[Nfbwv-talk] Buck Saunders passed away last night at age 76

[Brad Hodges]

This is one of the most difficult messages I have had to send in recent 
memory, because it is to let you know that at around midnight yesterday 
Buck Saunders passed away.

Many of us were gathered together when we inducted both Buck and Mary 
Ann into the NFB of WV Hall of Fame. Here is a brief quotation from the 
remarks which Ed McDonald delivered at that presentation.

"Willis Gene Saunders was born September 13, 1937, in Huntington, WV.  
As a young boy attending the West Virginia School for the Blind in 
Romney, his imagination was forever captivated by the drama of science 
fiction heroes, gangsters, villains, detectives and crime solvers that 
he heard on the radio.  Fascinated by the heroic adventures of Buck 
Rogers, he took on the moniker that has stayed with him throughout his 
life.  Buck is a 1958 graduate of the School for the Blind, and in 1971 
he earned a degree in speech and psychology from Marshall University.  
His early employment included jobs as a clerk typist with the 
Pennsylvania Department of Welfare and as a police and fire dispatcher 
in Cabell County."

 From my perspective as a relative newcomer to the NFB of WV family Buck 
immediately impressed me as a man who was Always properly skeptical of 
the self important, yet he was never cynical about his fellow citizens 
or the idea that by working together we can improve the human condition.

Buck had a habit of posing an idea by beginning, "I've been thinking of 
something which you may think is really far out, but..." There was no 
question that the commentary which followed was likely to be complex and 
would challenge the listener to follow his very unique narrative, but at 
the end of the trail there was something of value, worth thinking 
seriously about.

Mary Ann is with her daughters, Laura and Terri,  this morning. As soon 
as plans are announced we will forward them to you.

At the Hall of Fame presentation Buck was quoted as saying he wanted to 
be part of an organization which "wasn't afraid to stand up on its hind 
feet and say enough is enough." That is the spirit of Buck Saunders 
which will always remain close to my heart

Brad     Hodges.