Ambassadors of God

Selected Obituaries from The Catholic Worker

Amanda W. Daloisio, Daniel Mauk, Terry Rogers, Daloisio, Mauk

• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9781498239509
  9781498239523
• eBook ISBN:
  9781498239516
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historical Biographies
• Index: History

In a world I won't see, but I wish I would, the biographies of some others here, including a few whom we serve lunch to, would be written and be read as eagerly as you say one of me would be read. --Dorothy Day Ambassadors of God is a collection of remarkable obituaries taken from The Catholic Worker newspaper. Rich in anecdote, detail, and unexpected humor, they tell stories of men and women, living in poverty and distress, who were part of the New York Catholic Worker community. Written between 1936 and 2012, these essays shed light on people who might otherwise have been forgotten, but whose lives had a great impact on those who knew them and loved them. The Catholic Worker and the movement that grew out of it were founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. As Catholics, they sought to live out the Works of Mercy, following the Gospel and the example of the saints. Even years after their deaths, the movement continues to welcome the poor and the stranger in a spirit of nonviolence. These obituaries honor those who came to the doors of The Catholic Worker in great need, and they offer a meditation on our shared humanity.

Ambassadors of God

Selected Obituaries from The Catholic Worker

edited and with an introduction by

Amanda W. Daloisio, Dan Mauk, and Terry Rogers

foreword by Robert Ellsberg

Ambassadors of God

Selected Obituaries from The Catholic Worker

Copyright © 2018 Wipf and Stock Publishers. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

Resource Publications

An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

Eugene, OR 97401

www.wipfandstock.com

paperback isbn: 978-1-4982-3950-9

hardcover isbn: 978-1-4982-3952-3

ebook isbn: 978-1-4982-3951-6

Manufactured in the U.S.A.

Written material from The Catholic Worker used by permission.

Clarice Adams by Sarah Brook. Used by permission of the artist.

New York City Street Scene by Rita Corbin. Used by permssion of the artist.

Maryhouse, 55 East 3rd Street (1973–present) by Gary Donatelli. Used by permission of the artist.

St. Joseph House, 36 East 1st Street (1968–present) by Gary Donatelli. Used by permission of the artist.

Peter Maurin Farm, Staten Island (1950–1964) by James Forest. Used by permission of the artist.

St. Joseph House, 175 Chrystie Street (1961–1968) by James Forest. Used by permission of the artist.

Preston Lewis by Tony Gawron. Used by permission of The Catholic Worker.

Smokey Joe by Tony Gawron. Used by permission of The Catholic Worker.

The Kitchen at St. Joseph House, 36 East 1st Street (1968–present) by Louise Giovannoni. Used by permission of The Catholic Worker.

Johanna by M. Eileen Lawter. Used by permission of the artist.

Josephine by Ann Leggett. Used by permission of the Estate of Ann Leggett.

Table of Contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Cold and Hunger Is Fatal to Man on 127th St. Pier
• Mr. Breen
• Stephen Hergenhan
• Big Dan Is Dead
• Josephine
• Mike Herniak
• More about Smokey (1903–1970)
• Catherine Tarangul, A Lament
• John McMullan
• Joseph Johnston
• Earl Ovitt
• Harold Henry Gay
• Gary Leib
• Michael Malinowski
• Johanna
• Elinore Hayes
• Linda Cruickshank
• Lena Rizzo
• Trinidad Marie
• Katie Campbell
• Preston Colby Lewis
• James Taylor
• Thomas Masciotta
• Bobby West, #731
• Carmen Hernandez
• Our Sister Jeanette Chin
• Mr. Wong (1921–2002)
• Mattie Robinson
• Jane Kesel
• Clarice Adams (1925–2004)
• Erich Probst (1933–2005)
• Venante Martin (1925–2006)
• Natale Pace (1935–2006)
• Theodore Roosevelt Ridlon
• Evelyn Dudley (1938–2008)
• Roland D’Arcangelo (1943–2008)
• Blanche Sargent (1905–2009)
• Joseph P. Foth (1945–2009)
• Charles Payne (1942–2011)
• Acknowledgments
• Addendum

“A classic piece of Catholic literature is The Lives of the ...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Cold and Hunger Is Fatal to Man on 127th St. Pier
• Mr. Breen
• Stephen Hergenhan
• Big Dan Is Dead
• Josephine
• Mike Herniak
• More about Smokey (1903–1970)
• Catherine Tarangul, A Lament
• John McMullan
• Joseph Johnston
• Earl Ovitt
• Harold Henry Gay
• Gary Leib
• Michael Malinowski
• Johanna
• Elinore Hayes
• Linda Cruickshank
• Lena Rizzo
• Trinidad Marie
• Katie Campbell
• Preston Colby Lewis
• James Taylor
• Thomas Masciotta
• Bobby West, #731
• Carmen Hernandez
• Our Sister Jeanette Chin
• Mr. Wong (1921–2002)
• Mattie Robinson
• Jane Kesel
• Clarice Adams (1925–2004)
• Erich Probst (1933–2005)
• Venante Martin (1925–2006)
• Natale Pace (1935–2006)
• Theodore Roosevelt Ridlon
• Evelyn Dudley (1938–2008)
• Roland D’Arcangelo (1943–2008)
• Blanche Sargent (1905–2009)
• Joseph P. Foth (1945–2009)
• Charles Payne (1942–2011)
• Acknowledgments
• Addendum