was married twice, first to Marilyn Richardson and then to Rose Hanig, who also survive him and, though divorced from Clifford, still remained close to him.

Donations may be made in his memory to Cambridge Community Foundation (www.cambridgecf.org/giving) or the Appalachian Mountain Club (www.outdoors.org/donations).

Friends are cordially invited to a memorial gathering to celebrate Mr. Truesdell’s life on Sunday, March 21 from 2:00-5:00pm in Cambridge at the Middle East, Downstairs (476 Massachusetts Ave., entrance around the corner on Brookline Ave.).

RW addendum: Clifford and I would often run into each other in recent years in Central Square and sit down for a conversation on a bench or cafe table. He was a wealth of information and perspective on how politics really worked in Cambridge over the last several decades. One of the most refreshing things about Clifford was that he generally valued elected official by their effectiveness - their ability to actually get things done - and this often did not run along traditional political lines. Our mutual friend Glenn Koocher's comment on learning of Cifford's death says it all: "He asked the right questions and was a fearless debater on issues in which he took interest. Every city or town would have welcomed someone with his intellectual abilities." I couldn't agree more. - Robert Winters

Geneva Malenfant, a friend to so many people and a civic activist of unmatched perspective and generosity, has passed away at the age of 70. The entire Malenfant family have been anchors of civic life in Cambridge for years. Geneva will be missed not only by her close friends and family, but by City officials and by everyone active with the Cambridge Community Foundation and other charitable organizations. She really was the best of all I have known in the civic landscape of Cambridge. - Robert Winters

Geneva (Tallman) Malenfant - Of Cambridge and Wakefield, RI, on January 25, 2009. Beloved wife of the late Arthur Lewis Malenfant. Loving mother of Elizabeth and her husband Curt Paden, Nancy and her husband Alexander Berman, Gavin and his wife Janet Malenfant, Joanna Tucker and her husband Edward Fischer. Cherished grandmother of Olivia Paden, Christopher, Nicholas, and Louisa Berman, Hannah and Aidan Malenfant, and Geneva and Maeghan Fischer. Dear sister of Benjamin Tallman. Past member of the Riverside Cambridgeport Community Corporation. Candidate for Cambridge City Council in 1985. Geneva was civically active in the City of Cambridge on the Historical Commission and Planning Board as well as Cambridge Youth Soccer, Cambridge Civic Association, Central Square Neighborhood Coalition, and Cambridge Community Foundation. In lieu of flowers donations in her memory may be made to the Arthur L. and Geneva T. Malenfant Fund at the Cambridge Community Foundation, 99 Bishop Allen Drive, Cambridge, MA 02139. The family will be having calling hours on Tues, Feb 3 and Wed, Feb 4 from 4 to 7pm at the Norton's Woods located at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 200 Beacon Street, Somerville, Massachusetts, www.amacd.org. A memorial service is planned for April 4 at Harvard Epworth United Methodist Church, 1555 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, Massachusetts. Arrangements by Rogers Funeral Home, Cambridge.

John R. Moot, Cambridge resident

Cambridge - John R. Moot died Dec. 11, 2008, at his home in Cambridge. He was the husband of Ellen (Guild) Moot; son of the late Welles V. and Caroline E. Moot of Buffalo, N.Y.; and father of Amey Moot of Dover and Alex Moot of Medford. He is also survived by two grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at a later date. Funeral arrangements were handled by the Boston Harborside Home, J. S. Waterman and Sons-Waring-Langone. Donations in Mr. Moot’s memory may be made to the Cambridge Community Foundation, 99 Bishop Allen Drive, Cambridge, MA 02139. [Chronicle obituary]

John's obituary in the Cambridge Chronicle may give some of the relevant details of his death, but it doesn't begin to scratch the surface of his life. I first met John as a fellow mayoral appointee on a water & sewer advisory committee in the mid-1980s. (Al Vellucci was mayor back then). This was my first introduction to Cambridge city government, in particular the Water Department. Most people think of the typical Cambridge activist as someone who tilts at the windmills of some high-profile cause, and I suppose it can be said that John fit that description in his later years. However, I originally knew him as that other kind of civic activist, the kind who toils away at mundane topics like municipal finance, infrastructure, and the city charter. I later served with John on the Technical Working Committee for the Computerization of the Cambridge Elections (TWCC), an advisory group to the Election Commission.

Going back to the days when the Cambridge Civic Association actually gave a damn about civic affairs (as opposed to political campaigns), John served on study committees on Prop 2½, on the water system, and on municipal finance. He was also a past president of the CCA and a long-time Executive Board member. I also recall a rather public resignation over the refusal of the CCA to endorse a particular City Council candidate in 1993. On a personal note, it was John who first asked me to be on the CCA Board back around 1991 - in part because he believed I could draw in some of the new blood of our army of recycling volunteers.

The two years I spent on the CCA Board back then were eye-opening days, and I suppose I have John Moot to thank for the exposure. It was also John Moot who called me the day after a CCA Board meeting held in then Mayor Reeves' office and asked me to destroy the notes I took at that meeting. [I never did and I still have them, but I've never shared them.] I believe it was legally a no-no to have such a meeting in the Mayor's Office. More interesting was the back-and-forth between the CCA bigwigs and a refreshingly defiant Ken Reeves who wasn't so keen about CCA Board members referring to CCA-endorsed councillors as "our councillors." I don't believe John Moot really cared that I had taken notes at that meeting, but since he had recruited me the task of keeping a lid on me fell to him. I was entertained by this incident more than anything.

There's a lot more I could say about John Moot and about the political turmoil of those years. Perhaps another day. - Robert Winters

Passing of a Great Man
Sheldon Brown
Cycling Guru at 63
(Newton Tab)

Note: McMahon resigned (during 1966) to enter the priesthood. John A.P. Good was elected on the basis of McMahon's redistributed vote following the redistribution of Edward McMahon's votes for School Committee. On his elimination during the original 1965 election with no candidates at quota, 1591 of John A.P. Good's 2306 ballots were redistributed to continuing candidates, including 639 ballots to McMahon. McMahon subsequently reached quota before Clinton, stranded in 7th place, was eliminated. Of Clinton's 3523 ballots at the time of his elimination, only 28 went to McMahon who was at quota, while 2789 went to "exhausted." Clinton, however, did not contest the redistribution process following McMahon's resignation. Despite his much better showing in the Nov 1965 election, Clinton trailed Good after the first redistribution round of McMahon's vote because of the above phenomenon and ultimately won the race by only 9 votes. The fairness and constitutionality of this redistribution process would be tested following the 1993 election when Councillor William Walsh's seat was vacated following his Nov 15, 1994 sentencing for bank fraud.

Anthony Galluccio, Jr. (who was in 12th place when he was eliminated in 1993) was elected to fill the Walsh vacancy. Jim McSweeney (who was in 10th place when he was eliminated in 1993) and his supporters actually inspected the ballots following the election and knew Galluccio would win, and contested the method used to redistribute votes. Galluccio was declared elected Dec 17, 1994 with 89 more votes than McSweeney. In November, 1993, Walsh was near quota when McSweeney was counted out. Most of McSweeney's original votes went to the "exhausted" category. Galluccio, defeated before McSweeney, redistributed most of his votes to other candidates including Walsh. When only Walsh's votes were considered - as the law provided - in the 1994 special redistribution, Galluccio recaptured all the votes he had transferred to Walsh. McSweeney recaptured only the few votes he had transferred to Walsh. Many McSweeney votes which were "exhausted" in 1993 could not be utilized, and this point was among the bases of McSweeney's legal challenge. The same disadvantage plagued Daniel Clinton in the 12/12/66 redistribution of Edward McMahon's votes for School Committee. Subsequently, the MA Supreme Judicial Court rejected McSweeney's claim and his additional challenge to the constitutionality of Proportional Representation.

[Glenn Koocher's notes were used for much of this account.] - RW

Aug 22, 2008 - Former Cambridge City Clerk Paul E. Healy died on August 20. He served as City Clerk from 1969 to 1986.

Paul E. Healy of Cambridge, August 20, 2008. Beloved husband of Jean F. (Crowley). Brother of Thomas C. of Cambridge, and the late James M., John F., Joseph C., and Mary T. Graham. Also survived by many nieces and nephews. Funeral mass in St. Peter's Church, 100 Concord Ave, Cambridge on Monday August 25, 2008 at 10:00am. Relatives and friends kindly invited. Interment Mt. Auburn Cemetery. Late retired Cambridge City Clerk. Graduate of Boston College. Late Major Army/Air Corps WWII and Korean War.  www.brownandhickey.com 

Deputy City Clerk Donna Lopez: "Mr. Healy served as the city clerk from 1969-1986. During his tenure the office lost its old ancient look. We began using computers. Old historic records were rebound. Mr. Healy was a great custodian of city records and he was the person who hired and trained me. Cambridge lost a valued city employee in his passing."

Former Cambridge City Clerk Joe Connarton: "Paul was a decorated veteran. He showed me the ropes as his long time deputy. He truly enjoyed the give and take of the local political arena! He was devoted to his wife Jean, a former high school teacher." [Joe Connarton served as City Clerk from 1986 to 1992.]

Any remembrances of Paul E. Healy from those who knew him and worked with him are appreciated and will be posted here. [Send comments]

July 7, 2008 - Lawrence Frisoli, former Cambridge City Councillor, passed away on July 2 at the age of 57. He was a City Council candidate in 1975 (as was Lenny Clarke) but was not elected. In 1977, he finished 4th in #1 votes and was the 7th elected in the PR Count. He served one term during which he was chosen as vice-chair by his City Council colleagues. He ran for a 3rd time in 1979 but finished 13th in #1 votes and was not reelected.

Boston Globe obituary: Lawrence Walter Frisoli, of Cambridge & Belmont, passed away July 2, 2008. Husband of MaryJo (O'Connor). Father of twin sons Michael & Morgan. Son of the late Frank and Mary (DeGuglielmo) Frisoli. Brother of Mary Ann (Jim) Harold, Elizabeth (Andrew) Breuder, Frank (Janice) Frisoli, Angela (Matthew) Tomlinson. Nephew of his beloved aunt Joan DeGuglielmo, Frances Tingle & Alice DeGuglielmo. Survived by nieces & nephews. Funeral from the Donovan-Aufiero Funeral Home, 140 Otis St. (at 6th St.) EAST CAMBRIDGE Wednesday at 8 AM followed by a Rite of Christian Burial in St. Francis of Assisi Church, 325 Cambridge St., Cambridge at 9 AM. Visiting Tuesday 2-5 & 6-9 PM. Interment Cambridge Cemetery. Larry was an attorney at Frisoli & Frisoli in Cambridge, participated in Mass Adult Soccer Association, Cambridge City soccer team & was a former Vice-Mayor of Cambridge. In lieu of flowers send donations to the BC High Lawrence W. Frisoli Scholarship Fund, 150 Morrissey Blvd., Boston 02125. For guestbook, please visit: www.donovanaufierofuneralhome.com.

July 8 Boston Globe expanded obituary for Lawrence Frisoli     July 9 Cambridge Chronicle obituary

MIT professor Edward Lorenz, father of chaos theory, dies at 90
By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer

WASHINGTON - Edward Lorenz, the father of chaos theory, died at his home in Cambridge, Mass., Wednesday (Apr 16, 2008). He was 90.

He was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology when he came up with the scientific concept that small effects lead to big changes, something that became known as the "butterfly effect." He explained how something as minuscule as a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil changes the constantly moving atmosphere in ways that could later trigger tornadoes in Texas.

His discovery of "deterministic chaos" brought about "one of the most dramatic changes in mankind's view of nature since Sir Isaac Newton," said the committee that awarded Lorenz the 1991 Kyoto Prize for basic sciences. It was one of many scientific awards that Lorenz won. There is no Nobel Prize for his specific field of expertise, meteorology.

Jerry Mahlman, a longtime friend, noted that the man who pioneered chaos theory was "the most organized person I ever knew."

Lorenz came up with the chaos theory concept in the 1960s through his own meticulous work habits, said Kevin Trenberth, a student of Lorenz's. Trenberth is now climate analysis chief at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

He inadvertently ran what seemed like the same calculations through a creaky computer twice and came up with vastly different answers. When he tried to figure out what happened, he noticed a slight decimal point change — less than 0.0001 — wound up leading to significant error. That error became a seminal scientific paper, presented in 1972, about the butterfly effect.

Lorenz was "the quiet geek" who turned the old concept of "wiggle room" into hard numbers and scientific theory, said Mahlman, a retired federal climate scientist. Meteorologists today base their forecasts on his techniques. Lorenz's 1967 book "The Nature and Theory of the General Circulation of the Atmosphere" is considered a classic textbook in meteorology.

The concept of small changes turning into big effects also influenced many basic sciences. Other fields probably benefited more than meteorology, said MIT meteorology professor Alan Plumb.

Lorenz also was incredibly quiet. Getting him to talk was painfully difficult, his colleagues said, except around his late wife, Jane. He rarely wrote papers with others.

"Of all the geniuses of that era, he was the quietest and most humble and the most kind," said Mahlman.

Lorenz was born in West Hartford, Conn., in 1917 and later wrote in a biographical sketch: "As a boy I was always interested in doing things with numbers and was also fascinated by changes in the weather."

He had degrees from Dartmouth College and Harvard University as well as MIT where he joined the meteorology staff in 1948. He later became department head and retired in 1987.

In 1983, with a colleague, he won the $50,000 Crafoord Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which recognizes leaders in scientific fields not eligible for a Nobel.

Lorenz was an avid hiker and climber, who well into his 80s would "put many younger people to shame in terms of his fitness and love of going into the mountains," Trenberth said.

Lorenz is survived by three children.

Obituary in MIT News    Boston Globe obituary 

 William Stackman 1941-2007

Photo of Will Stackman in 1990

Will Stackman, one of the most decent and knowledgeable men I've met during my nearly 30 years in Cambridge, passed away during the June 2-3, 2007 weekend at the age of 66 after a several year battle with pancreatic cancer. I first met Will during the planning of Cambridge's Earth Day festivities in 1990 when Marianne Donnelly, the moving force behind the event, brought Will to the meetings. As the man who staged the Cambridge River Festival as staff for the Cambridge Arts Council, we could not have had a more expert person to help put on the event. Will was one of the people who really put the Cambridge Arts Council on the map during its glory days.

Over the years before 1990 and the many years since, Marianne Donnelly has been Will's constant companion - one of the most lasting and dedicated friendships I've ever witnessed. - Robert Winters

Obituary

“Professor Will”, as he’s known around Beantown, did theatre, including puppetry, in these parts for a quarter century or more. His theatre adventures began back in his hometown of Madison, CT in the early ‘50s, as part of the Nutmeg Players. That still-viable community theatre traces its roots to the peripatetic Jitney Players who were headquartered there on the Connecticut shore in the early ‘30s. Active in theatre at Mount Hermon where he graduated in ‘58, Will became hyper-active at DePauw University (Greencastle, IN), where he managed a student experimental theater, directed an opera, played various minor roles, and still managed to graduate Phi Beta Kappa in 1962.

After studying Psychology at Yale for a year as an NIMH Fellow headed for a PhD, he switched to the Theatre program at Wesleyan (Middletown, CT), working as a grad assistant, and earning an MA for Theatre in Production in 1965. Hanging out for the rest of the 60’s at Cornell, he spent four years studying and doing theatre and film, but never submitted his thesis -- a chronicle of the relationship between Broadway and Hollywood in the decades before and after talkies took over. While at Cornell he managed the studio theatre, created several experimental productions, house-managed film series, and acted now and then. A favorite role was Lanthorn Leatherhead “Master of Motions”, the fairground puppeteer in Ben Jonson’s “Bart’l’mew Faire”.

Leaving Ithaca, the Professor taught at Cal. State/Long Beach during the year Reagan shut down state campuses to stifle dissent, then returned East to teach technical theatre for two years at Rutgers. When New Jersey rejected their first income tax and the University budgets were slashed, Will decided he’d been in school too long and came up to Boston to concentrate on puppetry, and became a Punch Professor.

He became part of the technical staff at the still-missed Orson Welles Complex, but it wasn’t long before he was back to teaching at Pine Manor College in Brookline: building scenery, directing musicals, and lecturing on Theatre for Young Audiences. He also continued performing various versions of the traditional “Tragical Comedie and Comical Tragedie of Punch and Judy” as Boston’s senior Punch Professor. He taught at Boston Conservatory, Wheelock College, and Newton North High, and directed the Gateway Puppeteers in Brookline.

In the ‘70s and ‘80s Will worked on the first decade of FIRST NIGHT, ran two editions of Summer StART at Fort Point Channel, and then for the Cambridge Arts Council was Technical Director for the Cambridge River Festival, while supervising Arts Lottery projects and other community efforts.

Will was a founding board member and Technical Director for the first years of Boston’s Playwrights’ Platform, and active in the ATA, NETC, and the Puppeteers of America, Boston Area Guild, Ch #9 thereof. He was also on the advisory board of the late lamented Boston Computer Society, and could be found by old friends at the MIT Electronics Flea Market and BMUG meetings. Will’s reviews of Boston-area theatre can be found on AisleSay.com (a national compendium), Larry Stark's Theater Mirror (a local resource), and his own site ON THE AISLE. He was part of the Independent Reviewers of New England's (IRNE) Awards committee, and a tireless advocate for good work under Spartan conditions in obscure venues.

Memorial plans so far include:

The Cambridge Arts Council at the Cambridge River Festival:

• Mini parade at 5:00pm on Saturday, June 16, 2007 on the Festival site celebrating Will Stackman and Ritchie Goldstein, junk percussionist extraordinaire who was a part of many Boston area festivals, most notably Spontaneous Celebrations’ Wake Up the Earth. Includes Puppeteers Cooperative, stiltwalkers & drummers.
• Memory Wall -- Bring your contribution -- a note, a sign, a photo, a puppet, to place on a Community Bulletin Board celebrating Will -- or carry it in the parade.
• Play Reading -- Will wrote some 10 minute plays in recent years. If there is interest, we have a beautiful little park that could be used at 4:00pm if actor/director volunteers come forth to read them. Contact Jane Beal, Cambridge Arts Council, 617-349-4381 jbeal@CambridgeMA.gov

Playwrights Platform at Boston Playwrights Theatre:

• A first annual Will Stackman Award for Excellence in Directing Award will be voted and presented at the Platform's Annual New Play Festival wrap party after the final 8pm shows Saturday June 16, 2007.

Puppet Showplace in July:

• There will be a Memorial at the Showplace in Brookline Village in July, to be organized by Marianne Donnelly and Kris Higgins. Details TBA on the www.TheaterMirror.com web site.

Dec 16, updated Dec 22, 2006 - Many significant people in Cambridge civic life left us recently. Here are a few who I have known:

Thomas Coates, Dec 19 - former city councillor and a very decent man. I remember well my conversation with him about how racial politics were played out among the city's liberal elite. He ran for City Council in the 1961 through 1971 elections and again in 1975 and was elected in 1963, 1965, and 1969. The Cambridge Chronicle has a letter from his wife Ceoria and son Thomas. An excerpt: “Born in Flint, Michigan, most knew him as ‘Don’ or ‘Donald’, although he had no middle name. He spent the majority of his life in Massachusetts where he attended law school; before holding a variety of positions, inclusive of answering the call of public service for the City of Cambridge, working in the Hotel Industry .... He also worked at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. His last fifteen years of professional employment were spent as Director of Personnel at Fitchburg State College in Fitchburg, MA. He retired in 1988.”

Isabella Halsted, Dec 13 - perhaps the single greatest advocate for the creation and preservation of Riverbend Park, the section of Memorial Drive that is closed to traffic every weekend during the warm weather months.

Rusty Drugan, Dec 7 - Election Commissioner, friend and ally in the modernization of Cambridge's election system.

Berle Breny, Dec 5 - Long-time Cambridge activist and two-time candidate for City Council (1969 and 1977). I'll always remember Berle on her bicycle and her persistence in making her points about proportional representation, ballot initiatives, and Article 48 of the Massachusetts Constitution.

Ted Carpenter, Dec 4 - Planning Board member, an active participant in the Main Library expansion study committee and in other Mid-Cambridge matters.

Joseph Harrington , Oct 9 - President of the Cambridge Water Board and a world-renowned expert in public health. I'll not forget our many conversations when we would run into each other at the recycling center in the Public Works yard.

Daniel J. Hayes, former Mayor of Cambridge

In Cambridge, Sept. 12, 2006. Devoted husband of Anita (Kalt). Dear father of Daniel of Framingham, John of Cambridge, Ann-Marie Hayes Aidala of Wayland. Loving grandfather of Sabrina Hayes, Chase Hayes and Darian Hayes Aidala. Brother of William of San Diego. Funeral from the Keefe Funeral Home, 2175 Mass Ave., North Cambridge, on Saturday at 9:00am. Funeral Mass in St. John's Church at 10:00am. Relatives and friends invited. Visiting hours Friday 4-8pm. Parking at Pemberton Farms. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. John's Renovation Fund. Former Mayor City of Cambridge and School Committee and City Council Member. 55 year owner of Hayes Oil. Visit www.keefefuneralhome.com

Daniel Hayes was elected on his first run for School Committee in 1957 and reelected in 1959. He served on the School Committee from 1958-1961. He was elected to the City Council in 1961 and reelected in the next three municipal elections before being defeated in the 1969 election. He served on the City Council from 1962 to 1969 and served as Mayor for the 1966-1967 term, succeeding Ed Crane.

Addendum: Fred Salvucci's letter about Mayor Hayes in the Boston Globe (Sept 23, 2006)

A mayor with a talent for coalition
The September 16 obituary of Dan Hayes, mayor of Cambridge in the late 1960s, missed a significant achievement. Hayes helped weave the multiethnic, right-left coalition that stopped the Inner Belt highway from displacing more than 2,000 households and 3,000 jobs. This in turn helped persuade the governor, Frank Sargent, to shift strategies away from urban disruption and toward community-compatible transit and roadway solutions, and ultimately changed national transportation policy to allow the use of federal funds for transit as well as highways.

I am not surprised that this aspect of Mayor Hayes's career was not mentioned, because he preferred to let others take credit. Prior to his involvement, opposition to the Inner Belt was a given in Cambridge, but “us vs. them” politics produced nothing but a lot of eloquent speeches. Hayes's diligent work bringing together diverse community leaders and academics provided the broad coalition that led Sargent to change course. In doing so, Hayes not only helped bring about a more humane and environmentally sustainable transportation policy, he was one of the early leaders of defining community as inclusive, broad-based coalitions that have a better chance to win.

Fred Salvucci, Boston
The writer was transportation secretary during the Dukakis administration.

William C. Jones

Billy Jones takes a seat in the Mayor's chair (December 1999)

On Monday, Nov 11, 2002 Cambridge lost one of its most irreplaceable characters, William C. Jones. One of the best known local figures in all of Cambridge (and many parts of Boston and elsewhere), Billy Jones was a perennial City Council candidate, he regularly gave public testimony on a wide range of matters before City Council (the podium is named after him), he owned several old fire engines and knew about the fire apparatus of most cities in Eastern Massachusetts, and he managed the North End's Roma Band. He once worked for the Boston Elevated Railway Co. as well as in nightclubs in old Scollay Square. He was a local legend and a friend.

Less than a month earlier, Cambridge lost one of its other local legends - Al Vellucci. With the passing of Bill Jones and Al Vellucci, we have lost two of the great oral historians of Cambridge and two of its most colorful and well-known personalities.

Bill had been diagnosed with cancer some time ago but chose to discontinue chemotherapy. He knew his days were numbered and accepted his fate. What was probably the most difficult thing for him was when he suffered a stroke earlier this year that left him incapacitated. For a man who had walked day and night throughout the city for half a century and who until recent years had been to the hospital just once in his life, this must have been intolerable.

If ever you needed to find out about something that had happened in Cambridge over the last 60 years, you could count on Billy to give a colorful story (with occasional poetic license) on whatever you asked about or whatever Billy felt like talking about at that moment. He was not one to hide his opinions, especially at the Budget Hearings each Spring. His most frequent targets in recent years were the Traffic and Parking Department and the Election Commission. Many have credited Billy for the petition campaign to maintain the name of Joe Maynard when the Fletcher and Maynard Schools merged to form the Fletcher-Maynard Academy. Paradoxically, Billy would often refer to the Maynard School as “the old Roberts School”, a practice shared by many long-time residents.

I first met Billy over 20 years ago when he would walk by my house every day with his dog Oscar. Bill had a succession of dogs over the years and he named most or all of them Oscar. He was probably my first connection to local politics in Cambridge. He knew every one of the longtime residents in my neighborhood. He asked about them and they asked about him. The remarkable thing is that many other people from all parts of Cambridge would tell the same story.

According to City records, Bill Jones was born on September 23, 1929.

Boston Globe obituary by Emma Stickgold (where Bill's age is reported as 73)
Harvard Crimson story by Sarah Bishop (where Bill's age is reported as 82)

Bill Jones at the podium



Surrounded by city councillors and City Hall staff at the December 1999 dedication of the William C. Jones podium

Mayor Emeritus Alfred Vellucci passed away on Thurs, Oct 17, 2002.

Some of you may remember the Cambridge City Hall Centennial when Mayor Vellucci had coins struck for the occasion. The front of the coin featured the mayor with City Hall on the reverse.