MEDIA COVERAGE

Some final thoughts and a fond farewell

by Ed Rice

Winchester Town Crier
April 25, 1996

From the editor of "The little newspaper that could"...a heartfelt THANK YOU to the many, many Winchester residents who have made my stay here so rewarding for the past two years.

I leave Winchester with nothing but happy and cherished memories, particularly of the many wonderful and talented citizens who made this Maine native feel right at home and allowed me insight into what made each so special.

The list is very long and includes almost every town and school official I encountered, the innumerable and extraordinarily dedicated social service and organizational representatives (from the Chamber of Commerce and Foundation for Educational Excellence to En Ka, Winton Club, Rotary, Jenks Senior Center, Griffin Center and on and on), and especially citizens of all walks of life who embraced "the little paper," particularly those many individuals who regularly worked with us or took the time to write or call with praise or constructive criticism.

The honor of interviewing and writing about or just coming to know the best human beings God can serve up will be with me forever, thanks to Winchester. People like: Ginny and Paul DelVecchio, Arthur "the Tiger" Griffin, Glen Doyle, Joe Bellino, Gen. John Ross, Edward J. Florino, Leigh Spencer Lucey, Paul Casey, Mark Flannery, Sue Soucy, Tod Rosensweig, Sister Michaelinda Plante, Carolyn Gove, Richard Stoltzman, Carolyn Thorne, Roberta Gibb, and even, gasp, my favorite living writer, John Updike...just for starters!

Final Ross case thoughts

I have never published more stories on any one topic or found any story I ever followed continuously as a journalist more intriguing than the convoluted tale involving Gen. Ross, Sister Michaelinda and the Samaritans of Fall River.

No, I doubt I will ever do the book, as a number of you have jokingly or even seriously suggested. I'd need to spend far, far too much time in Fall River speaking to people who've refused to speak to me for almost one and one-half years.

What I most wish for Sister Michaelinda is just to be given the opportunity to clear her name in court.

That means a judge who will see through the specious attempt by Samaritan attorney James Franchek to dismiss the case and allow the deposition process to continue.

That means granting the public the opportunity to hear, through those depositions, what Bishop Sean O'Malley and Sister Michaelinda's two immediate supervisors, Father Richard Beaulieu and Sister Rosemary LaLiberte, all from the diocese of Fall River, have to say about the circumstances concerning the defaming of this nun and the loss of her job.

The attorneys in this case have been outrageous. The nun's attorney, Robert George, has not yet returned even one of my countless calls to him for information.

And the Samaritans' attorney, Franchek, might consider desisting from lecturing competent writers on journalistic ethics, particularly when he insists on a scurrilous strategy of attempting to discredit the record and reputation of a nun with a history of over 41 years of unblemished personal and professional educational leadership by offering a charge of "mental instability" when so such evidence whatsoever exists. A reading of the questions and answers in Sister Michaelinda's deposition makes this very clear.

Further, Mr. Franchek might consider some spring cleaning for his own "ethical house." Though he terms the charge "outrageous," he won't categorically deny that his housemate, a woman named Elizabeth Desmarias, has served the Samaritans chapter in Framingham. It was that very Samaritans chapter Boston Globe writer David Armstrong cited, in the last two paragraphs of his comprehensive story, when he reported the allegedly deceased Michael Ross's voice had been heard on Framingham call-in lines.

When I called the Samaritans chapter in Framingham and asked to speak to Elizabeth Desmarias, the person answering the phone said, "Oh, she's not here right now...Aaaah, what name did you say?...(Hears name again)...I don't know of anyone by that name." Curious answer, to say the least.

And, hmmmm, what ever happened to the Samaritans' cherished pledge of confidentiality for callers? Also, who, working for the Framingham chapter, would know Michael Ross's voice and then find the need to violate policy and leak the information to the media?

Mr. Armstrong, I think you've been had.

And I think concern about that led to the decision to bury the story in the last two paragraphs what should have been the lead item--if it were true--and would have been the only new element in your whole roundup story on the case (Armstrong's very first published piece, on Jan. 29, 1996, came after more than a year of pestering Winchester residents and others in his search for the true identities of Gen. Ross and his wife, people he still regularly tells his sources he does not believe exist).

And to you, Paul Edward Parker, reporting for the Massachusetts edition of the Providence Journal-Bulletin from the Fall River area, the Town Crier stands by its statement that we know retired naval Admiral Morrison exists and penned the commentary we published last August. Shame on your for harassing and threatening a poor man who still grieves for his son and shuns publicity at all costs.

Because your purported objective news accounts, appearing on news pages, are riddled with editorializing it comes as no surprise that city editors of the Providence Journal did not publish the story about Admiral Morrison, nor have they carried most of your other accounts on this case. And with very good reason. If you are interested in a career in this field, you need to go back to school and start with Journalism 101.

With some journalists filing ridiculous statements, such as suggesting from a source that the nun was going to be "excommunicated" or one blanketing editorial summary that she's charged with being involved in "witchcraft," I can well appreciate why Sister Michaelinda and General Ross do not want to speak to the media.

I hope Sister Michaelinda receives the justice she's entitled to receive, the very least of which is her day in court.

New horizons

I'm very grateful to the many Town Crier readers who have called, wondering what's next for me.

I'm happy to report that, after taking a week's vacation, I'll join the Suburban World newspaper group in Needham. Starting May 6, I'll become editor of the Norfolk Suburban Press. I'm still just a local call away.

Sure, I'm excited about the new opportunity...but I'll miss Winchester.

Still, I'm committed to maintaining my relationship with this lovely, lovely town; Ginny DelVecchio and I have taken our first major steps together, aimed at finding the finish line that puts an end to ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

Ginny, against all odds you and I met at the finish line of the 100th Boston Marathon; now I look forward to championing your courage and incredible inspirational lead and, some day soon, accompanying you across the finish line for ALS.

© copyright 1996 The Winchester Town Crier. Reprinted by written permission of Ed Rice, former editor.

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