Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Former Wash. Twp. Committeeman Dies at 44
The King of Funny Faces and the
Washington Township Committee
May 13, 2009
From left: Tracy Tobin, Ken Short,Erik B. Anderson (Long Valley Native)
Howard Popper, James Harmon
Missing in Action: Kevin Walsh
Kevin Walsh dies at Long Valley home
Former Mayor, Twshp. Committeeman was 44
Source: Observer Tribune
WASHINGTON TWP.—Former Township Committeeman Kevin Walsh, 44, was found dead at his home on Saturday, Jan. 16.
Walsh, who had battled diabetes since childhood, apparently died of natural causes.
He was first elected to Township Committee in 2004, serving as mayor in 2007. In November of that year, Wash won re-election, capturing the largest total of votes among five candidates for two positions.Walsh was known for his civic pride. He joined the Planning Board in 1998 shortly after his family moved here. He is credited with founding both the Fall Festival and annual July Fireworks celebration. He was also instrumental in the installation and painting of the white fencing that lines East Mill Road shortly after the entrance to town.
He stunned friends and colleagues when he stepped down from his post at the annual Township Committee reorganization meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 5. He cited professional and personal reasons for his resignation. His seat was expected to be filled on Monday.
Walsh leaves behind a wife, Sandy, and two daughters.
Funeral arrangements are not known at this time.
I barely knew Kevin Walsh. I met him at the Memorial Day Ceremony last year. I took this video of him reading a proclamation commending a wounded Iraq Vet who gave 12 years of his life to the service:
I told him about my father's flag, and how excited I was that my hometown honored my Dad that way. He invited me to lunch. I suggested Mama's Pizza. We had an appointment on a Wednesday at noon. He called and cancelled. I was angry. He wasn't at either of the two committee meetings I went to last year. The picture in the upper right hand corner was taken when I presented the POW/MIA Flag that I wanted to go up my Father's Flag in Palmer Park. I had heard he had a bad reputation. I had no idea he was dying. I really, really regret my anger now. A friend of mine told me about his death last night. I thought that I wasn't affected by it right away, but when I went home, I experienced some very strong emotions.
I have often wondered if my Dad's flag goes down to half-mast during times like this. The Township Offices are closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day today. I will call tomorrow to find out.
The Daily Record says that the cause of death is not known at this time. There's a longer article about the man and his life here.
I have often wondered if my Dad's flag goes down to half-mast during times like this. The Township Offices are closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day today. I will call tomorrow to find out.
The Daily Record says that the cause of death is not known at this time. There's a longer article about the man and his life here.
I called up my Dad in heaven just now. I asked him to introduce Kevin to some other cool people from Long Valley, like Jack Borgenicht, Bob Balut and Paul Manos. Kevin died on my Dad's birthday. Maybe he was supposed to go to the party. I hope he makes Kevin feel comfortable. That is my prayer for the former Committeman.
R.I.P. Kevin Walsh
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Bio
A Taxi Driver named Travis Bickle bought the guns he used to save a Iris from a life of child prostitution on June 9, 1972. Three years later, during the first week of June, 1975, Ted Bundy visited his girlfriend Meg and her young daughter for the last time. Bundy would kill again - many times, unfortuanately - but that young girl never saw him again after the first week of June, 1975. That week was perhaps the last time Ted Bundy spent any happy moments with a family. God willed it so.1
Erik's due date was July 5, 1975. He could have been born on the Fourth of July, but Mrs. Anderson developed toxemia, which led to pre-eclampsia on June 9th. She was taken to Morristown Memorial Hospital in Northern New Jersey. The doctors there needed to give Erik medicine to counteract the anti-seizure medication they gave his mother. In order to do so, the doctors shaved Erik's head in a mohawk.
Mr. Anderson's oldest known ancestor was Stephanus Terhune. Sheriff Terhune, as he was known, was the last Sheriff of the British Colony of New Jersey. He was removed from office on July 4, 1776. There was a trial in 1777. It is not yet known to Erik what the outcome of that trial was. What is known is that his oldest ancestor had the same job as the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Erik's paternal grandfather, Blaine Ellsworth Anderson, worked for gold magnate Charles Engelhard, Jr. in 1955. A little known but extremely influential businessman in three financial capitals2, the Harvard Crimson Newspapter calls Engelhard the 'number one American corporate sponsor of the Apartheid regime." Charlie Engelhard's eccentric behavior was the inspiration for Ian Fleming's most notorious villain "Goldfinger":
Blaine supported Charlie Engelhard's campaign to unseat Malcolm Forbes from the New Jersey State Senate Seat in the battle of the billionaires of 1955 because Engelhard promised to save their neighborhood from being turned into a reservoir. Engelhard promised Erik's nine year old father Bruce a ride in a fancy car. The boy waited on the front steps, but the rich man never showed up. Blaine put his heart and his soul into that campaign. After they lost, all he got out of it was a fancy crystal ashtray. Blaine drank himself to death eight years later. It was after this event that Marion Vollum Anderson became the first Queen of Funny Faces:
Erik knows a lot about villains. He also knows a lot about heroes.
The B. Bruce Anderson Memorial Flag can be found in Palmer Park in Long Valley, near the High School.
At the Flocktown Elementary School, Mr. Anderson was chosen to attend an acting workshop in the fourth grade. He was given the part of Snidely Whiplash. He was told to put on a mustache and pound money into his hand. When he got onstage, a female student was lying on the ground below him while a train was coming toward the camera on the overhead projector behind them. When the entire auditorium erupted into a chorus of "Boos!" and "Hisses!", Mr. Anderson didn't even understand what was happenning. It frightened him very much; but now he can enjoy remembering the profound impact he had on the crowd.
As a Freshman in Gill/St. Bernard's High School in 1989, Mr. Gene D'Onofrio cast Mr.Anderson as the "insane priest" in Marat/Sade. In the yearbook Mr. D'onofrio said he is very proud of his son, Vincent Philip D'Onofrio, the award winning actor who played the most disturbed character in cinematic history: Leonard "Private Pyle" Lawrence in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket.
As the insane priest, Mr. Anderson sniveled and coughed and "greeted the community" as a patient in a French Insane Asylum after the Revolution. It was a play within a play, directed by the Marquis De Sade. Mr. Anderson didn't even know what the word Sadism meant, but he did as he was told. He said Satan's Prayer in front of all of his friends, their parents and the faculty of the school. His character attempted to sexually assault the daughter of Coulmier, the director of the asylum. This was Mr. D'Onofrio's idea.. Then he was crucified by the nurse. He peeled himself off the cross and caused more mayhem. It was quite a performance. Erik liked playing that part, but there was a backlash.
In the past twenty years, Mr. Anderson has suffered the whips and scorns of time. He has taken classes and workshops at Centenary College and the Simon Studio but he has not been in any productions. His father's death in 2003 was hard. Erik's life story is filled with tragedy. It is safe to say, he can use his painful life experience to perform Hamlet better than anyone ever.
Other highlights of Mr. Anderson's professional career include:
Mr. Anderson usually loathes being called Mr. Anderson. Most people who call him that have tried to scare him like the villain in the Matrix by calling him "Mr. Anderson". He prefers that people talk to him the way Mr. Ward or Mayor Tillman speak to Agent Rupert Anderson in Mississippi Burning. Example:
"You know what, Mr. Anderson? You're startin' to get so far up my nose, I'm beginning to feel your boots on my chin." -R. Lee Ermey, as Mayor Tillman.
Erik Blaine Anderson was born to act. When the King of Funny Faces acts, he changes the world. Acting is not pretending. Acting is taking action. You will not regret it if you hire Mr. Anderson for any job that requires getting things done.
If you are interested in learning more about Erik B. Anderson, the King of Funny Faces, read his blog:
TheKingofFunnyFaces.BlogSpot.Com
He has another personal blog called The Tragedy of Erik, The Prince of Funny Faces. It tells the story of how he became the King of Funny Faces.
Comments are encouraged.
1Rule, Ann. The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy, The Shocking Inside Story (Revised and Updated Edition). New York: Signet, 2001 - p165
2Forbes Magazine, August 1st, 1965
That Monday, exactly three years after Travis Bickle, put his money down; exactly three years after God's Lonely Man turned his will and his life over to the care of God as he understood Him; exactly three years after the Taxi Driver began preparing his mind and body for his mission; exactly three years later, God went to work. Erik B. Anderson was born on June 9, 1975.
Mr. Anderson's oldest known ancestor was Stephanus Terhune. Sheriff Terhune, as he was known, was the last Sheriff of the British Colony of New Jersey. He was removed from office on July 4, 1776. There was a trial in 1777. It is not yet known to Erik what the outcome of that trial was. What is known is that his oldest ancestor had the same job as the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Erik's paternal grandfather, Blaine Ellsworth Anderson, worked for gold magnate Charles Engelhard, Jr. in 1955. A little known but extremely influential businessman in three financial capitals2, the Harvard Crimson Newspapter calls Engelhard the 'number one American corporate sponsor of the Apartheid regime." Charlie Engelhard's eccentric behavior was the inspiration for Ian Fleming's most notorious villain "Goldfinger":
Blaine supported Charlie Engelhard's campaign to unseat Malcolm Forbes from the New Jersey State Senate Seat in the battle of the billionaires of 1955 because Engelhard promised to save their neighborhood from being turned into a reservoir. Engelhard promised Erik's nine year old father Bruce a ride in a fancy car. The boy waited on the front steps, but the rich man never showed up. Blaine put his heart and his soul into that campaign. After they lost, all he got out of it was a fancy crystal ashtray. Blaine drank himself to death eight years later. It was after this event that Marion Vollum Anderson became the first Queen of Funny Faces:
Erik knows a lot about villains. He also knows a lot about heroes.
Coming Soon: Biographical Sketch of B. Bruce Anderson
The B. Bruce Anderson Memorial Flag can be found in Palmer Park in Long Valley, near the High School.
Erik's favorite character on television growing up on top of Schooley's Mountain was "Howling Mad" Murdock on the A-Team. He dreamed of running away to Hollywood when he was young to join the cast. He wanted to help people alongside Hannibal and B.A. Barracus. He created a character for himself as Amy's adolescent son. Erik organized a gang of boys on the playground that he called the A-team. The fights he had with these boys were legendary.
- Presenting a Paper About Avante-Garde Musician John Zorn and Postmodernism to the Eastern Sociological Society as an Undergraduate in 1995.
- Working as a Public Relations Intern and Museum Tour Guide At The Chester County Historical Society in Southeast Pennsylvania.
- Asking William F. Buckley, Jr. For His Stance On An Environmental Issue in 1996 and Receiving The Answer: "The world is a giant ashtray that we put things into."
- Lobbying all over Washington D.C. with the Western Ancient Forest Campaign.
- Helping Ann Rule "The Best True Crime Writer of All Time" Fight Off Some Malicious Spammers When He Was a Technical Support Rep At a Barnesandnoble.com Call Center.
- Playing Bass In a Heavy Metal Band
- Singing Rock and Punk Songs at Open Mic Nights Around Northwest New Jersey
- Writing Poetry, Essays, Letters to the Editor
- Editing Music Videos Using Windows Movie Maker
- Mastering The Art of Cleaning Toilets at Quick Chek
"You know what, Mr. Anderson? You're startin' to get so far up my nose, I'm beginning to feel your boots on my chin." -R. Lee Ermey, as Mayor Tillman.
If you are interested in learning more about Erik B. Anderson, the King of Funny Faces, read his blog:
He has another personal blog called The Tragedy of Erik, The Prince of Funny Faces. It tells the story of how he became the King of Funny Faces.
Comments are encouraged.
1Rule, Ann. The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy, The Shocking Inside Story (Revised and Updated Edition). New York: Signet, 2001 - p165
2Forbes Magazine, August 1st, 1965
Thursday, January 14, 2010
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