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LETTERS Letters from Sister Plante to Letter from Susan Lyman to Public Statement by General Ross Letter from Samaritans of Boston Statement by Edward J. Florino |
The following letter was sent to Mr. Craig Dutra, head of the New Bedford-area United Way, by Susan Lyman, who facilitated the June 15, 1994 meeting between the praise campaign organizers and the Samaritans/FRNB.
My Dear Mr. Dutra: First of all, may I introduce myself? Susan Storey Lyman (Mrs. Ronald T. P.) formerly of Boston, and since 1979, retired from my volunteer career because my husband suffered a massive stroke, rendering him a totally dependent invalid. At his death in '90, I moved to Charleston, S.C. My background in volunteer activity includes, in part, the following:
I would like to stress here that I did not and do not know Mrs. Ross, but was impressed with General Ross' sincerity, decency and eagerness to end a ridiculous conflict arising from his wife's desire to praise Mrs. Leite for dealing with her difficult, suicidal son at the Fall River Samaritans. The General was especially concerned for Sister who is such a completely fine and innocent person, beyond reproach, who helped Mrs. Ross through the tragedy of her son's mental illness and attempted suicide. The son has since died. I anticipated a constructive meeting on June 15, opening the meeting as mediator with articulation of my understanding that both groups wished an immediate and peaceful solution plus a greater understanding of each other's activities. Ms. George then reviewed the situation from the Ross point of view succinctly, fully and honestly, with Mr. Florino's support. Whereupon Ms. Leite proceeded to harangue not only every member of the Ross group but also me, shouting and pointing at me from a standing position that I was a liar, that I knew Mrs. Ross and was, in fact, a party to the "crimes and evils" of the Ross group. It was astounding. Mrs. Leite was out of control, as Ms. Pollock observed to me by stating that she had to "vent". I found this extraordinary, inappropriate, and destructive. Never have I come upon an Executive of a private charitable agency who viciously attacked people sincerely anxious to solve a problem, sabotaging thereby, the effort! She demanded that Ms. George and Co. never contact her again. At this point, I asked Ms. Pollock if I might be in touch with her and she agreed. It was my hope that, after a cooling period, a solution might be found. I left for Maine over the July 4 weekend, and have been bombarded with unsigned, anonymous letters and phone calls, made from pay stations in Fall River, according to A.T.&T. I subsequently forwarded to Ms. Pollock by certified mail a sample of the harassing letters which she accepted. I enclose a copy of my signed letter to her which she did not answer. A second certified letter enclosing more of the harassing, unsigned letters was not accepted by Ms. Pollock. I guess her expressed willingness to communicate was not genuine. My summer was destroyed by the constant flow of these harassing, unsigned letters, the enclosed August 15 letter particularly threatening and admitting the attack on Sister Michaelinda in the second paragraph. The anonymous phone calls, several coming collect, which allowed me to identify two as coming from Fall River, and through A.T.&T., stop them, continued. Dr. John T. Maltsberger, President of A.S.F.-New England, who works at McLean Hospital, also received harassing, unsigned letters. The A.S.F.-N.E. legal counsel has suggested I simply withdraw from this entire situation. Actually, the only action taken by me was one letter (enclosed) to Ms. Pollock, and the opening of the letters to me, plus answering the phone. I cannot withdraw, however, knowing of the gross injustice done Sister Michaelinda and the defamation attempts at so many decent, upstanding citizens, especially the Rosses who were only initially trying to honor and praise Mrs. Leite for her service to their son. I feel Mrs. Leite has lost her perspective, lost control of herself, displaying a paranoia and vindictiveness unbecoming to an Executive of a United Way agency. Ms. Pollock has lost control of the agency as President, is perhaps even a bit terrorized by Mrs. Leite. The entire performance of the Fall River Samaritans at this time is appalling, a serious breach of charitable agency commitment to its community. Mr. Dutra, I would be delighted to meet with you at your convenience if you feel I can answer any questions you might have. Very sincerely, No reply was ever received from Mr. Dutra. © copyright 1994 to Susan S. Lyman. Published here by written permission of Mrs. Lyman.
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How did I ever become involved with the Samaritans of Fall River and the Rosses? Ms. Ivonne George phoned Radcliffe, reaching Dean Phillips Bovet, a personal friend, & mentioned the suicide aspect of the controversy, which led Phillips to offer my name. Ms. George then phoned me in So. Carolina. I promised to try to help in answer to her request, when I returned from S.C. last spring. Upon my return, I met with the Ross group, including* Ms. George, General Ross, Mr. Florino (Dtr of Veterans Services) and Sister Michaelinda. (*Helen Miranda was also present.) A meeting of the two groups was subsequently set for June 15, the time and place established by the Samaritans Board chairman, Ms. Pamela Pollock, who appeared at that time eager to reach a peaceful solution between her agency staff and the Rosses.
