Christopher Reeve remembered

By Linda CarmanPrint Story | Email Story
Christopher Reeve
WILLIAMSTOWN — An actor who gained fame with his portrayal of the comic book hero Superman but whose real heroism became apparent after he was paralyzed in a riding accident nearly 10 years ago was remembered with affection and admiration after his death Sunday by local people who knew him. Christopher Reeve, whose ties with Williamstown began when he came to the Williamstown Theatre Festival as a 15-year-old apprentice in 1968, was recalled as a strong supporter and guiding spirit of the festival, as an unassuming and good-natured member of a group of avid horseback riders and as a dedicated advocate for research into spinal cord injuries, who used his celebrity to improve the lot of others. Reeve and his wife, Dana, who met when she was performing in a WTF cabaret in 1987 and married in 1992, had a house on Treadwell Hollow Road, and his ties to the community were longstanding. “Chris was thrilled with life, with his kids, with his family,” said Carol DeMayo of Bonnie Lea Farm. “He became a kinder, stronger person with his accident and his disability — and what an example to the rest of us, that you can do more. “He would do the ordinary things here,” DeMayo said. “When he was here, he was just one of the guys. We’re going to miss him. His drive was just inspirational.” Reeve died of heart failure Sunday at Northern Westchester Hospital, near his Pound Ridge, N.Y., home, after complications from an infection. He was 52. He had been paralyzed from the neck down after falling off his horse during a jump in a Culpeper, Va., competition in the spring of 1995. Before his accident, Reeve rode horseback at the DeMayos’, and his children went to riding camp there. The families remained close, and in the summer of 2003, he and his wife attended the wedding of Carin DeMayo, one of the family’s three daughters, at the farm. Traditional, too, were post-Thanksgiving and New Year’s Eve get-togethers at the Reeves’ Williamstown house. “When Chris had his accident, he asked if his kids could come here,” Carol DeMayo said. “He somehow rallied the strength when he was learning to speak and breathe on his machine.” Richard DeMayo said Reeve was “more of a superhero after his accident.” The hugely successful Superman movies were “fiction,” DeMayo said. “This was his real life … He was a superhero to a lot of people. He was an inspiration to everyone. My feeling is he was left on Earth to further this important quest [fighting for others with spinal cord injuries]. He said his values had changed after the accident. He helped others cope, and he was hoping for recovery to walk again.” Demayo said he and Reeve used to ride horses together in Woodstock, Vt., and he had planned to ask Reeve this year to be honorary chairman of the Green Mountain Horsemen’s Association. “Sadly, that won’t happen,” he said. “He loved all sports, sailing, flying, riding horses,” he added. “He lived life to the fullest. And when he was injured, he put aside the things he couldn’t do and did the things he could, for the betterment of humanity. He was a wonderful sport.” Lisa DeMayo, who runs the riding operation at her family’s farm, recalled that Reeve, who had initially been deterred from riding by his allergies to horses, learned to ride at their farm in preparation for a movie that required him to ride. “He decided he loved it,” she said. “He rode here and leased a horse from us to keep at their farm for the summer. It was an important part of his life here. He was just one of the gang. He used to joke that he had to be careful with his portions at mealtime because he had to fit in that tight Superman suit.” Ira Lapidus, president of the Williamstown Theatre Festival board, said Reeve “epitomized Williamstown.” “He was an apprentice, an actor, a board member, a confidant. He was an amazing artist, and more than that, he was an extraordinary person,” Lapidus said. “He will be remembered both for his artistry and his contribution to society. He was always committed to social issues, long before he was injured — and after he was injured, he did a lot for people with spinal cord injuries. At the same time, he was supportive of us in Williamstown. You would sit and talk to him at a meeting, and you forgot that he was on a respirator and sitting in a wheelchair, because he was eloquent.” Lapidus recalled that longstanding plans for Reeve to direct a play at WTF went unfulfilled. “I think it was on his list of things to do. He was here a lot. He’d sit and watch a play, and he was so good at seeing everything that was going on. He was very proud of Williamstown, and so supportive.” He recalled that Reeve had fought not just to improve his own condition after his accident but for research that could improve the lives of others who had been injured. “I think that he always thought that he would walk again,” Lapidus said. “His last great fight was for stem cell research, the fight to get a cure for people with spinal cord injuries. He was thinking of what’s good for everyone, not just himself.” The WTF issued a statement Monday saying it mourned the loss of trustee and “family” member Christopher Reeve and was devastated by his untimely loss. The statement noted after his Superman film success, he returned to the festival in 1980 to become a regular member of its professional company, lending “his inimitable sparkle and infinite passion to the roles he played on stage as well as to the softball team.” “Chris was always giving back to the festival, as a performer, board member and also in recent talks to students ... where he was a source of inspiration ... The town and the festival are forever changed because of his contributions and his generous and wise spirit. Our warmest thoughts and deepest affections go to Dana, Will, Matthew, and Alexandra [his three children],” the statement said. Longtime friend Steve Lawson, executive director of the Williamstown Film Festival, said he met Reeve that first summer of his return after the Superman movies. “He didn’t want to lose his theatrical roots,” Lawson said. “He could have performed variants of the Superman role in movies, but he was serious about the theater and acting.” Lawson, who was WTF’s literary manager at the time, recalled approaching Reeve with some trepidation and awe about the festival’s often unrehearsed play readings at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and receiving the immediate and enthusiastic response: “Sure, sign me up.” Reeve’s returning festival role in 1980 was as the lead in “The Front Page,” but he enjoyed Williamstown so much he stayed to play a small part, the valet Yasha, in “The Cherry Orchard,” while theater luminary Blythe Danner played the maid, Dunyasha. “That was probably the only production in which the maid and the valet drew applause with their entrance,” Lawson recalled. Reeve’s subsequent appearances included “The Greeks,” (1981), “Holiday” (1983), “Richard Cory” (1984, on The Other Stage), “The Royal Family” (1985), “Summer and Smoke, (1986), “The River” (1987), “Mesmer” (1988, on The Other Stage), “John Brown’s Body” (1989), “Death Takes a Holiday” (1990), and “The Guardsman,” (1992). In 1994, he was among the rotating cast of A.R. Gurney’s “Love Letters,” the last play before his accident. He had planned to participate in the 50th anniversary gala in August but cancelled due to illness — the pressure wound infection that ultimately took his life. But he was a standout at the WTF’s 40th anniversary celebration in 1994, singing, with his wife, Dana, Cole Porter’s “De-Lovely” as part of a salute to the cabaret. Lawson recalled that Reeve’s enthusiasm exceeded his singing ability. “He was the first person to say he was not a singer, but he loved the cabaret, where you just up and did it. If you knew him, you loved him.” Lawson stressed the passion Reeve put into his advocacy. “I’m so much in awe of what he accomplished in the past nine-plus years,” he said. He compared Reeve with Franklin Roosevelt, who was crippled by polio but developed capacities that had perhaps been latent before he was stricken. “Chris, a great athlete and sportsman, was now limited to the use of his head, but he seemed busier after the accident, both with his advocacy for stem cell research and with his own body,” Lawson said. “He just plunged in, and his determination was astonishing.’ Lawson cited earlier examples of Reeve’s activism, including his journey to speak on behalf of artists in Chile as a member of the Creative Coalition — a journey that placed him in considerable danger. Reeve also played a pivotal role in saving Images Cinema as an independent movie venue in 1989, helping to ensure its preservation and leading the campaign that raised $50,000 to renovate the auditorium. Lawson recalled a white-knuckle flight in stormy weather as a passenger in Reeve’s plane, and watching him wrestle the plane down between the lines on either side of the runway at the Teterboro, N.J., airport. Lawson also was among a small group of friends who, after his accident, would regularly join the Reeves at their Williamstown home to welcome in the New Year, which they did by setting the clock ahead two hours so the midnight toasts would come at 10 p.m., in deference to the two hours it took Reeve to be readied for bed. “Once he knew he would survive, he came to terms with the accident,” Lawson said. “He certainly made the most of what he was allotted. Dana was his rock and his right arm, and I’m wishing her all the best.” Bill Stinson’s Peace Valley Farm, next to the Reeves’ Williamstown home, looked after the property and was close to the family. “Chris was an inspiration to everybody who knew him,” Stinson said. “Since the accident, he had more time, and he loved to help people and give them hope. “He said he was dealt first the best possible hand and then the worst, but he figured out how to fight the fight for others who were injured. And he was a great father, husband and friend,” Stinson said. “He always felt that athletes and movie stars needed to give back. He was so talented, bright and courageous. It was phenomenal how he was able to reinvent himself.” Stinson, an organic farmer with an intense interest in the environment, noted that Reeve’s advocacy was longstanding. The entire area, Stinson said, is in Reeve’s debt because of the actor’s activism in opposing and ultimately defeating the proposed Half-Moon plant in New York State. “That was one of his shining moments, and he got a lot of flak for it,” Stinson said. “He had a sense of community and a sense of responsibility to give back for what everybody was giving him. He was able to find meaningful work after his accident, and we all admire that. For me, he was my hero and my good friend.” Reeve’s family has suggested that memorial donations be made to the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Organization, 500 Morris Ave., Springfield, N.J. 07081.
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Friends of Great Barrington Libraries Holiday Book Sale

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Friends of Great Barrington Libraries invite the community to shop their annual Holiday Good-as-New Book Sale, happening now through the end of the year at the Mason Library, 231 Main Street. 
 
With hundreds of curated gently used books to choose from—fiction, nonfiction, children's favorites, gift-quality selections, cookbooks, and more—it's the perfect local stop for holiday gifting.
 
This year's sale is an addition to the Southern Berkshire Chamber of Commerce's Holiday Stroll on this Saturday, Dec. 13, 3–8 PM. Visitors can swing by the Mason Library for early parking, browse the sale until 3:00 PM, then meet Pete the Cat on the front lawn before heading downtown for the Stroll's shopping, music, and festive eats.
 
Can't make the Holiday Stroll? The book sale is open during regular Mason Library hours throughout December.
 
Proceeds support free library programming and events for all ages.
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