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Vanessa Williams

Remembering Lawrence Otis Graham

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Lawrence Otis Graham in 2015. Photo courtesy of Michael N. Meyer/Cuddy & Feder LLP

If you were lucky enough to know Lawrence Otis Graham, he would greet you with his mile-wide smile and twinkling eyes, so happy to see you. Whether he was in a hurry or not, he took the time to chat and ask how you were doing and catch up. He always had time for his friends and neighbors.

Lawrence Otis Graham, Chappaqua resident, respected attorney, author, media commentator, board member and lifelong advocate for diversity passed away on February 19, 2021. He was 59 years old and is survived by his wife, Pamela Thomas-Graham, two sons, Gordon and Harrison, a daughter Lindsey and his brother, Dr. Richard Graham. He graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School. Graham was an attorney at the White Plains law firm Cuddy & Feder. Graham was one of the most widely read Black writers of the 1990s and is well-known for his 1992 New York magazine cover story, “Invisible Man,” about his experience working in a restaurant at the Greenwich Country Club. He recounted the racism, sexism and anti-Semitism he encountered as a bus boy. The bestselling author of 14 non-fiction books about politics, education, race and class in America, Graham’s work includes the books, The Senator and The Socialite: The Story of America’s First Black Political Dynasty and Our Kind of People: Inside America’s Black Upper Class, his New York Times and national bestseller that is currently under development by Fox Entertainment as a television series based on this book. 

A dear friend …

Graham showed promise from his childhood. Stacey Blaustein Divack has known Graham since the 7th grade in the White Plains Schools, and their friendship lasted through the years, especially when they found themselves both living in Chappaqua. She has many memories of her dear friend. “Larry was a super high achiever. He was the Editor-in-Chief of ‘The Orange,’ our high school paper. He was principled, not political and determined to publish the truth. He was tireless, did his homework and left no stone unturned.” She also recalls from her high school days, “As a leader, he took ownership of issues and coming up with solutions. He followed his dreams and despite some tough situations and racial hinderances, he overcame. He would never attain his goals by the wrong means. It was hard work and honesty.” He was a great friend. “If you called him, he was there, or he beat you to being there.” Family was so important to Graham. “He came from parents who cared so much, and he was very hands-on with his own children.” And she adds, “Larry had an inner spark that radiated and permeated everything he did. He wanted to make a mark in the world. He had his own unique style: brilliance, warmth, caring, humbleness. He was such a warm soul.”

Thanks to Vanessa Williams and her mother Helen, the Grahams settled in Chappaqua in 1998.

Helen Williams recalls, “Vanessa found the house and encouraged Larry to take a look telling him here’s where you should come, the schools are great and it’s a great piece of property–and he bought it.” Mrs. Williams has been a friend of the family for 30 years having met Graham’s mother Betty as fellow members of  LINKS. “Each year Larry would bring me a poinsettia for Christmas. And he did again this year. It was always something I looked forward to. We had a special connection and talked a lot. He listened well to suggestions and advice almost as if I was a mother mentor for him.” What will she miss most? “His eager smile and his laugh, everything about the essence of him. He had so much more to offer. He was always working on something and always looking forward. I will miss his presence on this earth, how much he gave and how much more he had to give.”

Graham was the Chair of the Westchester County Police Board. County Executive George Latimer wrote, “I met him when he and his wife Pam–a talented and successful executive in her own right–lived in White Plains and I was going door-to-door running for re-election as a County Legislator. I walked away from that front door meeting knowing I had just met an impressive man… and he was that and more over the 25 plus years of our friendship.”

A grateful person …

Political differences never defined his personal relationships according to Tara Rosenblum, News 12 Reporter/Anchor. Graham appeared on the weekly Newsmakers program as a political analyst and was often on air election nights. “Lawrence was able to have a political disagreement and separate it from your friendship. He was always there on a moment’s notice. You could ask him about any topic and he could expand on it like an accordion, filling in as much time that was needed to a commercial break. He had incredible political insights and intuition but, what I found most impressive about him with all his achievements, he never forgot the little things people did for him along the way. He was just such a deeply grateful person.”

A good neighbor …

Former New Castle Supervisor Barbara Gerrard has some reflections on Graham. “Larry was the quintessential Renaissance man, but more than that to people in Chappaqua, he was a neighbor, a dad, a concerned friend, the kind of good person we all strive to be. I first met Larry when he was running for Congress. I had just been elected to the New Castle Town Board, and he reached out to offer his assistance in any way he could. It was always his way to offer help, advice, or just an attentive ear, to anyone who needed it. He had that overarching ability to connect with everyone he met, an ability enhanced by his genuine concern with neighbors and friends. It is difficult to accept that his presence will no longer grace our community.”  

Graham could be seen in local shops all over town. Gerrard continues, “He took advantage of everything Chappaqua had to offer. When his children were young, you’d often find him bringing them to Town, especially to the Chappaqua Library, his favorite destination.”  Not only a visitor to the library, but Graham also did an author talk about his book, Member of the Club: Reflections on Life in a Racially Polarized World. 

When former Town Supervisor and School Board member Janet Wells was forming the Chappaqua School Foundation, Graham helped to bring awareness to the organization. He hosted free events, among them a pre-college program about his Ten Point Plan for College Acceptance, the book he wrote while a student at Princeton. Wells worked with him on his 1999 Congressional campaign doing fundraising and was often with Graham on the trail. “Larry had energy and enthusiasm, and he had a lot to offer. It’s really sad he never became a Congressman; he would have contributed so much.” Graham returned the favor to Wells. “He was kind and helped me with my campaign. I always knew I could call him. He would recognize a problem and something he could do to help even before I would even ask. He was such a sensitive person. One of the things I loved about him was how he seized all the opportunities to enjoy life.”

Nichelle Maynard-Elliott, co-chair of the New Castle Council on Race and Equity, has a long history with Graham. “I first met Larry as a first-year summer associate at Weil Gotshal. He was a warm and friendly face and personality. He generously offered his support and guidance as an older, full time associate. Our paths crossed again much later in life as our children attended the Armonk Montessori together, and we discovered we were neighbors in Chappaqua. His warm smile and infectious enthusiasm were consistent for the 30 years I knew him.”

President Bill Clinton shares his thoughts. “Hillary and I liked and admired Larry very much, and we enjoyed the chance to get to know him over the last 20 years. We’re grateful that, in addition to shining a light on the role of race and class throughout our history and in our present day, he used his many gifts to make Chappaqua and Westchester better, stronger, and more inclusive. His passing is a big loss for the community, and our thoughts are with his family and all the people whose lives he touched.”

A beautiful soul …

At his funeral service, on February 27th at the Grace Episcopal Church in White Plains, his wife Pamela spoke about what Graham would want all of us to remember. There were four things: Never give up, have no ego, be a light in the world, and savor the moment. And she added, “be kind.” Lawrence Otis Graham was all that. He leaves us with quite a legacy in his 59 years on this Earth, and a big void now. Maya Angelou said, “A great soul serves everyone all the time. A great soul never dies. It brings us together again and again.” Lawrence Otis Graham, the great and beautiful soul that he was, has done just that. 

Statement from the New Castle Council on Race & Equity:

While Lawrence Otis Graham was not an official member of the CRE, he certainly stands out as a prominent BIPOC member of the Town of New Castle. He wrote compellingly about growing up upper-middle-class and Black, and the pressures of navigating these two sometimes conflicting identities. Our neighbor’s unique voice on the challenges of living in a white world while holding on to Black culture will be missed.

A Gutsy Grand Finale

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During a final stop on a book tour promoting “The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience” (Simon and Schuster), Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton–in a discussion moderated by Vanessa Williams–addressed everything from Donald Trump’s impeachment to the role faith plays in their lives to several of the role models their co-authored book  portrays. 

Story/Photos by Grace Bennett

Pleasantville, NY, December 18–Excitement at Pace University was palpable both inside the sprawling Goldstein Fitness sports arena and afterwards too when staff and volunteers from both Pace and the Chappaqua Library (from where the event had been moved following a weather-related cancellation to the library weeks earlier) were all smiles helping attendees, from groups of Pace University students to hundreds of Westchester residents, pick up their copies of Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton’s ‘Book of Gutsy Women.’ 

Chelsea Clinton, Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vanessa Williams

Before introducing Vanessa Williams to the stage to moderate a discussion with Hillary Clinton and Chelsea Clinton, Pace University President Marvin Krislov, noted that Pace has been co-educational since its founding 100 years ago. “We’ve educated many gutsy women of our own,” he noted, mentioning a host of Pace graduates and impressive ‘firsts’ including: Lillian F. Anstie and Charlotte Osann, among the first women to pass the CPA exam in New York;  Florentine Goodrich, appointed first treasurer of the Tennessee Valley Authority; Dr. Susan Merritt, founding dean of Pace’s Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems; and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins—with two degrees from Pace: the first person of color, and the first woman, to lead a legislative chamber in New York. His final mention, to much applause, was of recent Pace grad Sydney Mesher, “who was born without a left hand, and became the first-ever Radio City Rockette with a visible disability.”

Krislov then invited everyone to welcome Vanessa Williams, “a multi-platinum recording artist… a star of television, film and the Broadway stage, and a lifelong resident of Westchester County.”

Vanessa Williams described The Book of Gutsy Women as Hillary and Chelsea’s portrayal of more than 100 women (103, it was later noted) who have inspired them throughout their lives (Chelsea described the challenge for she and her mom to pare the book down from at least 200 women they had hoped to include).

“They are fascinating profiles and also a playbook for anyone looking for courage… for their own gutsy life,” said Williams. “It is full of personal reflection filled with anecdotes from a mother and a daughter from two different generations but who share a lot in common.”

She introduced Chelsea as “a champion for girls and women, advocacy, writing, and work at the Clinton Foundation, and adjunct assistant professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.” She introduced Hillary as “the first woman in U.S. history to history to become a major party’s presidential nominee,” also outlining her key roles in public service, and her roles as “also a wife, mother and proud grandmother.”

After that, reading the audience correctly on the night of historic deliberations, Vanessa Williams launched into a question about the impending impeachment of Donald Trump.

Vanessa Williams: “…What do you think is going to happen to Donald Trump?”

Hillary Clinton: “Well, let’s just jump right in!”

Volunteers and staff at Pace University and the Barnes and Noble Bookstore on Pace’s campus
Representing the Chappaqua Library and Scattered Books of Chappaqua

But first she thanked Pace University, the Chappaqua Library, “Pam (Pamela Thornton), who keeps the Library going”,  Scattered Books, “our local store in Chappaqua,” Barnes and Noble on the Pace campus-and Vanessa Williams: “She’s local, she’s Westchester, she’s Chappaqua… but talk about a gutsy woman!…”

And then it was on to the impeachment proceedings:

Hillary said: “I have to say I thought Nancy Pelosi did a really extraordinary job… of delivering a somber, deliberative debate about whether or not the impeachment clause in our Constitution should be applied to our current president…”

She explained that “way back in 1974, she had been on the staff that investigated President Nixon, and able to watch the debate that took place in the House Judiciary Committee then. One of the members of Congress, in particular, who summed up what was at stake was Barbara Jordan, and she delivered, one of the great speeches of the last 100 years. I remember being taken and moved by the seriousness by all the members of Congress to the point when the Judiciary committee voted and Republican House members had voted for at least one of the articles of impeachment, putting country over party..”

At another juncture, Hillary added that Senator Mitch McConnell will aim for an acquittal but also noted “that many in the polls are in favor of conviction…While I don’t think that’s likely with the current state of affairs at least it shows that the American people have really understood why this is such an important moment in our history.”

Throughout the book tour for The Book of Gutsy Women, Hillary and Chelsea shared memories of the women who had the most profound impact on their lives and life choices. Chelsea referred to Geraldine (Gerry) Ferraro, and her historic nomination as a first woman vice president on a Democrat ticket, and of her mom “taking me to see her…. getting all dressed up… and what a big moment that was.”

The mother/daughter co-authors discussed the big gap in women role models between their generations with Hillary noting that she “didn’t know any women who worked outside the home except for my teachers and librarians. I was constantly looking for other ideas of what women could do.” 

She described her upbringing as a typical post World War II experience in an outside of Chicago ‘hood.  Her mother, Hillary said, was “intent on opening my eyes and expanding my horizons.”

A popular comic book character of the day had made a huge impression on Hillary: Brenda Starr was amazing… she had this flaming red hair, she was an international correspondent who fell in love with the guy with the eye patch. It was so romantic, and exotic.”

Hillary mentioned other larger than life influences, including Anne Frank, Helen Keller… “women i met in the pages of Life magazine…,” she said.  “Not many women were held up as heroic figures in elementary school… maybe Joan of Arc and Queen Elizabeth.”

In stark contrast, she added, “most of Chelsea’s friends mothers worked… an interesting distinction.”

Chelsea referred to her pediatrician, a woman, and hardly the only women in her life who were powerful figures and role models.  “It was an entirely different world for me to grow up in.” 

At one point, Hillary Clinton asked Vanessa Williams, after referring to her as a “pathfinder” and “pioneer” who her own role model was. “Who did you look up to?”

“The support of my parents for sure,” Williams said, noting her mother’s presence (Helen Williams) in the audience too. “She told me you are going to have to do better than everyone else just to be considered equal.  I knew in a white environment, I had to be excellent… as a Girl Scout, in a marching band, choir, theater… I did all those things to be a multi-talented performer to allow me the skill set to achieve things.”

Williams also mentioned ‘trailblazers’ including Lena Horne and Diahann Carroll  “who I had the luxury of working with in my lifetime” and who had “opened the door” for her.

Next it was on to a discussion of the critical influence of faith in both Hillary and Chelsea’s lives.

Hillary: “Having faith that connects me to a larger world is an instrumental part of understanding who I am. It is a source of resilience to know that you can be knocked down, but you can get back up, to know that love is the most powerful force of the universe.”

She noted being lucky that her parents “set high expectations but were there for me unconditionally” and mentioned “ a great minister” who took me to see Martin Luther King, Jr. when i was in junior high school, opening my eyes and my mind in ways that i have never imagined.” Hillary said she linked that to her faith: “how you’re supposed to be, how you’re supposed to treat other people… it became major motivator in my life.”

“A lot of the women in the book are women who have been knocked down, marginalized, who have been criticized, beaten, sometimes brutally for what they believe, terribly assaulted, left to die, exiled, or been in prison. The common characteristic they hung on to is their faith, not just in faith in themselves…”  but more, she elaborated that they “were part of something bigger and greater than themselves…  “they were part of greater sense of possibility and hopefulness.”

“It’s hard to keep going in face of all sorts of challenges unless you can dig deep down and think I really have to do this because it really will help someone else because it really will make a difference.”

Chelsea tied a die-hard optimism she said she teaches her children to her own faith and emphasized that “optimism is a moral choice: you have to make a moral choice to be optimistic… that the forces of darkness I believe are relying on us to become exhausted, less optimistic and to lose our faith.”

“That connects me more to my faith, to my journey and gets my determination going to get up every day to do whatever I can for our world and for our shared community,” Chelsea said.

Both mother and daughter weighed in on the voter registration controversy in Georgia. Chelsea offered: “Stacey Abrams has been so gutsy and extraordinary in how she dealt with her I think illegitimate defeat but also with what she is building through her organization ‘Fair Fight Action’ to help ensure that the right to vote is protected in Georgia. Look at what she is doing and learn from what she’s doing and see if you can support her in Georgia and how to expand it outward and extend it throughout the country.”

The women in the book are not all political figures, but all historical figures who have made a difference, whether social activists, writers, Olympians…or scientists.

 Vanessa Williams asked about including astronaut Sally Rider in Gutsy Women, first commenting: “She started as a tennis player… before she was an astronaut. When asked why she decide to become a scientist, she answered: ‘a bad forehand.’”

Hillary explained that Sally Rider had been one of Chelsea’s heroes growing up, and that the Clintons had sent her to Space Camp as a young girl “because she was fascinated by space and astronauts. That was poignant to me because when President Kennedy had announced the Space program, I had written to Nassau, and asked how I can get to be an astronaut, and they wrote back: ‘Sorry we are not taking girls.’”

Chelsea, for her part, said that during the first time she met Sally Rider (at Space Camp graduation!), she “was so overwhelmed that I tripped over my own feet and fell in front of her… mortified, was 12 or 13, and turned a beet red, but she could not have been nicer to me.” But most importantly, Chelsea noted Riders advocacy for young girls in science, and Rider making efforts throughout her busy career to nurture that.

In the course of a little over an hour, the discussion ran the gamut, from the Howard Stern interview, the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting, and a defense of Title IX and health care. A handful of audience questions were posed including a nine year old boy’s question about their favorite baseball teams. Chelsea: The Eagles (“because marriage requires compromise”), and Hillary: the Yankees (because she’s a New Yorker now).

Grace Bennett, Publisher and Editor of the Inside Press, appreciates gutsy women, too.

 

 

Chappaqua Crossing – A One-of-a-Kind Community

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Photo by Grace Bennett

The highly sought-after hamlets of Chappaqua and Millwood now boast an even greater reason to settle down in beautiful New Castle: Chappaqua Crossing.

Located on the stunning former campus of Reader’s Digest on Roaring Brook Road, upscale multi-use Chappaqua Crossing benefitted from the combined strengths of Summit Development and Greenfield partners working together with the New Castle Town Board to create, as Town Supervisor Robert Greenstein proudly shares: “a vibrant commercial center.”

Comprised of six separate buildings of varying sizes, the 120,000-square-foot center is anchored by a sleek Whole Foods Market, a new fitness club and  a growing roster of retail, service and health care providing tenants.

But Chappaqua Crossing is about more than retail and service options. Historic Wallace Auditorium, saved from demolition through a unique consortium of municipal and private support, was donated to the town in 2017, and renamed the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center (ChappPAC). Established to provide diverse arts and cultural programming for community members and people throughout the region, the 425-seat venue is one of Westchester’s best-kept live performance secrets. See next page for more details about ChappPAC, and how to support this New Castle jewel of a newcomer.

Ready to move in? The newly-revitalized, historic Cupola Building contains 64 apartments and provides a unique mix of market rate and affordable housing units, and the North Village of Chappaqua Crossing will feature 91 Georgian-style two- and three-bedroom residences to be built by Toll Brothers with amenities galore. chappaquacrossing.com

The San Miguel Academy: Why Many Residents Rally Behind This Independent & Successful School for Boys in Newburgh

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Vanessa Williams and Frank Shiner
Photo by Simon Feldman

It’s an alliance that makes sense: residents of Chappaqua, a town known for the excellence of its school system, support a small independent school called San Miguel Academy, about an hour away in Newburgh, NY. The academy aims to help boys in Newburgh– a city with an average annual income of about $33,000 compared to upwards of $105,000 in Chappaqua– “break the cycle of poverty through education.”

“We’re so lucky to have the support system we do in the Chappaqua area,” said Melissa Paul, Senior Development Officer at the academy. “They play a major role in our existence and in our ability to continue to exist.”

She attributes the connection to Father Mark Connell, a Roman Catholic priest who worked for a time at the Church of St. John and St. Mary in Chappaqua. Connell taught for many years at John F. Kennedy High School in Somers (now known as Kennedy Catholic), but he was eventually transferred to Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh. Still, he came down on Sundays to celebrate Mass in Chappaqua.

“That was my first exposure to Newburgh and I got to see the depth of the poverty,” Connell said. “I would tell stories about it from the pulpit, and people at Mass would ask, ‘What can we do to help?’” “He gave his community a call to action,” Paul said.

Creating the School

“We all know that education can snap the back of poverty,” Connell recalled telling the congregation in Chappaqua. “The response after Mass was immediate.” A dinner followed; the beginnings of a board resulted; a fundraising dinner on the heels of that raised $1 million.

Connell started a boys’ middle school after learning that research showed intervention in middle school is much more effective than in high school. (He had intended to start a co-ed school, but a group of nuns already had a vision for an all-girls school, Connell said.) Significant financial support from Chappaqua residents continues to this day. “We don’t receive any money from the archdiocese or the government,” Paul noted.

Additional PHOTOS BY GRACE BENNETT

ChappPAC Concert with Frank Shiner & Vanessa Williams: A Fundraising Hit

Last December, Chappaqua residents Frank Shiner and Vanessa Williams performed a fundraising concert for the school, and filled every seat in the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center, Shiner said. “It was so much fun; we had a blast,” Shiner said, adding that a tongue-in-cheek duet of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” was a big hit. “We came together and rallied the troops and the community stepped up.”

San Miguel Academy opened in 2006 with a fifth-grade class, adding another every year until the school stabilized at providing an education to boys in grades five through eight. Boys attend the school at no cost.

Once A San Miguel Boy, Always a San Miguel Boy

Either way, the graduates of San Miguel do not leave the school community behind after graduation. “We say you’re a San Miguel boy forever,’” Paul said. “We have a 12-year commitment to our boys.” This means that well after graduation, graduates get help securing internships, looking for jobs, or help with family support.

“When we take them in fifth grade, we make a pledge that we will take them as far in their education as they want to go,” Connell said. After graduation, most of the youngsters go on to attend high school at private day schools or boarding schools. A small percentage attend the local public schools.

As for the application process, “it’s kind of word of mouth,” Paul said. “We do prefer families that meet the criteria to qualify for free lunch.” San Miguel students stay at school until 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday at the school’s Step-Up After School Enrichment Program, and they attend school in the summer as well. The Summer Scholars Program is a six-week program during July and August designed to prevent San Miguel students from suffering what Paul referred to as the “summer slide.”

It’s a faith-based school, not a Catholic school, Connell said, with a focus on values and character education. “We really try to get across that we’re a human services center that offers middle school, a summer program, family support services” and more, Paul said, adding that the school has paid doctor’s bills for the boys, helped with special needs therapy costs, arranged for transportation to high school and more. “There are a lot of things that we cover.”

Program Breeds Success

Last year, some of the first 5th graders to enter San Miguel graduated college. “All of our boys graduate high school and 86 percent go on to college, trade school, or the military,” Paul said. One of the young men now manages a minor league baseball team. Another is an accountant at a local firm. Others are finishing up college. “We’re so proud of our boys and what they have been able to accomplish,” Paul said.