THE NEW CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT


My favorite story from Greek mythology is the birth of Athena. It seems she “leaped from Zeus’ head, fully grown and armed, with a shout — and pealed to the broad sky her clarion cry of war.” See Wikipedia at this website for a great deal more information about Athena and Zeus. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena. Her cult is thought to have originated in libya, moving from there to Crete before the classical Greek culture took her in as one of their goddesses. She is almost certainly the most talented and powerful of the Greek goddesses.

About eight months ago in Ferguson, MO, a police killing – a not uncommon event – generated seemingly suddenly –as with Athena and her birth, sometimes peaceful and sometimes violent street activity. It immediately hit the Internet and young politically involved blacks and whites converged on Ferguson. The result is the apparently endless list of other cities who are still having these unfortunate police involved deaths, and usually for no criminal activity that would result in a court decision of the death penalty. Their crime was punished on the streets by police officers, who then gave an excuse like “I feared for my life,” which was repeated in city after city almost word for word. In quite a few cases a bystander with a cell phone took videos of the interaction and as a result police are being seen as the criminals. I wish I could say that this is an unfair characterization.

In times past police have been almost universally “given the benefit of the doubt” in grand juries and courts across the land. Interestingly, in quite a few cases now the motivation for the first officer contact has been a very minor but legal offense such as having a broken taillight, which becomes a means for the city in question to issue a ticket for maybe $50.00. During the interaction with the driver – or jaywalker as in Ferguson – the policeman turns aggressive verbally and physically, ending in the black person's death. Those killings have been going on for generations. In some cases it is true that the suspect either mouths off at the cop, or tries to get away, as in the Charleston, SC shooting of Walter Scott. That particular shooting ended in the officer Michael Slager's being fired and arrested for murder.

Now that is what should happen in those cases, but it rarely does. I was partly moved and partly angered by the fact the police chief actually wept over the incident. Of course that officer was caught dead to rights, taking a shooter's stance and firing five or six shots into the fleeing man's back and then, to make matters worse, he bent down and picked up what looked to be his tazer and dropped it beside the dead man's body. He then used the story that Scott had stolen the tazer from him and tried to use it on him, in other words he, too, was afraid of Scott. It is important to note that not only police departments in many places but the local courts are apparently working together to deprive blacks, Hispanics and other poor people of their civil rights as well as their money.

A few organizations have sprung up whose goal is to watch the police and use their handy smart phones to take videos at sites of police activity. The police are not unaware of that and have begun seizing those little cameras or even arresting citizens on the grounds that they are “interfering with a police officer” in his lawful apprehension of a criminal. We need a law that states the police are not exempt from surveillance by citizens in these cases, and have no grounds for such an arrest.

The presence of an active and growing right wing uprising of racial and religious hatred makes politics the culprit in many of these cases, but I think sheer greed and corruption also are present in nearly all cases. That's one of the complaints that black people in Ferguson brought up about the police there. The police department of Waldo, FL was recently actually disbanded – it consisted of very few officers and the town is really tiny, so that wasn't too difficult. The territory is now under the police umbrella of another nearby town. Waldo's force was disbanded because of an organized and purposeful goal of gouging travelers down the highway by picking them up for speeding a few miles over the limit. That fine money went into the city coffers, and most travelers just left the matter alone and paid the fine. Waldo town limits had a very slow speed limit, while the highway's limit was 55 mph. By the time people realized they were in a different speed zone they were caught by the officer who was concealed on a side road. That practice is not uncommon in other semi-rural areas around the country either. It's still hard core corruption, however. Police and courts have too often been playing “fast and loose” with the law and just basic ethics for a long time.

The following news articles focus on the current mess going on in Baltimore. It is interesting to note that some local gangs, among them the Bloods and the Crips have been participating alongside prominent citizen and church leaders in the Baltimore encounters with police to keep the crowd calm, and not to kill or injure officer. It looks to me as though the entire black community in cities around the country are coming together to cooperate in bringing about justice. This is long overdue. We need not only the oversight of official groups like the DOJ, but also of legislatures both federal and state to write laws that define clearly what the role of police is and what their limitations are. We need to get well away from that old “benefit of the doubt” rule of thumb, and reform policing thoroughly. In addition, I think we should make this business of the Pentagon giving its old tanks and weapons to city governments for their police departments. There is no real need for police to have those unless the nation decides to eliminate unpopular groups of people – political liberals, perhaps!



BALTIMORE TODAY – SIX ARTICLES


What we have in this country may very well be phase two of the Civil Rights movement which is, so clearly to me, very much overdue. I've been advocating the involvement of the NAACP and other similar groups in putting together the kind of well-planned, peaceful but determined demand for new laws that will prevent the use of the RICO and USA PATRIOT acts by all governments and police departments to further abuse and stifle the poor and the minority groups by the simple mechanism of instilling fear in them. The police are no longer trustworthy to stand up for human rights, but rather have become a local army for heavily right-leaning populations around the country. This isn't just in Mississippi anymore, but everywhere. I think in Kent we have a new leader with promise. See the following articles on Kent and updates of events in Baltimore. The good piece of news I found in this article is that the Baltimore police commissioner “recognized Kent” and freed him without charges. Now if police leadership would really dig into the matter of firing and then arresting all criminal elements -- such as these six policemen -- within the police departments, there would be a return to the proper balance in PD/neighborhood interactions. Of course there is a need everywhere for police and for safe neighborhoods, but it can and should be done ethically.

In the NYPD, the police union was aggressively involved in defending those officers who first put the strangle hold on Eric Garner for no better reason than his high crime of selling loose cigarettes. In an attempt to embarrass him, they turned their backs on the city's mayor when he spoke against the offending policemen. The conclusion I draw from that is that a kind of warfare exists in the minds of many or possible most policemen nowadays, by which they justify any and all actions that happen to occur to them just because they're policemen. I think it's time to investigate police unions, city governments and in too many cases police management levels for criminal offenses and for all evidence of white supremacy beliefs. The vile racist emails sent among policemen and court officials in Ferguson, which was discovered by the DOJ qualify to me as a probably case of white supremacy beliefs. The good news is that those officers were punished for their actions. If the DOJ hadn't been standing over them, metaphorically speaking, they probably wouldn't have been disciplined – or am I becoming totally cynical?

I hate to say these things, because by no means are all police officers bad. I think they are often intimidated into staying quiet about violations by officers in the field, however. A “rule of silence” is maintained universally among departments throughout the US. That's how peer group pressure works too often. About two months ago one news article quoted a veteran policeman as saying anonymously that the real reason these offenses go on is simply that the top cops and courts don't adequately punish those who behave abusively, from Miranda issues to egregious violence. Really going after the “bad apples” and firing and/or prosecuting them would go a long way toward changing the situation. It would also free up those who are good people and interested in “serving” their communities as their pledge states, to step up to the plate immediately when officers physically abuse, shoot, verbally disrespect and plant evidence on anyone. No citizen should be treated that way, and just so there're no questions about the legality involved in the matter of racial abuse in this country, full citizenship was extended to ex-slaves and their offspring by the 13th Amendment under Abraham Lincoln.

See the following related, but useful articles for updates. Each contains some new information.



http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/04/30/freddie%20gray%20video/26623821/

Baltimore police turn over Gray findings to prosecutor
Yamiche Alcindor, Donna Leinwand Leger and Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY
April 30, 2015

Video – 'The Washington Post' reports a police document says Freddie Gray was "banging against walls" inside the police wagon after his arrest, a period when Baltimore police officials contend he must have sustained his fatal spinal injury.

'The Washington Post' reports a police document says Freddie Gray was "banging against walls" inside the police wagon after his arrest, a period when Baltimore police officials contend he must have sustained his fatal spinal injury.

The Baltimore police department, acting a day ahead of schedule, turned over to the state's attorney on Thursday its investigative findings into the death of Freddie Gray, but will not immediately release the material to the public, Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said.

The latest development comes amid a disputed allegation that a prisoner sharing a police van with Gray, who died of spinal injuries following his arrest, heard him intentionally trying to injure himself.

Gray's death one week after his arrest has sparked almost two weeks of protests that turned violent on Monday, prompting the governor to call out the National Guard.

Batts told reporters that despite turning over the department's file on the Gray case to state prosecutors, police were treating it as an "active investigation" and would be following new leads whenever possible.

He said 30 officers worked around the clock to complete its work because of his "sense of urgency" regarding the case.

"Family and community deserve transparency and truth," he said, although the material was not immediately being made public. He said State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby is "committed to seeing justice."

The dispute over a prisoner's alleged recollection of what occurred the night Gray was arrested underscored the pressure for disclosure surrounding the events.

The statement from the unidentified prisoner was contained in an application for a search warrant,The Washington Post reported Thursday. The warrant has been sealed by the court, but the Post said it had obtained the documents under the condition that the prisoner not be named.

The newspaper noted that the prisoner, although sharing the police van, was separated from Gray by a metal partition and could not see him.

According to the document, the prisoner told investigators that Gray was "banging against walls" inside the vehicle and was "intentionally trying to injure himself."

WBAL-TV, however, reports that its investigation showed no evidence to support the second prisoner's claim.

Investigative reporter Jane Miller told MSNBC on Thursday that medical evidence -- from the hospital and an autopsy -- found that Gray died of a single severe spinal injury resulting from a broken neck.

Miller said the medical evidence does not support a claim that Gray had been banging his head against the van wall.

WBAL also reported that video footage shows that the second prisoner was only in the van for five minutes and that officers can be seen looking into the wide open van at the point where he was picked up.

"If there was an irate, disruptive prisoner banging his head, certainly it doesn't look in the video that they (the officers) are worried about that," Miller said.
The reporter also noted that the unidentified prisoner has a "number of years" hanging over his head and has given two different accounts of events that night.

Gray's death touched off a series of protests that, in turn, led to violence, burning and looting Monday in Baltimore and provoked a week-long emergency nighttime curfew. The demonstrations in the two cities saw droves of chanting protesters lining city blocks and spilling over into nearby streets.

Thousands massed outside City Hall on Wednesday to protest Gray's death and the outrage spread to New York City where another large throng gathered in Union Square. Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts said 18 people were arrested Wednesday, including two juveniles. Police in New York arrested more than 60 people.

There were encouraging signs -- including peaceful protests, open schools and a free concert on a sunny day -- that Baltimore might be righting itself after Monday's devastating violence and chaos.

Six officers have been suspended with pay pending the investigation that could result in criminal charges. The latest protests took place outside Mosby's office.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake sought to defuse a new flash point by correcting "misinformation" that some kind of report in the case would be made public Friday.

Cheryl Stewart, spokesperson for the mayor, said the findings will not be made public anytime soon. The state's attorney's office will review the report and decide whether to charge anyone in Gray's death, she said.

"The misconception is that this report will be released publicly and it will not be," Stewart said. "We just want to make it clear that releasing too much information could be harmful to the investigation and to justice."

"Everybody is pinning on Friday like this is going to a big verdict or something and that's not going to happen," Stewart said. "I understand people want the details. But giving it to the public could jeopardize whether charges will be brought."

The protests, while counting in the thousands during the day, have dwindled to only small crowds at night since the city ordered a 10 p.m. curfew, bolstered by 1,000 law enforcement officers and some 2,000 National Guard troops.

"We are asking that they remain peaceful,'' Baltimore police Capt. Eric Kowalczyk said.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said he was "very encouraged'' by the relative calm. Some 2,000 National Guard troops and more than 1,000 law enforcement officers were on hand to enforce the curfew and maintain order.

"We're not out of the woods yet,'' Hogan said.

The Baltimore protesters also demanded a deeper look at how police treat black men in the city. Signs included "End Police Brutality Now," Justice and Equality For All" and "Stop Police Militarization Killings."

Many were students clad in sports uniforms, t-shirts and hooded sweatshirts from their colleges and high schools.

"This is an important issue," said Jillian Tse, a senior at Johns Hopkins University. "It's more just than just police brutality. I think it's systemic racism."





http://www.cbsnews.com/news/joseph-kent-prominent-baltimore-protester-will-return-to-keep-the-peace-despite-arrest/

Baltimore activist will return to "keep the peace" despite arrest
CBS NEWS
April 30, 2015

Photograph – Joseph Kent is interviewed by CBSN in Baltimore on April 30, 2015.
 CBS NEWS

Prominent Baltimore activist Joseph Kent, who was arrested Tuesday evening as Baltimore's curfew went into effect, told CBSN on Thursday that he is undeterred by the arrest and planned to return to the streets tonight to "keep the peace."

Kent, 21, a well-known civil rights organizer in Baltimore, was trying to defuse tensions between police and people protesting the death of Freddie Gray before an armored truck pulled up and a team of National Guard troops rushed him.

"I just disappeared," Kent said of the arrest. "It happened so quickly and professionally."

The incident was captured on live TV and sparked outrage on Twitter.

Kent, a student at Morgan State University, has been a prominent figure in other protests of police brutality and has been widely credited with helping to keep those protests peaceful. He told CBSN that his message will not change despite his arrest.

"Don't use this (arrest) as an excuse to have another riot," he said.

Kent, who was charged with a curfew violation, said the police commissioner recognized him and expedited his release. However, Kent said "a lot" of other people who were arrested earlier this week were still stuck in the booking process.

Kent's high-profile activism and subsequent arrest have garnered a legion of admirers. His Instagram account has hundreds - maybe even thousands - of new followers and he says his phone is ringing off the hook.

Kent says he is able to defuse the tensions between police and protesters because many of the people expressing anger can relate to him.

"They know where I come from," he said. "They look at me as one of them."

Meanwhile, authorities plan to turn over the findings of a police investigation into Gray's death to a state's attorney by Friday. Gray's mysterious death from a spinal injury a week after his April 12 arrest is what sparked riots Monday - the worst the city has seen since 1968.

"Police brutality is still happening and it's a pattern," Kent said.



“Kent, 21, a well-known civil rights organizer in Baltimore, was trying to defuse tensions between police and people protesting the death of Freddie Gray before an armored truck pulled up and a team of National Guard troops rushed him. "I just disappeared," Kent said of the arrest. "It happened so quickly and professionally." The incident was captured on live TV and sparked outrage on Twitter. …. Kent, a music student at Morgan State University, has been a prominent figure in other protests of police brutality and has been widely credited with helping to keep those protests peaceful. He told CBSN that his message will not change despite his arrest. "Don't use this (arrest) as an excuse to have another riot," he said. Kent, who was charged with a curfew violation, said the police commissioner recognized him and expedited his release. However, Kent said "a lot" of other people who were arrested earlier this week were still stuck in the booking process.” …. "Police brutality is still happening and it's a pattern," Kent said.”

“Kent says he is able to defuse the tensions between police and protesters because many of the people expressing anger can relate to him. "They know where I come from," he said. "They look at me as one of them." Meanwhile, authorities plan to turn over the findings of a police investigation into Gray's death to a state's attorney by Friday.” I looked on the Internet to find out more about Joseph Kent, hoping to put together a biography, but Wikipedia has yet to record anything about him. I did find several more news articles on his arrest and civil rights activism, including Ferguson MO. See the articles below about him on RT and USA Today.



http://rt.com/usa/254277-joseph-kent-disappeared-police/
Where is #JosephKent? Prominent Ferguson activist snatched by police live on TV in Baltimore
April 29, 2015.

A community organizer who led Ferguson solidarity protests was seized by riot police in full view of the media Tuesday evening, after Baltimore imposed a nightly curfew. His seizure caused much criticism in social media.

After a night of uncertainty as to what happened, Joseph Kent was confirmed to be alive and in police custody.

Read More: Baltimore riot: Police vs protesters LIVE UPDATES
According to the media present at the intersection of North and Pennsylvania Avenues in West Baltimore, the focal point of Monday’s riot and Tuesday’s peaceful gathering, Kent had been working to keep the assembly calm and urging the crowd to disperse. He appeared to have been successful, as television footage showed him alone, standing off against a line of riot police.

Around 10:38pm local time, a National Guard vehicle appeared behind Kent, and several officers surged forward, seizing him, according to the footage. The vehicle shielded them from the cameras, and by the time it had passed through the police line, Kent was nowhere to be seen.

The whole thing was captured by a CNN crew, standing at the intersection filming the police line. The dramatic arrest led many observers to wonder if Kent had been “disappeared.” Twitter lit up with the hashtag #JosephKent, his seizure was described as "black-bagging," and observers noted he was never read his rights.

RT @AngryBlackLady: if #JosephKent was out after curfew, they didn’t *arrest* him. No Miranda. They disappeared him. https://t.co/N49Awxw1T1
— Talib Kweli Greene (@TalibKweli) April 29, 2015

Early Wednesday morning, attorney Stephen Beatty confirmed that Kent was alive and awaiting processing at Baltimore’s Central Booking and Intake Facility (CBIF).
“As a service to the community I can confirm that Mr. Kent is at CBIF awaiting processing,” Beatty tweeted. “Report is he is ok and safe. Due to large numbers of arrests, processing is slow. He is not even in system yet. More will be known in about 5 hours... But everyone breathe.”

“I am hoping that when [Kent] sees the commissioner, he will just be released on [recognizance]” Beatty added later. Under this procedure, the suspect is released without bail, after promising in writing to appear in court for upcoming proceedings.

Shortly after noon local time, Beatty tweeted he was going to CBIF personally. Two hours later, he confirmed meeting with Kent, whom he described as "healthy and positive," and confirmed being retained as his attorney.

A student at the historically black Morgan State University in Baltimore, Kent rose to prominence as a community organizer during last fall’s Baltimore protests in solidarity with Ferguson, Missouri. Speaking to Baltimore CityPaper later, civil rights organizer Reverend Heber Brown IIIdescribed Kent a “Martin Luther King with tattoos and gold fronts.”

According to the Baltimore police, 35 people were arrested for violating the 10:00pm - 5:00am curfew imposed under the state of emergency rules in Baltimore. The curfew began on Tuesday night, and is scheduled to last a week, unless extended. Approximately 250 people have been arrested since Monday’s clashes between what appeared to be high-school students and police, which turned into riots in West Baltimore on Monday evening. The state of emergency suspended the regulation requiring the police to present those arrested before the courts within 24 hours, extending that deadline to 47 hours instead. Reports from attorneys flocking to the CBIF indicate that bail for first-time offenders has been set to $10,000, cash.

Several businesses have been vandalized and looted, and at least five buildings and 144 vehicles burned down, as riots shook Baltimore on Monday night. By the following day, thousands of law enforcement officers from around Maryland and the neighboring states were deployed to Baltimore, along with over 1000 Maryland National Guard, patrolling the city in armored vehicles.Tuesday’s gatherings were different, with prayer circles, street parties, music and dancing. On a couple of occasions objects were thrown at police, but community organizers – including Kent and the self-identified members of Crips and Bloods street gangs – kept the gatherings peaceful.



http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/04/29/joseph-kent-arrested-live-tv-missing/26565625/

Baltimore protester Joseph Kent a 'free man,' attorney says
Lori Grisham, USA TODAY Network
April 30, 2015

Prominent Baltimore activist Joseph Kent who was arrested Tuesday night on live TV was released Thursday morning, according to a tweet from his attorney Steve Beatty. Kent's arrest, broadcast on CNN, showed him walking with his hands up in front of a police line after the city's 10 p.m. curfew. He was quickly surrounded by members of the National Guard before being pushed into an armored car. Kent's whereabouts after the arrest were largely unknown and until Beatty began giving updates on social media.

Kent, a 21-year-old music student at Morgan State University, gained attention during protests in Baltimore after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., according to a 2014 report in the Baltimore City Paper. In that report, Kent is credited with helping to keep protests peaceful and organized.

On Tuesday, Kent was participating in protests following the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died on April 19 from a spinal injury obtained while in police custody. The city instituted a 10 p.m. curfew after riots Monday night left buildings burned and police officers injured.

USA TODAY Network contacted the Baltimore Police Department, but the public information officers have not returned calls and emails for comment.




http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/04/29/baltimore-freddie-gray-race-police-shooting-editorials-debates/26609493/

Baltimore uprising not all about race: Our view
The Editorial Board
April 29, 2015

Since 2011, the city has paid out more than $6 million to settle, and hush up, more than 100 police brutality lawsuits.

Since the killing of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo., eight months ago and subsequent riots, the discussion has been all about race, and rightly so. Ferguson is two-thirds black, but the power structure — from city manager to judge to prosecuting attorney and clerks — was white. Just four of its 54 police officers were black. The Justice Department found overwhelming evidence of bigotry in policing.

But Baltimore, where riots erupted this week after the death of another young black man in police custody, doesn't fit that cookie cutter. Its mayor is a black woman, as was her predecessor, and several black police commissioners have run the department, where half the officers are African American. Yet Baltimore is the latest city to erupt in race-linked violence.

ANOTHER VIEW: Riots don't hinder the movement

The obvious conclusion: The problem isn't just about race. There's much more — a toxic mix of desperate poverty, drug-ridden neighborhoods, tough cops dealing with tough problems, and an insular culture that isolates police from the community.

Long before Freddie Gray's death on April 19, Baltimore had a deplorable record of police violence against citizens. Since 2011, the city has paid out more than $6 million to settle, and hush up, police brutality lawsuits.

Now, it will need to face up to its problems, racial and non-racial. Among the most intractable:

•Thin blue line. Police — regardless of race — often develop an us-vs.-them mindset. Cops work with other cops by day and socialize with them off duty. "No matter their skin color, their uniform is still blue," Northeastern University criminologist James Alan Fox says. "And blue trumps black."

•Unconscious bias. Because "a hugely disproportionate percentage of street crime is committed by young men of color," FBI Director James Comey said in a recent speech, veteran officers start to take "a mental shortcut" that leads them to be more suspicious of black males. Fair? No. Reality? Yes.

•Lack of accountability. Police departments aren't required to keep track of excessive-force incidents, and most do not. Police shootings are investigated by fellow officers or prosecutors who work closely with police. Under a Maryland law, superiors may not question an officer for 10 days after an incident, even a death — an absurd requirement that impedes investigations.

•Poverty and hopelessness. Crime and inevitable confrontations with police occur frequently in impoverished communities where young people lack hope, jobs, educational opportunities and strong two-parent families. None of those problems can be solved by police, who are stuck dealing with the violent consequences.

What to do? One well-aired innovation, increased use of body cameras, is already taking place. Progress also depends on better police training, ridding departments of rogue cops, and rebuilding trust with communities.

None of this is simple or easy, or painted just in black and white. But neither can problems that result in bloodshed and injustice be dismissed as too hard to fix. The price of that approach can be seen today in the streets of Baltimore.

USA TODAY's editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/baltimore-protests-freddie-gray-prisoner-in-same-van-heard-banging/

Insight from prisoner transported with Freddie Gray?
CBS NEWS
April 30, 2015

There may be new insight into the arrest of Freddie Gray, as police get a handle on the protests that have shocked Baltimore.

Police plan to release details of their investigation into the circumstances of the 25-year-old's arrest to the local prosecutor Friday. Both agencies are conducting separate investigations, and it's not clear when the results will be made public.

A Washington Post story quotes a prisoner transported in the same van as saying he could hear Gray "banging against the walls" and believed that he "was intentionally trying to injure himself." The other prisoner couldn't see Gray, however, as the back of the van was divided by a partition.

The paper cites an unreleased Baltimore police document in their Thursday report, and commissioner Anthony Batts addressed the allegation to CBS station WJZ last week.

"The second prisoner who was picked up says that he didn't see any harm done to Freddie at all. What he has said is that he heard Freddie thrashing about," Batts said.

Baltimore City Police and Maryland National Guard have coordinated a formidable police presence in West Baltimore, reports CBS News correspondent Jeff Pegues. There were 18 arrests Wednesday and no officers were hurt. The mandatory curfew meant streets were clear overnight.

The state of emergency in Baltimore brought Congressman Elijah Cummings back to his district and his constituents. He urged them to focus on what he believes is the issue.

"The relationship between the African American community and the police, I believe, is the civil rights issue of this generation right here," Cummings said.

Police in riot gear massed Wednesday on one of the blocks that saw violent rioting and looting on Monday.

More than 2,000 National Guard members are patrolling Baltimore's 80 square miles.

"It's a little heartbreaking because that's my community, but I know I have a duty to do, so I plan on doing my duty," Pfc. Dana Williams said.

Thousands of demonstrators moved from Baltimore's Penn Station to City Hall Wednesday, trying to unite "Charm City," and demanding answers about what happened to Gray.

"We still don't know why Freddie Gray was arrested," Morgan State University's Dr. Ray Winbush said.

On April 12, 25 year-old Gray was seemingly unable to walk on his own to the police van. He was found unconscious inside that van when it got to the police station.

Raymond Burr

Raymond Burr was a closeted gay man who had no apparent effeminacy about him, and was indeed the epitome of apparent masculinity. His impressive physical presence was coupled with a quiet, intelligent, gentle and very charming, even beautiful face and smile. He was also a very competent actor, and in his Perry Mason role received top TV awards. I watched him religiously as Perry Mason and again as Robert Ironside. His film career is surprisingly lengthy, though without the same fame that he gained on television. For those listings see the Wikipedia article below.


http://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/14/obituaries/raymond-burr-actor-76-dies-played-perry-mason-and-ironside.html

Raymond Burr, Actor, 76, Dies; Played Perry Mason and Ironside
By WILLIAM GRIMES
Published: September 14, 1993

Raymond Burr, the burly, impassive actor who played the defense lawyer Perry Mason and the police detective Robert T. Ironside on television, died on Sunday at his ranch in Dry Creek Valley, near Healdsburg, Calif. He was 76.

The cause was kidney cancer, said his doctor, Paul J. Marguglio.

Mr. Burr started his career playing Hollywood heavies, most notably in Alfred Hitchcock's film "Rear Window." But he captivated television audiences with his portrayal of the Los Angeles trial lawyer Perry Mason, who won his first case in September 1957 and continued an unbroken winning streak that lasted nine seasons.

Gravelly-voiced and unrelentingly stern, with a habit of exhaling resonantly through his nostrils, Mason got to the bottom of seemingly unfathomable mysteries every week, relying on the private investigator Paul Drake (played by William Hopper) and his faithful secretary, Della Street (Barbara Hale), to defeat the hapless prosecutor Hamilton Burger (William Talman). To pull off his last-minute courtroom triumphs, Mason often broke down witnesses on the stand or produced surprise witnesses that left the prosecution's case a shambles.

One year after "Perry Mason" went off the air in September 1966, Mr. Burr stepped into the role of Robert Ironside, the chief of detectives for the San Francisco police department, who worked from a wheelchair after a would-be assassin's bullet left him paralyzed from the waist down. A Peripatetic Youth

Mr. Burr was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, not far from Vancouver. His father was a hardware dealer, and his mother was a pianist and music teacher. Soon after he was born, the family moved to China and lived there for five years. When Raymond was 6, his parents divorced, and his mother took him to live in a hotel that her father owned in Vallejo, Calif. He attended the San Rafael Military Academy but dropped out at 13 to help support his family in the Depression. After a year working on a cattle and sheep ranch, he returned to school, but he quit before completing junior high school.

After leaving school, he ran a weather station for the Forest Service and for a time worked in China, where his family owned property. He took extension courses, taught school, worked as a traveling salesman and wrote short stories.

Mr. Burr made his stage debut at 12 with a Vancouver stock company, and throughout his teen-age years he picked up occasional acting work.

In 1941, he made his Broadway debut in the musical "Crazy With the Heart." He also appeared in "The Duke in Darkness" on Broadway in 1944 before entering the Navy.

Mr. Burr left the Navy in 1946 weighing nearly 350 pounds, and he immediately landed work in films as a villain. His first screen role, in "Without Reservations" (1946), starring John Wayne and Claudette Colbert led to steady work. In all, he appeared in 90 films.

He first made an impression in "Pitfall" (1948), a suspense film starring Dick Powell, and won critical praise as the district attorney who hounds Montgomery Clift in "A Place in the Sun" (1951) and as the murderer in "Rear Window" (1954). One of his most unusual credits was an appearance in the first Godzilla film as a journalist who relays an account of Godzilla's rampage.

His other films include "San Quentin" (1947), "The Adventures of Don Juan" (1948), "A Cry in the Night" (1956) and "Desire in the Dust" (1960). More recently, he appeared in "Airplane II: The Sequel"(1982) and "Delirious" (1985). Landing His Biggest Role

In 1957, Mr. Burr was chosen over contenders including Fred MacMurray and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. to play the starring role in "Perry Mason," a CBS-TV series based on the mystery novels of Erle Stanley Gardner. In the 1960-61 season, the show was among the five most popular on television, and Mr. Burr twice won Emmy Awards for best actor in a series.

Even after the show was canceled, Mason lived on in syndication. Mr. Burr recreated the role in "The New Perry Mason" in 1973, and in a television movie, "Perry Mason Returns," that was the second-highest-rated television movie in the 1985-86 season. It led to 25 more Perry Mason vehicles.

After appearing as Ironside on NBC from 1967 to 1975, Mr. Burr played a journalist in "Kingston: Confidential" in 1977. The next year, he appeared in the mini-series "Centennial," and in the late 80's he also was one of the hosts of "Unsolved Mysteries."

In August, he completed location work in Denver for "The Case of the Killer Kiss," a Perry Mason television movie.

According to the reference work Current Biography, Mr. Burr was married three times. His first wife, Annette Sutherland, an Englishwoman, was killed in 1943 when the plane in which she was traveling was shot down by the Germans. His second marriage, to Isabella Ward, ended in divorce, and his third wife, Laura Andrina Morgan, died of cancer in 1955. His only child, Michael Evan, by his first marriage, died of leukemia in 1953.

Mr. Burr, who was a cooking enthusiast and once owned an art gallery in Beverly Hills, Calif., bought a ranch and vineyard in Sonoma County in 1981, where he raised orchids, tended his vines and fruit trees, and kept sheep.

He is survived by a sister, Geraldine Fuller of Fairbanks, Alaska.





Raymond Burr
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Raymond William Stacey Burr (May 21, 1917 – September 12, 1993) was a Canadian-American actor,[1] primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside.[1] He also had prominent involvement in multiple charitable endeavors, such as working on behalf of the United Service Organizations.

His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film,[2] usually as the villain.[3] He won two Emmy Awards in 1959 and 1961[4] for the role of Perry Mason, which he played for nine seasons between 1957 and 1966. His second hit series, Ironside, earned him six Emmy nominations, and two Golden Globe nominations.[4]
He is also widely known for his role as Steve Martin in both Godzilla, King of the Monsters! in 1956, which revived his flagging film career, andGodzilla 1985 as well as for being the suspected murderer in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Rear Window.

After Burr's death from cancer in 1993, his personal life came into question as details of his known biography appeared to be unverifiable.[5][6]

Burr was ranked #44 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time in 1996.[7] Raymond Burr is also the actor with the most dedicated Netflixmicro-genres.[8]

Early life[edit]

Burr was born Raymond William Stacey Burr in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada,[9] to William Johnston Burr (1889–1985), a hardware salesman,[10] and his wife, Minerva Annette (née Smith, 1892–1974), a concert pianist and music teacher.[11] His mother was born in Chicago, Illinois; Burr's ancestry included Irish, English, Scottish, andGerman.[10][12] After his parents divorced, Burr, then 6 years old, moved to Vallejo, California,[9] with his mother and younger siblings, Geraldine and James Edmond, while his father remained in New Westminster. He attended a military academy for a while and graduated from Berkeley High School.[13]

In later years, Burr freely invented stories of a happy childhood. He told The Modesto Bee in 1986, for example, that when he was twelve and a half years old, his mother sent him to New Mexico for a year to work as a ranch hand. He was already his full adult height and rather large and "had fallen in with a group of college-aged kids who didn't realize how young Raymond was, and they let him tag along with them in activities and situations far too sophisticated for him to handle."[14] He developed a passion for growing things and, while still a teenager, joined the Civilian Conservation Corps for a year.[14] Throughout his teenage years, he had some acting work, making his stage debut at age 12 with aVancouver stock company.[9]

Burr may have served in the Coast Guard, but never in the United States Navy as he and his publicists later claimed.[15] He had claimed he was seriously wounded in the stomach during the Battle of Okinawa in the latter stages of World War II.[16] Other invented biographical details include years of college education at a variety of institutions, two marriages and a son who died as a teenager, world travel, an acting tour of the United Kingdom, and success in high school athletics.[17] Such claims were accepted as fact by the press during his lifetime[1][9] and by his first biographer.[18]

Early career[edit]

In 1937, Burr began his acting career at the Pasadena Playhouse. In 1941, he landed his first Broadway role in Crazy with the Heat. He became a contract player at RKO studio, playing a film noir villain in Raw Deal (1948). In 1946, he had a regular part in Jack Webb's first radio show, Pat Novak for Hire, playing Webb's nemesis Detective Heilman. Burr appeared in over 60 movies between 1946 and 1957. In 1976, Richard Schickel cited his performance in Pitfall (1948) as a prototype of film noir in contrast with the appealing television characters for which Burr later became famous.[19]He received favorable notice for his role as an aggressive prosecutor in A Place in the Sun (1951), co-starring Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift and Shelley Winters. Perhaps his best-known film role of the period was that of a suspected murderer in the Alfred Hitchcock classic Rear Window (1954), starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly.[1][9]He played the part of reporter Steve Martin in Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956).[20]

Burr emerged as a prolific television character actor in the early to mid-1950s. He made his television debut on the April 24, 1952, episode "The Tiger" of Gruen Playhouse on the DuMont Television Network. (At about the same time, Burr guest-starred on an episode of The Amazing Mr. Malone on ABC.) This part led to other roles in such programs asDragnet, Chesterfield Sound Off Time, Four Star Playhouse, Mr. & Mrs. North, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, The Ford Television Theatre, and Lux Video Theatre.

During this time, Burr's distinctive voice also could be heard on network radio, appearing alongside Jack Webb in the short-lived Pat Novak for Hire on ABC radio, as well as in early episodes of NBC's Dragnet.[3] He also made guest appearances on other Los Angeles-based shows, such as Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar and landed a starring role inCBS's Fort Laramie (1956),[21] which depicted 19th-century life at old Fort Laramie.[22] One year later, Burr became a television star as Perry Mason.

Perry Mason and Ironside[edit]

In 1956, Burr auditioned for the role of District Attorney Hamilton Burger in Perry Mason, a new CBS-TV courtroom drama based on the highly successful novels by Erle Stanley Gardner. Impressed with his courtroom performance in the 1951 film, A Place in the Sun, executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson told Burr he was perfect for Perry Mason but at least 60 pounds overweight. Over the next month Burr went on a crash diet. When he returned he tested as Perry Mason and won the role.[23] Gardner reportedly saw his audition and declared, "He is Perry Mason."[3] William Hopperalso auditioned as Mason, but was instead cast as private detective Paul Drake.[24] Also starring were Barbara Hale asDella Street, Mason's secretary; William Talman as Burger, the district attorney who loses nearly every case to Mason; and Ray Collins as homicide detective Lieutenant Arthur Tragg.[23]

The series ran from 1957 to 1966, and Burr won Emmy Awards in 1959 and 1961[4] for his performance as Perry Mason. The series has been re-run in syndication ever since. Beginning in 2006, the series has become available on DVD, with each calendar year seeing the release of one season as two separate volumes. The ninth and final season's DVD sets became available in 2013. Though Burr's character is often said never to have lost a case, he did lose two murder cases in early episodes of the series, once when his client misled him and another time when his client was later cleared.[25]

In the early 1960s, Burr narrated one film and appeared in several others sponsored by the U.S. Public Health Service. They were designed to educate the public about accident prevention.[26]

Burr moved from CBS to Universal Studios, where he played the title role in the television drama Ironside, which ran on NBC. In the pilot episode, San Francisco Chief of Detectives Robert T. Ironside is wounded by a sniper during an attempt on his life and is left an invalid in a wheelchair. This role gave Burr another hit series, the first crime drama show ever to star a disabled police officer. The show, which ran from 1967 to 1975, earned Burr six Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations.[4] Burr's weight, always an issue for him in getting roles, became a public relations problem when Johnny Carson began making jokes about him during his Tonight Show monologues. Burr refused to appear as Carson's guest from then on and told Us Weeklyyears later: "I have been asked a number of times to do his show and I won't do it. Because I like NBC. He's doing an NBC show. If I went on I'd have some things to say, not just about the bad jokes he's done about me, but bad jokes he does about everybody who can't fight back because they aren't there. And that wouldn't be good for NBC."[27] In later life his distinctive physique and manner could be used as a reference that would be universally recognized. One journal for librarians published a writer's opinion that "asking persons without cataloging experience to design automated catalogs...is as practical as asking Raymond Burr to pole vault."[28]

NBC failed in two attempts to launch Burr as the star of a new series. In a two-hour television movie format, Mallory: Circumstantial Evidence aired in February 1976 with Burr again in the role of the lawyer who outwits the district attorney. Despite good reviews for Burr, the critical reception was poor and NBC decided against developing it into a series.[29] In 1977, Burr starred in the short-lived TV series Kingston: Confidential as R. B. Kingston, a William Randolph Hearst-esque publishing magnate, owner of numerous newspapers and TV stations, who, in his spare time, solved crimes along with a group of employees. It was a critical failure that was scheduled opposite the extraordinarily popular Charlie's Angels. It was cancelled after thirteen weeks.[30] Burr took on a shorter project next, playing an underworld boss in a six-hour miniseries, 79 Park Avenue[31] One last attempt to launch a series followed on CBS. The two-hour premiere of The Jourdan Chance aroused little interest.[32]

In 1985, Burr was approached by producers Dean Hargrove and Fred Silverman to star in a made-for-TV movie Perry Mason Returns.[33] Burr recalled in a 1986 interview, "They asked me to do a new 'Godzilla' the same week they asked me to do another Perry Mason, so I did them both."[34] He agreed to do the Mason movie if Barbara Hale returned to reprise her role as Della Street.[35] Hale agreed and when Perry Mason Returns aired in December 1985, her character became the defendant.[33] The rest of the original cast had died, but Hale's real-life son William Katt played the role of Paul Drake, Jr.[33] The movie was so successful Burr made 26 more before his death.[1] Many episodes were filmed in and around Denver, Colorado.[2]

By 1993, when Burr signed with NBC for another season of Mason films, he was using a wheelchair full-time because of his failing health. In his final Perry Mason movie, The Case of the Killer Kiss, which ironically was based on the final 60-minute episode, "The Case of the Final Fadeout," he was shown either sitting or standing while leaning on a table, but only once standing unsupported for a few seconds.[36] Twelve more Mason movies were scheduled before Burr's death, including one scheduled to film the month he died.[37]

In 1993, as he had with the Perry Mason TV movies, Burr decided to do an Ironside reunion movie. In May of that year,The Return of Ironside aired, reuniting the entire original cast of the 1967–1975 series.[38] Like many of the Mason movies, it was set and filmed in Denver. Burr's illness precluded any further such reunions.[37]

Other work[edit]

In 1973, Burr starred in one-hour television drama, Portrait: A Man Whose Name Was John. He portrayed Archbishop Angelo Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII, as he tried to prevent the forced return of Jewish children from Istanbul to Nazi Germany.[39]

Burr co-starred in such TV films as Eischied: Only The Pretty Girls Die, the miniseries Centennial, and Disaster On The Coastliner (all in 1979), The Curse of King Tut's Tomb and The Night the City Screamed (both 1980), and Peter and Paul (1981). He also had a supporting role in Dennis Hopper's controversial film Out of the Blue (1980) and spoofed his Perry Mason image in Airplane II: The Sequel (1982).

Burr reprised his 1956 role in Godzilla, King of the Monsters! in Godzilla 1985: The Legend Is Reborn.[40] The film won Burr a nomination for a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor.[41] Burr delivered the film's closing lines: "For now, Godzilla – that strangely innocent and tragic monster – has gone to earth. Whether he returns or not, or is never again seen by human eyes, the things he has taught us remain."[42]

Burr also worked as media spokesman for the now-defunct British Columbia-based real estate company Block Bros. in TV, radio, and print ads during the late 1970s and early 1980s.[43]

In 1983, he made a rare stage appearance when he starred in the thriller Underground at the Royal Alexandra Theatre,Toronto and after a UK tour, at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London.[44]

On January 20, 1987, he hosted the television special that later served as the pilot for the long-running series Unsolved Mysteries.[45]

Personal life[edit]

Burr married actress Isabella ("Bella") Ward on January 10, 1948.[46] They lived together for less than a year and divorced after four years. Neither remarried.[47] At various times in his career, Burr or his managers offered biographical details that appear spurious or unverifiable. These include marriage to Scottish actress Annette Sutherland, supposedly killed in the same plane crash as Leslie Howard. A son, Michael Evan, was said to have resulted from another disputed possible marriage to Laura Andrina Morgan. Burr's account provided the only evidence of the boy's existence and death from leukemia at age 10.[48] As late as 1991, Burr told Parade magazine that when he realized his son was dying, he took him on a one-year tour of the United States. He said, "Before my boy left, before his time was gone, I wanted him to see the beauty of his country and its people."[1] His publicist knew that Burr worked in Hollywood throughout the year he said he was touring with his son.[49] As with Burr's claims to have served in the U.S. military, many of these fictions were believed and widely reported.[9][50]

In the late 1950s, Burr was rumored to be romantically involved with Natalie Wood.[5] Wood's agent sent her on public dates so she could be noticed by directors and producers and so that the men she dated could present themselves in public not as homosexuals. The dates also helped to disguise Wood's intimate relationship with Robert Wagner, whom she later married.[51] Burr felt enough attraction to Wood to resent Warner Bros.' decision to promote her attachment to Tab Hunter instead. Robert Benevides later said: "He was a little bitter about it. He was really in love with her, I guess."[52][53]

Family life[edit]

In the mid-1950s, Burr met Robert Benevides (born February 9, 1930, in Visalia, California)[54] a young actor andKorean War veteran, on the set of Perry Mason. According to Benevides, they became a couple around 1960. Benevides gave up acting in 1963[55][56] and later became a production consultant for 21 of the Perry Mason TV movies.[57] Together they owned and operated an orchid business and then a vineyard,[58] in the Dry Creek Valley. They were partners until Burr's death in 1993.[57] Burr left Benevides his entire estate, including "all my jewelry, clothing, books, works of art,...and other items of a personal nature."[59]

Later accounts of Burr's life explain that he hid his homosexuality to protect his career. In 2000, AP reporter Bob Thomas recalled the situation:[55][60]

It was an open secret...that he was gay. He had a companion who was with him all the time. That was a time in Hollywood history when homosexuality was not countenanced. Ray was not a romantic star by any means, but he was a very popular figure...if it was revealed at that time in Hollywood history [that he was gay] it would have been very difficult for him to continue.

Art Marks, a producer of Perry Mason, recalled Burr's talk of wives and children: "I know he was just putting on a show....That was my gut feeling. I think the wives and the loving women, the Natalie Wood thing, were a bit of a cover."[61] In 2006, Dean Hargrove, who worked on Perry Mason Returns, said: "I had always assumed that Raymond was gay, because he had a relationship with Robert Benevides for a very long time. Whether or not he had relationships with women, I had no idea. I did know that I had trouble keeping track of whether he was married or not in these stories. Raymond had the ability to mythologize himself, to some extent, and some of his stories about his past...tended to grow as time went by."[62]

A 2007 memoir by actor Paul Picerni described several experiences with Burr on the set of Mara Maru, when he felt Burr expressed sexual interest in him. He wrote, "I saw him staring at me. With his big blue eyes. And with this strange expression on his face. For the first time in my life, I felt like a DAME. Then it hit me: He'd been giving me all this bullshit about his wife and his two kids in London, when in fact he was gay, and he was makin' a move on me!" He remembered Burr "was a great guy and very subtle in his homosexuality."[63]

Hobbies[edit]

Burr had many hobbies over the course of his life: cultivating orchids, collecting wine, art, stamps, and seashells. He was very fond of cooking.[9] As a dedicated seashell collector, his financial support and gift of cowries and cones fromFiji helped to create the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida.[64] He was also interested in flying, sailing, and fishing. According to A&E Biography, Burr was an avid reader with a retentive memory. He was also among the earliest importers and breeders of Portuguese Water Dogs in the United States.[65]

Raymond Burr Vineyards

He developed his interest in cultivating and hybridizing orchids into a business with Benevides. Over 20 years, their company, Sea God Nurseries, had nurseries in Fiji, Hawaii, the Azores, and California, and was responsible for adding more than 1,500 new orchids to the worldwide catalog.[55] Burr named one of them the "Barbara Hale Orchid" after his Perry Masoncostar.[66][67]

Together Burr and Benevides cultivated Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Port grapes, as well as orchids, at Burr's farmland holdings in Sonoma County, California. After Burr's death, Benevides named the property after Burr. The land is still in production and is known as the Raymond Burr Vineyards.

In 1965, Burr purchased the Naitauba, a 4,000 acres (16 km2) island in Fiji, rich in seashells. There, he and Benevides oversaw the raising of copra (coconut meat) and cattle, as well as orchids.[55][67] Burr planned to retire there permanently. However, medical problems made that impossible and he sold the property in 1983.[68]

Philanthropy[edit]

Burr was a well-known philanthropist.[69][70][71][72] He gave enormous sums of money, including his salaries from the Perry Mason movies, to charity. He was also known for sharing his wealth with friends. He sponsored 26 foster children through the Foster Parents' Plan or Save The Children, many with the greatest medical needs.[14] He also gave money and some of his Perry Mason scripts to the McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California.[72]

A view of the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, with the Raymond Burr Memorial Garden in the foreground, December 2011

Burr raised money for the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum in Sanibel, Florida, and also donated a considerable collection of Fijian cowries and cones from his island in the Fijis.[72] In 1993, Sonoma State University awarded Burr an honorary doctorate.[73] He supported medical and education institutions in Denver, and in 1993, the University of Colorado awarded him an honorary doctorate for his acting work.[74] Burr also founded and financed the American Fijian Foundation that funded academic research, including efforts to develop a dictionary of the language.[75]

Burr made repeated trips on behalf of the United Service Organizations (USO). He toured both Korea and Vietnam during wartime and once spent six months touring Korea, Japan, and the Philippines. He sometimes organized his own troupe and toured bases both in the U.S. and overseas, often small installations that the USO did not serve, like one tour of Greenland, Baffinland, Newfoundland and Labrador.[76] Returning from Vietnam in 1965, he made a speaking tour of the U.S. to advocate an intensified war effort. As the war became more controversial, he modified his tone, called for more attention to the sacrifice of the troops, and said, "My only position on the war is that I wish it were over."[77] In October 1967, NBC aired Raymond Burr Visits Vietnam, a documentary of one of his visits that received mixed reviews, ranging from "The impressions he came up with are neither weighty nor particularly revealing" (Chicago Tribune) to "His questions...were intelligent and elicited some interesting replies." (Los Angeles Times).[77]

Burr had a reputation in Hollywood as a thoughtful, generous man years before much of his more-visible philanthropic work. In 1960, Ray Collins, who portrayed Lt. Arthur Tragg on the original Perry Mason series, and who was by that time often ill and unable to remember all the lines he was supposed to speak, stated, "There is nothing but kindness from our star, Ray Burr. Part of his life is dedicated to us, and that's no bull. If there's anything the matter with any of us, he comes around before anyone else and does what he can to help. He's a great star — in the old tradition."[78]

Illness and death[edit]

During the filming of his last Perry Mason movie in the spring of 1993, Raymond Burr fell ill. A Viacom spokesperson told the media that the illness might be related to the malignant kidney that Burr had removed that February.[37] It was determined that the cancer had spread to his liver and was at that point inoperable.[79] Burr threw several "goodbye parties" before his death on September 12, 1993, at his Sonoma County, California, ranch near Healdsburg.[9] He was 76 years old.

Burr was interred with his parents at Fraser Cemetery, New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. On October 1, 1993, a gathering of about 600 family members and friends of Burr mourned him at a memorial service at thePasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California.[80] The private memorial was attended by Robert Benevides, Barbara Hale, Don Galloway, Don Mitchell, Barbara Anderson, Elizabeth Baur, Dean Hargrove, William R. Moses, and Christian I. Nyby II.

R. William Ide III, president of the American Bar Association, paid tribute to the way Burr's Perry Mason presented lawyers "in a professional and dignified manner" and helped "to educate many people who previously had not had access to the justice system." Though lawyers once complained of the character's implausibly perfect track record, Ide complimented Burr because he "strove for such authenticity in his courtroom characterizations that we regard his passing as though we lost one of our own."[25] The New York Times added that Mason "made the presumption of innocence real...[and] also made lawyers look good.[25] Not long before Burr died, Mason was named second after F. Lee Bailey in a poll that asked Americans to name the attorney, fictional or not, they most admired.[25]

Because Burr had not revealed his homosexuality during his lifetime, initial press accounts gave it sensational treatment. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that People magazine was preparing a story on Burr's "secret life" and asked, "Are the inevitable rumors true?"[5][6] Burr's Ironside co-star, Don Galloway, when asked about Burr's sexual orientation, told People, "I don't know. I never discussed with Raymond his sexuality." The Sunday Mail invented a feminine Burr "wearing a pink frilly apron and doing the ironing. He fussed around like the woman of the house."[81]

Burr bequeathed his estate to Robert Benevides and excluded all relatives, including a sister, nieces, and nephews. His will was challenged by a niece and nephew, Minerva and James, the children of his late brother, James E. Burr, without success.[82] The tabloids estimated that the estate was worth $32 million, but Benevides' attorney, John Hopkins, said that was an overestimate.[83][84]

Recognition[edit]

Burr won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor – Drama Series twice, in 1959 and 1961, for his performance as Perry Mason. He was also nominated a further seven times, once for Mason and six times for Ironside. For the latter role, he was also nominated twice for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama.

The Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan, awards the Raymond Burr Award for Excellence in Criminal Law.[25]

Burr has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6656 Hollywood Blvd.[85]
In 2008, Canada Post issued a postage stamp in its "Canadians in Hollywood" series featuring Burr.[86]

Burr received the 2009 Canadian Legends Award and a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto. The induction ceremony was held on September 12, 2009.[87]

A circular garden at the entrance to the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum in Florida honors Burr, who was a shell collector as well as a benefactor and fund-raiser for the museum.[88] In August 2012, a renovated exhibit about Raymond Burr with information about him as an actor, a benefactor and a shell collector, opened in the museum's Great Hall of Shells.[89]

The Raymond Burr Performing Arts Centre in New Westminster, British Columbia, opened in October 2000, near a city block bearing the Burr family name, and closed in 2006. Originally a movie theatre, under ownership of the Famous Players chain (as the Columbia Theatre), it was an intimate, 238-seat theater. Initial plans included expanding the venue to a 650-seat regional performing arts facility. When in operation, it was the custom to have a picture of Raymond Burr included somewhere on each set, with the first toast on the opening night of every production always dedicated to his memory. The Centre was commonly referred to as the "Burr Theatre," or simply as "the Burr". It is owned by the City of New Westminster, which placed it for sale on 15 June 2009.[90]

Selected filmography[edit]

Film
Year
Film
Role
Notes

1946
San Quentin
Jeff Torrance

1947
Desperate
Walt Radak

1948
Sleep, My Love
Detective Sgt. Strake


Pitfall
MacDonald


Raw Deal
Rick Coyle


Walk a Crooked Mile
Krebs


Adventures of Don Juan
Capt. Alvarez

1949
Black Magic
Alexandre Dumas, Jr.


Red Light
Nick Cherney


Abandoned
Kerric

1950
Borderline
Pete Ritchie


Key to the City
Les Taggart


Love Happy
Alphonse Zoto

1951
The Whip Hand
Steve Loonis


A Place in the Sun
District Attorney R. Frank Marlow


His Kind of Woman
Nick Ferraro


New Mexico
Private Anderson


Bride of the Gorilla
Barney Chavez

1952
Meet Danny Wilson
Nick Driscoll alias Joe Martell


Mara Maru
Brock Benedict


Horizons West
Cord Hardin

1953
The Blue Gardenia
Harry Prebble


The Bandits of Corsica
Jonatto


Serpent of the Nile
Mark Antony


Tarzan and the She-Devil
Vargo

1954
Casanova's Big Night
Bragadin


Gorilla at Large
Cy Miller


Rear Window
Lars Thorwald


They Were So Young (de)
Jaime Coltos

1955
You're Never Too Young
Noonan


Count Three and Pray
Yancey Huggins

1956
Godzilla, King of the Monsters!
Steve Martin


Great Day in the Morning
Jumbo Means


The Brass Legend
Tris Hatten


A Cry in the Night (film)
Harold Loftus


Please Murder Me
Attorney Craig Carlson

1957
Crime of Passion
Police Inspector Anthony "Tony" Pope


Ride the High Iron
Publicity agent Ziggy Moline

1960
Desire in the Dust
Col. Ben Marquand

1968
P.J. aka New Face in Hell
William Orbison

1977
The Amazing World of Psychic Phenomena
host of documentary

1980
The Curse of King Tut's Tomb
Jonash Sebastian


The Return
Dr. Kramer


Out of the Blue
Dr. Brean

1982
Airplane II: The Sequel
Judge D.C. Simonton

1985
Godzilla 1985
Steve Martin

1991
Delirious
Carter Hedison

Television
Year
Title
Role
Notes

1957–1966
Perry Mason
Perry Mason
271 episodes

1967–1975
Ironside
Robert T. Ironside; Charlton Duffy "Death By The Numbers"
194 episodes

1972
The Bold Ones: The New Doctors

Robert T. Ironside
1 episode

1977
Kingston: Confidential
R.B. Kingston
13 episodes

1979
The Love Boat
Malcolm Dwyer
2 episodes

Centennial
Herman Bockweiss
12 episodes

Eischied
Police Commissioner
2 episodes

The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo
The Godfather
1 episode
1979

Love's Savage Fury
Lyle Taggart Sr.
Television movie
1981

Peter and Paul
Herod Agrippa I
Television movie
1985–1993

Perry Mason TV movies
Perry Mason
26 television films
1993

The Return of Ironside
Robert T. Ironside
Television movie

Cheney And Gonzales and Their Private Prison Investments
Linked with ACLU article on my "A Day At A Time" blog post dated April 27, 2015
Lucy M. Warner


http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/brenda-norrell/2008/11/cheney-indicted-prison-profiteering-texas

Cheney indicted for prison profiteering in Texas
Posted by Brenda Norrell - November 18, 2008

WILLACY COUNTY, Texas -- US Vice President Dick Cheney was indicted today for a prison profiteering scheme and charged with abuse of prisoners. Cheney invested millions in the Vanguard Group, an investment management company with interests in the prison companies in charge of detention centers. Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was also indicted in the prison profiteering scheme, resulting in ongoing prisoner assaults and at least one murder.

Human rights activists urged a probe into prison profiteering after the private prison corporations GEO Group and CCA (Corrections Corporation of America) began receiving enormous federal contracts to build detention centers to imprison migrants. GEO's new migrant prisons including prisons in Laredo, Texas and Jena, Louisiana.

Human rights activists said the fever-pitched racism mounted toward immigrants at the US/Mexico border was induced for the purpose of prison profiteering by US officials reaping enormous profits. The increased arrests of migrants resulted in profits and a long list of new prison construction contracts for the GEO Group, formerly Wackenhut, both with a long history of assaults and murders in prisons. 

A Texas grand jury indicted Cheney today and accused him of at least misdemeanor assaults of inmates by allowing inmates to assault fellow inmates. Gonzales was charged with having used his position to stop investigations into assaults committed in a prison for profit in Willacy County, Texas. Both Cheney and Gonzales were charged with engaging in organized criminal activity.

Last month, a Willacy County grand jury indicted the GEO Group, on a murder charge in the death of a prisoner days before his release in 2001. The indictment alleged the GEO Group allowed other inmates to beat Gregorio de la Rosa Jr. to death with padlocks stuffed into socks. The death happened at the Raymondville facility. A jury ordered the company to pay de la Rosa's family $47.5 million in a civil judgment in 2006. The Cheney-Gonzales indictment refers to the de la Rosa case. 

Human rights activists protested both Raymondville and Hutto prisons in southwestern Texas in recent years. At Hutto, migrant women and children were abused. ICE refused to allow a UN Rapporteur into Hutto.

During the Bush-Cheney regime, prisons of torture and prisons for migrants became synonymous with the name GEO, from Guantanamo to migrant prisons in the south and along the southwest border.

Cheney said Guantanamo was vital in 2005 and detainees could expect to be treated better here than "by virtually any other government on the face of the earth." 

Geo was awarded a contract for the continued management of the Migrant Operations Center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in Nov. 2, 2006. Recently, GEO received a contract for a migrant prison in Jena, La. GEO also received a contract for housing "criminal aliens" in the US, as stated on the GEO website.

GEO's migrant prisons were not restricted to the US. GEO also assumed a management contract in the Campsfield House Immigration Removal Center in England.

GEO was not the only one profiteering. The Wackenhut Corp. was also profiteering from transporting migrants from the border after their arrests. The two companies split in 2003.

All along the border, while GEO was building prisons, GEO's other half, Wackenhut Corp., was profiteering from the arrest of migrants from the borders. 

The United States Customs and Border Protection agency entered into the contract with Wackenhut Corp., to transport arrested migrants from the border. Wackenhut is now the domestic subsidiary of the U.K.-based security giant Group 4 Securicor.

It comes as no surprise that the Vanguard Group is also currently a major shareholder in Halliburton, the longtime war profiteer in Iraq. Cheney's investments in the Vanguard Group are estimated at between $25 and $86 million, since exact numbers have not been released.

While the US filled its prisons with migrants, with a price on their heads, the number of Native American prisoners soared.

The US Department of Justice recently released a study showing that Native American inmates in Indian country jails increased by 24 percent between 2004 and 2007. The figures for Native Americans in all facilities -- tribal, federal and state -- increased 4.5 percent. Suicides, attempted suicides, deaths and escapes were cited as the result of deteriorating prison conditions.

Human rights activists hope the indictments of Cheney and Gonzales are the first of many indictments of the Bush-Cheney administration.



About Brenda Norrell

Biography:

Brenda Norrell has been a news reporter in Indian country for 33 years. She is publisher of Censored News, focusing on Indigenous Peoples, human rights and the US border. Censored News was created after Norrell was censored, then terminated, by Indian Country Today after serving as a longtime staff reporter. Now censored by the mainstream media, she previously was a staff reporter at numerous American Indian newspapers and a stringer for AP, USA Today and others. She  lived on the Navajo Nation for 18 years, and then traveled with the Zapatistas. She covered the climate summits in Cochabamba, Bolivia, and Cancun, Mexico, in 2010.

Right, Left and Race – Valdosta State
April 25, 2015

This looks like the kind of conflict that some rightists have claimed is bound to happen, and who are even hoping twill happen – events leading to “race war.” If these stories below are accurate, there is a black supremacist group behind the black outrage following the events at Ferguson. There is no question that such a group was at the center of the group at Valdosta. I don't, however, believe that far left black radicals are actually, behind the matter at Ferguson and beyond, but rather a widespread public repulsion at the police tactics that have been uncovered in so many cases in which video was provided to show the whole scene. It has simply become impossible for police to hide now.

Police preventing photographers from making videos and photos where they are operating and even making arrests, grabbing cameras, etc., is basically unconstitutional, yet it has occurred in Ferguson and other places in the last six or more months. Likewise a number of states have begun making laws against the Internet sharing of those videos. It's a clear case of some police supporting right wing activists and countering the left or liberal groups. Unfortunately the more moderate left is only trying to bring about a public awareness of what the right is working toward – control by force. These things need to be challenged in court.

There is no statement from the black group at Valdosta in either article giving their beliefs and overall purpose. There were a number of highly inflammatory comments quoted on the Conservative Treehouse website by both radical blacks by and equally incensed conservative/whites. This is the kind of conflict filled interactions that will not produce peaceful and just communities, no matter where we stand on the issues. We need town meetings, local mayors, policemen and city councilmembers, as well as socially conscious nonviolent activists of a reasonable and moderate sort who can work to change public opinion in each community. Meanwhile, however, we should not be having policemen preventing the public recording of such incidents or of policemen in action.





http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/news/local_news/protester-at-valdosta-state-details-impact-of-slavery/article_db4d77b2-e7c0-11e4-8ffd-53c6bd24329d.html

Protester at Valdosta State details impact of slavery
By Joe Adgie
Posted: Tuesday, April 21, 2015

VALDOSTA — With two American flags, a Bible and a Koran on the ground, a protester at Valdosta State University spoke Monday of the lingering effects of slavery in American society.

E.J. Sheppard, calling himself a member of the UNPrison Free Spirit, the Gatherers of Divine Souls and the New Black Panther Party, engaged those counter-protesting against the groups’ use of the American flag in a Friday incident that received international attention.

“White privilege is an unearned privilege that white people have that is allotted to them because of the system of white supremacy, that is built on the system of African demise,” Sheppard said.

Sheppard said the Bible represents what he sees as Africans being forcibly indoctrinated into Christianity, and the Koran represents Arabs forcibly indoctrinating them into Islam.

“What does the Bible have to do with African enslavement? Did Africans come over here praising Jesus? You have to understand, that religion was forced on us,” Sheppard said.

“So you all don’t get a misconception that we’re all Muslims, no. In 700 AD, we were enslaved under the Arabs in East Africa and the Middle East.”

Sheppard said he did not see whites as friends to him.

“I do not see a friend, I do not see a beneficiary to my existence, especially if you’re not using your white privilege to take down the system of racism and white supremacy, which is plaguing my existence and the existence of my principle,” Sheppard said.

“You have white privilege by virtue of your skin. When other whites see you that have authority at these institutions, they are going to give you a leg up, simply because you appear to them as a sister. I appear to them as other than that, or as other than kin.”



http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2015/04/21/follow-up-we-expose-the-vsu-protest-group-marching-on-flag/

Follow Up: Exposing The VSU “Protest Group” Marching On Flag… *UPDATE* Identified Group was armed – University Alert – Police Now Seeking Suspect Eric Sheppard Jr. – Video Added: “Armed and Dangerous”…
Posted on April 21, 2015 by sundance

UPDATE:  Since we exposed the individual(s) and group, VSU has nowissued an alert.  Apparently the group was armed during the event, and the primary agitator is to be considered “armed and dangerous.”

UPDATE #2:  Media now beginning to report on Eric Sheppard Jr and here’s a local news report showing him in a confrontation with police while lying about his threats and being armed.

The MSM picked up the aspect to the story where Air Force veteran Michelle Manhart confronted the group, picked up the flag and subsequently found herself in a confrontation with the groups advocates and the police. (backstory)

However, despite the media interest, and with numerous media outlets seeking a larger understanding as to the cause of the incident, no-one from the protesting group would speak to the media:

[…] The demonstrators declined to identify their group to The Valdosta Daily Times or speak with a reporter about their cause, but they did engage VSU students in heated debate. (link)

Why would the group refuse to identify themselves?  What is the purpose of the group?  Who, and what exactly, are VSU administrators allowing to take place on their campus?
The protestors obviously want to avoid sunlight, so we dig a little deeper and share what exactly their purpose was.

The group self identifies as a Black Supremacy movement seeking the elimination of all white influences upon their lives.  This is the same group who supports the conspiracy theory behind the death of Kendrick Johnson; and these are the same social justice advocates who are the foot soldiers for the professionally black Grievance Industry.

To better understand their position LISTEN HERE (FB Video).   A more vulgar version of their screed (they didn’t know they were being recorded) is AVAILABLE HERE.

When civil rights attorneys Benjamin Crump, Daryl Parks, Natalie Jackson,  and media financing entities like Russell Simmons et al, dispatch their calls to the social justice warriors to activate their protests – the group represented at this VSU protest are the people who respond.

Generally in the same ideological vein as the New Black Panther Party:

….these are the same people behind the “F**k The Police” movement, and the “Black Lives Matter” movement.  They are also aligned with the “Black Brunch” groups who you might have seen disrupting lunches to advance their race-driven causes.

Whenever an opportunity presents itself they immediately respond to advocate for their overall grievances.  Ferguson to New York, to Madison, to Charlottesville, to North Charleston, to Baltimore and to Valdosta State University… the construct of their social justice cause continually looking for an opportunity for an audience; and a complicit media more than willing to sell their narrative.

Perhaps now, with a larger context, the recent sunlight in Memphis Tennessee makes a little more sense:

…all connected to the same ideological world view.


Comments:

zephyrbreeze says:

April 21, 2015 at 4:13 pm
Funny how the term “Black Supremacy Group” didn’t make it into the articles.
But it doesn’t mean some of the media didn’t know. Willful blindness.
peachteachr says:

April 22, 2015 at 12:30 am
I am going to tag in to these earliest comment to give you all some of the latest in local flavor. The protesters claimed to be aligned with the Black Panther Party and really identify with their early views of death to the oppressors aka “whitey”.
Someone earlier asked if there was a leadership problem at VSU and I shared that the fairly new President had just turned in his resignation. Turns out Pres. McKinney showed up plastered (drunk) to a big VSU function and so he was forced to resign. So I guess the U is somewhat rudderless.
One last piece of info which is interesting is that Kendrick Johnson’s 22 year old sister, Kenyetta, was shot in a car yesterday at @ 2AM. Just saying.
Lastly, the mayor of Valdosta is stepping into the breech and there will be a big rally supporting the flag and apple pie on Friday. I’ll share more as I know more.
peachteachr says:

April 22, 2015 at 1:23 am
You are so safe in Valdosta when you travel. Please do not judge this fabulous community by a few bad apples. There has always been a triangle of the Moody Air Force Base, the city, and the college that has developed a vivacious community.
georgiafl says:

April 22, 2015 at 5:12 pm
I agree with Peachteachr – Valdosta was my hometown for many years and is a safe, conservative city. This perfidy will not stand there. The citizens will rise up and meet this head on. Believe me.

brayingjackass says:
April 23, 2015 at 11:07 am
I don’t see the VSU stating that all students involved will be suspended immediately like was done to the Oklahoma students and these students are actually threatening death and violence.

lilbirdee'12 says:
April 22, 2015 at 12:50 am
Peachteachr, I believe I read that the Mayor of Valdosta has declared April 24 to be Flag Day in the City. They are pulling out all the stops to hold back the tide of American Pride bearing down on their do-nothing, tamp-it-down response to the disgraceful protestors.

John C Hall Jr says:
April 22, 2015 at 4:45 pm
Dr. Mckinney did not show up plastered drunk…get your facts straight…it was a member of his administration that was intoxicated after an event and she resigned. I am a 1982 Valdosta State Graduate. Dr. Mckinney has been under siege due to the commie faculty that was furious that one of their own got canned. They hounded Dr. McKinney and he resigned this month. I should know…I had written Dr. Mckinney about the commie professor and that professor started attacking me as an alumni….Dr. Mckinney shut the professor down for the attacks…..btw I am sure the commie faculty approved of what the black panthers were doing…I hope they are happy now…

Roy says:
April 21, 2015 at 4:15 pm
WOW! What a great job exposing those agitators. It’s nice to know the college had no interest in their activity. It must be because someone in admin knew who they were and approved.
I’m sure their firearms are legal so there’s no need for police to check up on them.






http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/04/24/402024627/at-a-georgia-university-tension-between-free-speech-patriotism-sparks-protest

At A Georgia University, Tension Between Free Speech, Patriotism Sparks Protest
Eyder Peralta
April 24, 2015

Video – Protestors came in on motocycles – Matt Belanger 

An incident that sparked tensions between the ideals of patriotism and free speech has culminated in a mass protest that shut down the campus of Valdosta State University in south Georgia on Friday.

According to several local media outlets, thousands of protesters from around the state flooded onto the college campus to fly American flags.

Reporter Matt Belanger, of Atlanta's WSB-TV, reported that protesters came in on motorcycles, carried large and small flags and chanted "U.S.A., U.S.A., U.S.A.!"

All of this started last weekend, when Air Force veteran Michelle Manhart tried to take an American flag from protesters who were desecrating it. The incident made regional news, because someone recorded the confrontation on video (careful, there's a fleeting expletive):

"This belongs actually to the entire United States," Manhart is heard saying in the video. But one of the protesters tells a police officer that the flag actually belongs to her and he should take it away from Manhart.

Eventually police use force to do just that and the person recording the video asks the police officers repeatedly why they didn't defend the American flag.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the university banned Manhart from its campus and Dr. William J. McKinney, the university president, wrote a letter addressing the incident.

He said the university has an unwavering commitment to military veterans. But it also has an unwavering commitment to the ideal of free expression.

McKinney explained:

"While we respect the strong feelings held by many regarding our nation and its symbols, we also respect the rights of our students, faculty, and staff to express themselves through constitutionally protected symbolic expression in an environment that encourages, rather than discourages, civil debate. The events of April 17, and those in its aftermath, display just such expression.

"In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in the Texas v. Johnson case that the First Amendment protects symbolic political expression, even with the American flag. As Justice Brennan stated in that decision, 'If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.'"

For their part, the organizers of today's protest said they were protesting at the university campus to "show the school, the [Black Panther Party, which they believe was the group that desecrated the flag] and the Airmen of Moody Air Force Base that we will not waiver in standing up for of nation, our flag or our soldiers. Please join us and pass this around."

@MattWSB
Closest thing I've seen to trouble so far: Police break up group taking photo in the middle of the street @wsbtv
2:35 PM - 24 Apr 2015 · Valdosta, GA, United States

A Minor Genius Dies
April 1, 2015


For any of you who are unfamiliar with the Pet Rock, they are advertised for sale from Rosebud Entertainment on Google, however when I looked at it there were several shown, none of which was the original. Without the “care manual” it would be boring, so the shopper should examine the ad to see what is included. There is one on the Google site which includes a leash.

I got mine the year it first came out at Christmas time. When I read the book I laughed so hard my diaphragm began to hurt. I went back to the store the next day to get one for my father for Christmas and already they were sold out. When I told the sales clerk what I wanted he started laughing. He said he had some more on order and what day to come back. I did, and my father loved his, too. We kept it on a bookcase along with other knicknacks. When my mother died and we emptied the house it was still there, and I took it to Jacksonville with me. It sits on my dresser now and I read it every now and then. The novelty has worn off, of course, but it still gives me a chuckle. The creator of the rock died today. His biography on Wikipedia is below after the CBS news article on his death. That rock made him a millionnaire.




http://www.cbsnews.com/news/pet-rock-creator-gary-dahl-dead-at-78/

Pet Rock creator Gary Dahl dead at 78
AP  April 1, 2015

Photograph – Undated family handout image shows Gary Ross Dahl  AP

JACKSONVILLE, Ore. -- Gary Ross Dahl, the creator of the wildly popular 1970s fad the Pet Rock, has died at age 78 in southern Oregon.

Dahl's wife, Marguerite Dahl, confirmed Tuesday that her husband of 40 years died March 23 of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The smooth stones came packed in a cardboard box containing a tongue-in-cheek instruction pamphlet for "care and feeding." Dahl estimated he had sold 1.5 million of them at roughly $4 each by the time the fad fizzled. The Pet Rock required no work and no time commitment.

Born Dec. 18, 1936, in Bottineau, North Dakota, Dahl was raised in Spokane, Washington.

In 1975, he was a Los Gatos, California, advertising executive when he came up with the Pet Rock idea.

Dahl also penned "Advertising for Dummies."

In 2000, he was a grand prize winner in the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest for dreadful prose. His winning entry: "The heather-encrusted Headlands, veiled in fog as thick as smoke in a crowded pub, hunched precariously over the moors, their rocky elbows slipping off land's end, their bulbous, craggy noses thrust into the thick foam of the North Sea like bearded old men falling asleep in their pints. "

He and his wife retired and moved to Jacksonville in 2006.

The Pet Rock craze "was great fun when it happened," his wife recalled in a telephone interview. Over time, however, "people would come to him with weird ideas, expecting him to do for them what he had done for himself. And a lot of times they were really, really stupid ideas."

By 1988, Dahl told The Associated Press he had avoided interviews for years because of what he called "a bunch of wackos" appearing out of nowhere with threats and lawsuits.

Of the little rock that became a household word, he said, "Sometimes I look back and wonder if my life wouldn't have been simpler if I hadn't done it."

Dahl designed and built the Carry Nations Saloon in Los Gatos, his wife said.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by a sister, Candace Dahl of Spokane; daughters Chris Nunez and Samantha Leighton; son Eric Dahl; stepdaughter Vicki Pershing and grandchildren.

Dahl and his wife were avid sailors on San Francisco Bay, where she plans to sprinkle his ashes in May.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_Rock
Pet Rock
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Photograph – The Pet Rock "Pet Carrier", which doubled as its packaging

Pet Rock was a collectible conceived in 1975 by advertising executive Gary Dahl.

Development

In April 1975, Gary Ross Dahl was in a bar (which is now Beauregard Vineyards Tasting room inBonny Doon) listening to his friends complain about their pets. This gave him the idea for the perfect "pet": a rock.[1] A rock would not need to be fed, walked, bathed, or groomed; and would not die, become sick, or be disobedient. He said they were to be the perfect pets, and joked about it with his friends.[2] Dahl took the idea seriously, and drafted an "instruction manual" for a pet rock. It was full of puns, gags and plays on words that referred to the rock as an actual pet.

Marketing

Pet Rocks were a smooth stone from Mexico's Rosarito Beach.[3] They were marketed like live pets, in custom cardboard boxes,[3] complete with straw and breathing holes for the "animal."[1] The fad lasted about six months, ending after a short increase in sales during the Christmas season of December 1975. Although by February 1976 they were discounted due to lower sales, Dahl sold 1.5 million Pet Rocks for $4,[3] and became a millionaire.[4][5][6]

A 32-page official training manual titled The Care and Training of Your Pet Rock was included, with instructions on how to properly raise and care for one's new Pet Rock (notably lacking instructions for feeding, bathing, etc.). The instruction manual was the real product: it was full of gags, puns and jokes. It contained several commands that could be taught to the new pet. While "sit" and "stay" were effortless to accomplish, "roll over" usually required a little extra help from the trainer. "Come," "stand" and "shake hands" were found to be near-impossible to teach, but "attack" was fairly simple (also with some additional help from the owner). The owners also found that potty-training their pet rocks was fairly simple, given that they were, in fact, rocks. Dahl's biggest expense was the die-cutting and manufacture of the boxes. The rocks only cost a penny each, and the straw was nearly free. For the initial run of booklets, Dahl had a printing job for a client and "tacked" the pet rock booklet onto the main job. This resulted in a batch requiring only a cut and trim, at almost no cost except some labor.

With his money Dahl purchased the ironically named "Carry Nations" bar in downtown Los Gatos, California, which he nearly ran into the ground and sold after eight months.[4] He continued to work in advertising but avoided interviews for years, because "a bunch of wackos" harassed him with lawsuits and threats. Dahl said in 1988, "Sometimes I look back and wonder if my life wouldn't have been simpler if I hadn't done it."[5]

Availability

The Pet Rock became available again on September 3, 2012. Rosebud Entertainment currently holds the United States trademark rights to the Pet Rock.[7]