(Conspiracy Nation, 05/27/06)
-- "[Sherman] Skolnick rode his rusting, squeaky wheelchair as if he
were a brave knight on a fine steed, finding and avenging wrongdoing at
the highest levels of government, jousting with the mighty on behalf of
the weak." So wrote Josh Noel of the Chicago Tribune in an obituary
dated May 23, 2006. ("Even before blogs, activist had scoop on
government")
For the Chicago Tribune, of all newspapers, to have published such a
fine report is ironic. Many times, in conversation with this editor,
one of Sherman's favorite jokes was, "I don't read fiction... except
for the Chicago Tribune. That's fiction enough!"
Sherman H. Skolnick, the Don Quixote of Oglesby Avenue, passed away
to a better world on Sunday, May 21, 2006. He was 75 years young.
Skolnick died of an apparent heart attack, according to the Tribune.
Further details were offered by Lenny Bloom, Skolnick's friend and
radio co-host. At Bloom's Cloak and Dagger web site (http://www.cloakanddagger.de),
access to a two-hour radio interview, by Greg Szymanski, is currently
available.
Szymanski, of Republic Broadcast Network, reminisced with Bloom
about Skolnick. Bloom stated that Sherman's legs had swollen up,
possibly after a fall down the stairs at his home at 9800 S. Oglesby
Avenue in Chicago. This necessitated a visit to the hospital, which
turned into a twelve-week stay. Thereafter, Skolnick returned home but
needed to have a caretaker present there. He could not leave his bed,
at least not for any length of time. This in turn made it hard to
effectively vociferate on the telephone, since lung capacity was
diminished in the prone state. So, radio talk from Skolnick by that
point was barely feasible and he could not co-host Cloak and Dagger.
In his final phone conversation with Skolnick, Bloom mentioned how
his friend was looking forward to getting a special telephone which
would have facilitated continued radio guest spots.
This editor first became associated with Sherman Skolnick in 1994.
While publishing "Conspiracy For The Day" (later "Conspiracy Nation"),
a reader tipped me off to a recorded phone message, "Hotline News,"
operated by some guy in Chicago. I became intrigued by Skolnick's
reports and began transcribing them to the Internet. Eventually, I had
inevitable questions I wanted to ask. I decided to phone this Skolnick
person.
I was nervous making the call. I was about to speak with the Sherman Skolnick! His
voice was gruff as he picked up the phone. "Yeah!?" he barked.
I explained to him what I had been doing, transcribing his Hotline
News reports. Who knows? Maybe he would be angry about it! At first he
was slightly suspicious, but soon became grateful when he realized his
words were going to a wider audience.
Thereafter began a most enlightening relationship between myself and
Skolnick, which lasted several years. Usually we had long chats by
telephone, about once a week. Sometimes I would travel north from
Champaign to meet with him at his favorite River Flame Restaurant in
Calumet City. Also present at these meetings was Skolnick's colleague,
Joseph Andreuccetti, a quite perceptive man himself. Of the duo,
Skolnick was the "book smarts" while Andreuccetti was the "street
smarts."
To know Sherman Skolnick at this level, rather than only through his
public persona, is something only those who have shared the experience
of personal friendship can totally understand. Sherman was a great
person to talk with, had an exuberant sense of humor, was generous
without pretense, and overall a wonderful person to spend time with. On
occasion he could be irascible. For instance, he once about bit off
this editor's arm on the telephone. I hung up on him. Within two
minutes he phoned back, apologized profusely, and explained he had high
blood pressure.
Something else about those long-distance phone chats: Always, I'd
call and Sherman would say, "Can I call you back? I'll call you right
back." And so, incidentally, it was Sherman who paid the long-distance
costs. Generous without pretense.
As Andreuccetti used to say, "Skolnick's knowledge is encyclopedic."
One time, though, I knew I could stump Sherman. I phoned his
headquarters on Oglesby Avenue. ("Can I call you back? I'll call you
right back.") I casually broached the subject of Coxey's Army. At last,
I felt, I had the $64,000 question. Who would know about Coxey's Army?
Not even Skolnick! But Sherman didn't miss a beat. "Oh yeah, Coxey's
Army," he began, then proceeded to expound on the subject.
He was my teacher. When the student is ready, the master appears. To
"understand" means to "stand under." For awhile, it seemed I'd found
someone who could answer all my questions. Usually, though, at some
point the student breaks with the master. Sometimes the break is
acrimonious. In my case, fortunately, the departure was amicable. I
still telephoned Sherman from time to time these last few years. I'd
always say at the end, "Hey, give me a call sometime." He always said,
"Yeah, I will." But he never did. And so, rightly or wrongly, I
perceived "the brush off."
Sometimes, toward the end, I'd mail Sherman some book I'd finished
reading. Often I'd receive an e-mail back, containing his "many thanks."
I am glad that Sherman found such a good friend for himself as Lenny
Bloom during his final years. Reading their "Middle Finger News"
reports, I gathered that Skolnick retained his sense of humor. "You've
got to laugh," he often said to me. Frequently we'd be exploring some
horrendous news story involving truly sickening skullduggery. And at
some point, we'd both burst out laughing! Then Skolnick would say, "You
know, we really shouldn't be laughing." Then we'd laugh some more.
"You've got to laugh." Otherwise you might go nuts. "When you look into
the abyss, the abyss also looks into you." Laughing (and crying) is a
"release valve" -- it lets you keep perspective.
One time I drove to Skolnick's home at 9800 S. Oglesby to convey him
and myself to the River Flame Restaurant. I offered to put his
briefcase in the back seat. "No. The briefcase always stays with me,"
he said. Who knows what secret files remain dormant, like coiled
rattlesnakes, at his residence? Who gets the Skolnick Files?
A couple of times in our conversations I mentioned Don Quixote.
"Yeah, but did Don Quixote do any good?" Skolnick asked. My response
was, that 400 years later, the question is still debated.
Don Lorenzo had his doubts. Not only are there no knights errant,
there never were any knights errant, he claimed. To which the Ingenious
Gentleman, Don Quixote, replied:
"The majority of people in this world are of the opinion that
knights errant never existed; and it is my belief that if Heaven does
not miraculously reveal the truth to them, by showing them that there
once were such knights and that they are still to be met with today,
then all one's labors are in vain, as experience has many times taught
me. I do not care to take the time here to disabuse your Grace of this
error which you share with so many others. Rather, I mean to pray
Heaven to deliver you from it and to make clear to you how profitable
and necessary to the world knights errant have been in ages past, and
how useful they would be at the present time if the custom were still
maintained."
Sherman H. Skolnick, Knight Errant, Requiescat in Pacem. Wherever he
is, he now has complete access to all the files. "There once were such
knights and they are still to be met with today."
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