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Banner file photo Harrison
Author Norman Mailer was among those who passed away this year. |
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A year marked by many losses
By Kaimi Rose Lum
Banner Staff
As the year draws to a close, it is with sadness that we recognize the many members of the community whom we lost in 2007. From local men and women whose lives helped shaped their hometowns here on the Outer Cape, to part-time residents who called this place their home away from home, to notable personalities in the literary and artistic world, they all contributed something special to our community. and they will be missed.
The death of Norman Mailer on Nov. 10 cast a pall over Provincetown, where residents felt a personal connection to the man whose status as a literary giant in the world at large merely underscored what they knew of him as a friend, patron, poker co-hort and supporter of the local arts. The two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author had made Provincetown his home for more than three decades, and it was here that he was buried, in Provincetown Cemetery, in a ceremony attended by his family and friends on Nov. 13.
The town mourned when cartoonist and children’s book author Howie Schneider, a longtime Provincetown resident who had made his home in Truro for the last five years with his wife, Susan Seligson, died on June 28 from complications following heart surgery. The witty, warm and charming Schneider, 77, was the author of several nationally syndicated comic strips, including the popular “Eek and Meek,” which ran for 35 years. He was also a longtime cartoonist for the Banner and founder of the Provincetown Year-Rounders Festival.
Grace Paley, writer and activist, died at 84 on Aug. 22. Paley was among the most popular visiting teachers at the Fine Arts Work Center, where her readings always drew a crowd. She was known for her compelling voice as a short story writer; her “Collected Stories” was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award.
Many others who were invaluable in their own way left us in 2007, and though there is not room enough to name them all we will endeavor to pay tribute to as many as possible.
Marie-Louise Bryant, who ran Bryant’s Market in Provincetown with her husband, the late Duncan Bryant, for many years, died Jan. 16 at the age of 85. Mrs. Bryant, a longtime member of the Church of St. Mary of the Harbor, also ran a restaurant and guest house, Bryant House, on Bradford Street in the 1940s.
Lloyd Rose, a longtime Truro selectman, died at 89 on Jan. 11. Born in Truro, Rose was a lifelong resident who made his living as a chimney builder. A champion of historic preservation, he fought to protect several of the town’s historic landmarks, including Town Hall and the Cobb Library.
On Jan. 4, Elloyd Hansen, owner of the Provincetown Bookshop since 1963, died. A familiar presence at the little bookstore, Mr. Hanson was also a musician who taught recorder classes for many years at the Cape Cod Conservatory of Music and Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill.
Lillian Flanagan, a Wellfleet bed and breakfast proprietor and former Truro resident, died on Feb. 13 at age 65. Active on the local school committee and beach commission, she also worked as a real estate broker for Duarte Downey Real Estate.
Shirley Gerber, of Truro and Albuquerque, N.M., died at 84 on Feb. 11. For many years Gerber, an accomplished pianist, and her husband, Morris Gerber, held informal concerts at their home, calling it the Outer Cape Chamber Music Society and donating all proceeds to the local library.
The life of young Cheyenne Whitaker, 25, ended in a ski accident in March. Whitaker, a graduate of Cape Tech, was a free spirit and a familiar face in Provincetown, where he worked every summer.
Lifelong Cape tip resident John Corea, a former Coast Guardsman who was known for his heroics on the Nantucket Lightship, passed away at 97 at the Cape End Manor on March 24. More losses were to occur in the month of March, when former Boston Globe journalist and Truro resident Kay Longcope, 69, died on March 29; and Provincetown native Elizabeth Matta, 89, who with her husband operated Matta’s 5 Cents to $1 Store for 28 years, died on March 30.
A well-known face in town, Richard Medeiros, 78, died May 24 at Cape End Manor. The decorated vet and former letter carrier had served as commander of the Lewis Young VFW Post in Provincetown and played the tuba for the Lower Cape Concert Band.
Internationally known artist and workshop teacher Charles Sovek, 70, a summer resident of Provincetown and Truro, died unexpectedly on June 8 in Norwalk, Conn. And on June 26, Provincetown lost 97-year-old Rose Martin, a self-reliant woman who worked for 38 years as housekeeper and cook for Admiral Donald MacMillan and his wife Miriam. A Provincetown native, she also owned and operated Martin’s Homestead in Provincetown, in addition to a variety of other work.
The Outer Cape community was rocked by the death of 43-year-old Mims Sparks in a car accident on Route 6 July 5. Sparks, who worked at the Provincetown DPW for 19 years, was well-loved, remembered for his quiet, unassuming manner, ready smile and ability to make people laugh. Later in the year, a car accident on Route 6 also claimed the life of popular preschool teacher and Truro resident Edith Sweet, 55, on Nov. 9.
After a long battle with cancer, William “Marcus” Smith, 77, one of the last street artists in Provincetown, died on July 12. Smith could often be seen painting portraits on Commercial Street; he lived year-round on the Cape.
Too young to go, Xavier McLeod, 53, a Vietnam vet and longtime Cape Ender, died unexpectedly on July 11. McLeod worked as a custodian at Veterans Memorial Elementary School, where he was well-liked. The life of Linda Menangas was cut short at 54 when she too died unexpectedly on Sept. 1. Menangas, a graduate of Provincetown High School, worked for more than 20 years at the Cape End Manor as a certified nurse’s assistant.
John Robert “Powerful” Patrick, 99, born and bred in Provincetown, died after a brief illness on Aug. 13 at Cape End Manor. A fisherman, stagehand and actor for the Provincetown Wharf Players Theatre, he helped build the bridges over the Cape Cod Canal and was active in the Masonic Fraternity.
Preston Carter, 77, a poet who was passionate about literature, died at his home in Truro on Aug. 31. Carter, with his wife of 44 years, well-known portrait artist Nancy Craig, had studied in Florence, Italy, and lived abroad in Spain, England and Ireland before the couple settled in Truro.
Sad news came in September with the death of Frank Schaefer, 70, longtime proprietor of the White Horse Inn, where he welcomed artists, writers and wanderers, many of whom returned year after year. Schaefer was a lifetime member of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum and took part in the creation of the Fine Arts Work Center.
Artist and poet Shirley Pell Yater, wife of the late artist George Yater, died Oct. 20 at her home in Truro. A fixture in the art world of Truro and Provincetown, where she and her husband studied with Henry Hensche and were active at PAAM, she was also a member of the board of the Truro Council on Aging.
Another wave of sadness hit the community when Bernard “Sonny” Roderick Jr. died Dec. 1. Roderick, who was dedicated to the youth of Truro, serving as a coach for baseball, soccer and basketball, was beloved. He also organized the Blessing of the Fleet for several years, and often he would represent Provincetown fishermen with regard to state and regional concerns within the fishing industry.
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Dec 27th, 2007