Celebrate 40 years of NAMI Berkshire County

02:11PM / Friday, August 30, 2024Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Incorporated in 1984, the Berkshire County affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) will hold their annual meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, at Zucchini's Restaurant in Pittsfield from 5:30-8:00 p.m.

The non-profit's mission is to improve the quality of life for people in Berkshire County with mental illness and their families through support, education and advocacy.

NAMI Berkshire County recently hired a new Executive Director, Paul Johansen, and also now has office space at 141 North Street, Suite 301, right in the heart of downtown Pittsfield.

The guest speaker for this event is local author, Kevin O'Hara, who worked for three decades as a psychiatric nurse at Berkshire Medical Center. He will be sharing excerpts from his recent book, "Ins and Outs of a Locked Ward: My 30 Years as a Psychiatric Nurse." He is also the author of "Last of the Donkey Pilgrims: A Man's Journey Through Ireland, "A Lucky Irish Lad" and "A

Christmas Journey." He is also recipient of the 2012 John Fitzgerald Kennedy award and he is also a long-time Berkshire Eagle contributor. His talk is sure to be inspiring as well as humorous, as anyone who knows Kevin can attest.

Each year, NAMI Berkshire County recognizes three award winners in memory of Eunice Zorbo, who along with her husband, was a staunch supporter of NAMI. The awards are Citizen of the Year, NAMI Member of the Year, and the last award recognizes a professional in the mental health arena with the Silver Ribbon award. To nominate someone for these awards, please visit the site below by Sept. 2. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2024NAMIawards?fbclid=IwY2xjawE4bE1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHXaUg80

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Tickets are available online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nami-berkshires-annual-meeting-tickets-978853897357?aff=affiliate1 People can also purchase tickets from any board member or NAMI Berkshire County Executive Director Paul Johansen or to reserve a table of 8.

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Tina Packer, Founder of Shakespeare & Company, Dies at 87

Staff Reports 06:51PM / Saturday, January 10, 2026

LENOX, Mass. — The doyenne of Shakespeare's plays, Tina Packer, died Friday at the age of 87.

Shakespeare & Company, which Packer co-founded in 1978, made the announcement Saturday on its Facebook page.

"It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Tina Packer, Shakespeare & Company's founding artistic director and acclaimed director, actor, writer, and teacher," the company said on its post and in a press release.

Packer, who retired a the theater company's artistic director in 2009, had directed all of Shakespeare's plays, some several times, acted in eight of them, and taught the whole canon at more than 30 colleges, including Harvard. She continued to direct, teach, and advocate for the company until her passing.

At Columbia University, she taught in the master of business administration program for four years, resulting in the publication of "Power Plays: Shakespeare's Lessons in Leadership and Management with Deming Professor John Whitney" for Simon and Schuster. For Scholastic, she wrote "Tales from Shakespeare," a children's book and recipient of the Parent's Gold Medal Award.

Most recently her book "Women of Will" was published by Knopf and she had been performing "Women of Will" with Nigel Gore, in New York, Mexico, England, The Hague, China, and across the United States. She's the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees, including the Commonwealth Award.

"Our hearts are heavy with the passing of Tina Packer, a fiery force of nature with an indomitable spirit," said Artistic Director Allyn Burrows. "Tina affected everyone she encountered with her warmth, generosity, wit, and insatiable curiosity. She delighted in people's stories, and reached into their hearts with tender humanity. The world was her stage, and she furthered the Berkshires as a destination for the imagination.

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