The loss of a longtime friend of this newspaper

It was about 20 years ago when Anthony Piel contacted The Lakeville Journal to see if we might be interested in running any opinion pieces from him. One of the most memorable conversations with him about his choice of topics occurred soon enough. It was after 9/11, and he felt strongly that the approach of the U.S. government to torture was taking a very wrong turn. And when Tony saw injustice he never hesitated to call it out and try to make it right. “The big news outlets won’t touch it,” he said. “The truth has to come out.”

He did write those columns for The Lakeville Journal and Millerton News, as did other columnists ongoing.

From then on, this newspaper has been privileged to have Piel’s voice in our pages, on a wide array of topics. His columns reflected his many interests over the years, but he especially wrote about politics, governing, the environment, health and the law. While some of our readers may not have agreed with him (which bothered him not at all), they certainly should have respected his profound knowledge and constant engagement with new thinking on these topics.

The loss of Piel on April 3 (see his obituary in this issue) is felt throughout the region and the world, but very personally at this newspaper. He was writing columns and sharing his thoughts with us right up until days before his death.  In fact, we have two more columns still to publish from him. His generosity in sharing his wisdom and thinking with us enriched the publications this small, independent company could offer to our readers. For that we will be forever grateful to him.

Our thoughts now are with his wife, Liz Piel, and all his family and friends. Keep them in mind during this time of loss, and if you have any thoughts to share about Tony Piel’s writing over the years, please send them to publisher@lakevillejournal.com


Support our health-care workers, especially at Sharon Health Care Center

Thanks go out to all the medical caregivers in our region, at Sharon Hospital, Fairview Hospital, Charlotte Hungerford Hospital and those farther flung who are offering help to those who need it in this time of COVID-19. But this week, special thanks go out to all the caregivers at Sharon Health Care Center (SHCC), who have been working so hard to meet the needs of their COVID-19 positive and negative residents alike. Now that the center has officially begun its role as a COVID-19 Recovery Center, their task will be even more challenging.

SHCC Administrator Sawyer Thornton, a Sharon native and in her first year as administrator there, says firmly that she and her staff are up to the task. (See story by Cynthia Hochswender, front page.) It takes courage to face such a contagious new virus on the front lines, and keen professional knowledge of how to handle it safely. Thornton and the SHCC caregivers have both, and deserve support and encouragement in their mission of caring for and serving their patients.

Where would we have those who need care go? If we do not want to have them cared for in facilities in our region that are trained to do it, it’s hard to maintain that we all want to do our part, and we are all in this together. In New York City, whole neighborhoods cheered heath-care workers as they left for their shifts. Reach out to support those at SHCC however you can now. Any such show of solidarity would go a long way to having caregivers there feel their hard work is appreciated.

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