Fresh Loaf

On April 28, longtime Atlanta community advocate Phillip Rush died suddenly from a blood clot. His nonprofit work included fundraising for gay youth support programs and smart growth efforts. Rush was 55.

“He was about community empowerment — he lived for bringing diversity to the table. … That was his life.”

— Doug Carl, Rush’s close friend, in a May 1 AJC obituary

“What I loved about Phillip was that my impression is that he had come from privilege [and] for Phillip that was never an excuse not to do for other people and never, ever an excuse to stop learning. He was so interested to find out more about people, about how we relate to each other, about what might help and what won’t help.”

— Longtime activist Duncan Teague in an April 28 Southern Voice obituary

“The power of the individual voice is much more amazing than you might think.”

— Rush in a Nov. 2, 2007, SoVo article about providing services for gay seniors

(Courtesy the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta)

Bookmark It

From the Southern Voice:

Phillip Rush, a longtime LGBT rights activist in Atlanta, died suddenly April 28 of a pulmonary embolism, according to his close friend, Doug Carl. Rush was 55.

“I think his passion in life surrounded community building — not just for the gay community, but for the entire community,” Carl said. “That was his life’s work.”

…

In almost 15 years as a program officer with the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, Rush helped provide funding, support and encouragement to a variety of non-profit organizations. His role included work on the agency’s Common Good Funds and leading the “Managing For Excellence” awards, according to a biography of Rush still posted on the foundation’s website.

Rush’s work included a variety of causes and issues, including serving on grant-making boards for United Way and FEMA. He also helped direct funding to gay causes. From 1994-1999, he led the Community Foundation’s Lesbian & Gay Funding Initiative for Youth, described by the agency as “Georgia’s first institutional response to the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth.” From 1994 to 2005, he worked on the National Lesbian & Gay Community Funding Partnership Advisory Committee.

Maria Saporta has memories of Rush here. Project Q Atlanta has a tribute here. Friends, family members and supporters have been signing Rush’s Facebook wall to pay tribute. While no funeral or memorial service will be held, FROGS Cantina in Midtown will hold a “gathering” tomorrow at 6 p.m. to remember him. The Southern Voice reports loved ones have already begun laying flowers beside Rush’s favorite barstool at the restaurant.

(Photo courtesy the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta)

Bookmark It

Millard Fuller, a deeply religious and successful entrepreneur who gave up his fortune to found Habitat for Humanity International, died unexpectedly last week near his home in Americus at the age of 74. The organization has built more than 300,000 homes for poor people across the world.

“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Millard Fuller has literally revolutionized the concept of philanthropy.”

—Bill Clinton in 1996, after awarding Fuller the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

“It’s not your blue blood, your pedigree or your college degree. It’s what you do with your life that counts.”

— Fuller to Time, in a 1989 profile.

“Millard would not want people to mourn his death. He would be more interested in having people put on a tool belt and build a house for people in need.”

— Fuller’s wife Linda, to the Associated Press.

(Photo courtesy of Habitat for Humanity International)

Bookmark It

Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller died early this morning. He was 74. He’d gotten his start building homes for the poor at Koinonia Farm, a radical liberal Christian commune outside Americus (which just happens to be one of the first places I visited shortly after moving to Georgia some 20 years back).

Founded by Clarence Jordan in 1942, Koinonia was a multi-racial community at a time when that wasn’t cool with many whites in the pre-Civil Rights-era Deep South.

Fuller, a millionaire businessman from Alabama, and his wife Linda joined Koinonia in the late ’60s after giving away their wealth and devoting themselves to Christian service.

Inspired by Jordan, but equipped with an entreprenuer’s business sense, Fuller launched Koinonia Partnership Housing, which built simple homes using donated materials and volunteer labor and sold them, interest-free, to the families of poor black sharecroppers who lived nearby.

(more…)

Bookmark It

You’ve probably already heard that Ricardo Montalban died Wednesday morning at the age of 88. Montalban was best-known as Mr. Rourke from “Fantasy Island” and Khan Noonien Singh from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, but was also celebrated for his unique pronunciation of “Corinthian leather” and had a late-career resurgence in the Spy Kids sequels. One of Montalban’s most peculiar gigs, however has stuck with me for two decades. He plays a unique role in this “celebrity science experiment” on Spy Magazine TV special “How To Be Famous,” hosted by Jerry Seinfeld and Victoria Jackson. Look out for the “stunning display of hubris.”

Bookmark It

From the state Democratic Party:

ATLANTA – Democratic Party of Georgia Chair Jane Kidd released the following statement on the passing of former Attorney General Griffin Bell. Bell, who served as Attorney General under President Jimmy Carter, was a native of Americus and passed away today in Atlanta.

“Today, our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Griffin Bell, and although we are saddened by the loss of a great statesman, we honor his memory and the contributions he made throughout a career of public service. I feel a deep personal loss today, because of Judge Bell’s close relationship with my family, but his true legacy transcends personal relationships. As Chief of Staff to former Governor Ernest Vandiver, he was a principal architect of the plan to desegregate schools in Georgia. As a federal judge, he worked to implement the Civil Rights Act, and as Attorney General in the Carter Administration, he fought to improve the credibility and professionalism of the US Department of Justice. These are just a few of the extraordinary accomplishments of an extraordinary Georgian.

“He leaves us with a legacy of devotion to a greater good and commitment to the citizens not only of his country but of the world.”

Bookmark It

From the Atlanta Business Chronicle:

Former U.S. Attorney Griffin Bell, 90, died Monday morning in Atlanta after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Bell, former attorney general of the United States during the Jimmy Carter administration, was a towering figure in the nation’s legal field for decades. As a senior partner with King & Spalding LLP, Bell represented controversial clients such as tobacco firms. The American College of Trial Lawyers even renamed its Committee on Unpopular Causes after Bell.

Bookmark It