Former director of SF Shakespeare Festival dies homeless, on the sidewalk

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Charles McCue, the former producing artistic director of the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival and a popular member of the local theater community for two decades, died March 20. He was 51.

Mr. McCue had "been homeless for about the last five years and living on the street in San Francisco," said Mr. McCue's brother-in-law, Greg Angermeier. "Unfortunately, he died on a sidewalk in the Mission" district.

The cause of his death is still unknown, pending medical examiner results, Angermeier said, adding that foul play is not suspected.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/02/BAS11CNJV0.DTL&tsp=1

[Ian David]

1. Foul "play?" n/t

[panader0]

2. Hissss.....

[EFerrari]

3. This is so horrible.

:cry:

I have a few choice words for Newsom that I won't post.

[KamaAina]

16. He should clearly take the "Care" out of "Care Not Cash"

and just call it "Not Cash". :grr:

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. Really sad!

[joeybee12]

5. This is very sad...I can't open the thread to read more....

...God, i wonder how he got to such hard times. RIP.

[bobbolink]

12. How? Lack Of Housing.

[Mojeoux]

17. We Need some kind of "Safe Shelter" legislation from Washington

Yeah, I'm dreaming. Is that socialism?

The 2 bottom that form the basis of "Maslow's hierarchy of Needs," have to be secured for every citizen.

[bobbolink]

23. Simply replace all the low-income housing we have lost.

As I said to another poster, we MUST stop equating "shelter" with HOUSING.

Consigning our citizens to spending theh rest of their lives bouncing from shelter to shelter is sooo wrong, and sooo expensive, and soooo dangerous to health of all.

I don't think you would want your mother, for instance, to have to live the rest of her life in a shelter, right?

[mdmc]

6. very sad..

..

[mdmc]

7. Nice to see the SF newspaper finally cover the homeless issue

a little itty bitty bit..

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. No explanation of his reason for being homeless. His brother in law

confirms his homelessness, why wasn't he with family? Was it a substance abuse issue or just poverty?

[mdmc]

9. I doubt the newspaper with follow up

If they find out that the guy had a brain injury or mental illness it might humanize the homeless community.,.

[mopinko]

30. or bipolar

such a fine line between creativity and madness. and drugs, including etoh, are so often the only solice.
very sad.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

11. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess substance abuse.

Probably alcohol, maybe heroin.

[bobbolink]

13. What a nice "progressive" kneejerk reaction.

Please read:

Without Housing, www.wrap.org

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

31. It's not a kneejerk reaction.

It's a reaction coming from having lived in the area and being familiar with the homeless population there.

[maryf]

34. do you speak with the people?

remember the expression "silent majority"? May I use it in a far better way? The vast majority of homeless are sober and clean. At least 70%. Those who drink/abuse need double help, but would also be the most visible and audible. The number one cause of homelessness is lack of affordable housing, to assume substance abuse, even of all those homeless you are "familiar with" is unfair. If you know all of them so well that your assumptions are from a strong knowledge base, forgive me...

[Hannah Bell]

19. riiiiiiight.

[hunter]

10. Every homeless person is somebody people knew. Every one of them has a story.

Every time a homeless person dies on the streets it's a tragedy.

As a nation we look away.

The resources required to shelter the homeless with respect and dignity would be almost negligible in comparison to things like our military budget.

The United States of America is not a civilized nation.

[bobbolink]

14. Thank you so much for a compassionate, caring, and reasonable post!

:yourock:

Its so sad that so few have a response as caring as yours.

I will take issue with one point of yours.... we MUST get away from the idea of more and more "shelters". We have more than enough now. "Shelter" is not permanent housing, and by making it permanent housing, we have damaged and yes, killed, people.

HOUSING FOR ALL.

Just as important as HEALTH CARE FOR ALL..... just not "sexy" enough to get attention.

Thank you again! :pals:

[hunter]

18. Yes, housing for all. I'll remember that.

Every human being deserves a safe secure place of their own.

[bobbolink]

22. Thank you, hunter! Sapphire Blue used to post about that all the time.

I really miss her. :cry:

[Wilms]

26. Me too.

:(

[caseycoon]

25. You're absolutly right!

Affordable housing for all.

[OneGrassRoot]

28. Bam! Thank you so very much. :) n/t

[zonkers]

36. I am reminded of the song In a World I never Made by Doc Pommus... lyrics....

A World I Never Made.

The late show is over
And the city fast asleep
And I'm lost in a world
That's just too cold and deep
I've turned so many ways
I'm spinning like a top
And I wish that I could get off
Or get this world to stop
I'm a stranger and afraid
I'm a stranger and afraid
I'm a stranger and afraid
In a world I never made
I'm always chasing dragons
With a sword that's made of tin
So I know in my soul
There's no way I can win
I tried, oh I tried
But there's no place, no place to go
There's no one here who knows me
And no one here I know
I'm a stranger and afraid
I'm a stranger and afraid
I'm a stranger and afraid
In a world I never made
_________

[old mark]

15. Click the link and read the comments - I do wonder how it was

that so many loved this man after he was dead, and he spent his last 5 years living on the street....There is very much unsaid in this article.



mark

[bobbolink]

24. In this society, having calamity of any kind befall you often means you lose those

you thought cared.

[Desertrose]

27. I don't know how people can walk away from those they care about

when they are needed most.

Hard enough to face things but to be utterly alone.....
:scared:

:hug:Bobbie

[OneGrassRoot]

29. I think about this a lot....

I really think most people -- whether they're progressives, right-wingers, whatever -- are afraid. Terrified, in fact.

And the "evolution" of ours society has allowed for more and more of a disconnect. Many people can remove themselves more and more from direction interaction.

Anything that makes them uncomfortable -- and others falling through the cracks of society terrifies them because, somewhere deep down they know, "there but for the grace of God..." Even if it's people they know; perhaps ESPECIALLY if it's people they know.

Rather than have the fortitude to look the situation -- and the people involved -- straight in the eye, and do whatever they can, even SIMPLY ACKNOWLEDGING, they turn away in fear.

But that fear is conveyed as anger, disgust and apathy. I really think fear is at the heart of it.

Of course, I have to think that way or else it means the vast majority of people are heartless, with no hope of changing them, and it means I would also probably give up.

Thanks for the post, bobbolink. :hug:

[Desertrose]

33. I agree....its about fear....

but I think there is a certain amount of feeling superior, too. Hate to say that but have seen it over the years..certainly more recently with the fundi-crazies getting so much influence & press.

We seem to have this insane notion that God rewards the "good people" with wealth and the not so good (good = worthy) people with misfortune and poverty. So therefor they "deserve" whatever they've gotten.

Crazy, isn't it? What happened to the teachings that "we are all brothers and what you do to the least of these you do to me" kinda thing??


Yet I still have hope that maybe these closed hearted people will wake up....the lessons will come but I'm afraid they won't be easy.

[bobbolink]

35. It is incomprehensible to those of us who really *do* care.

I learned about this first, when my son was kidnapped. Not only people who distanced me, but people who said ugly things.

It took me years to realize that their immediate reaction was fear that it could happen to them. By distancing or blaming, they made themselves feel safer that it would never be *them* in those shoes.

It was confirmed for me during Columbine. I saw people saying the most ugly things about the parents of the shooters, who also lost a child, PLUS had to deal iwth the shame and guilt. NONE of us is immune to the terrible things that can happen in life. NONE of us. Yet, we want to affix blame as a way of creating the illusion of safety. And, illusion it is.

thanks, K! :hug: :pals:

[Bluenorthwest]

20. Just a sad story

the rest is silence.

[Odin2005]

21. There are no words for this.

:cry:

[G_j]

32. sad Kick