Hyfler/Rosner
2005-11-24 14:52:51 UTC
THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (California)
November 24, 2005 Thursday
Robert Nichols -- People's Park activist
Charles Burress, Chronicle Staff Writer
Robert Nichols, a Berkeley community newspaper founder,
musician, professional stagehand and champion of the
homeless and People's Park, has died at age 52.
His body was found Nov. 13 in his sleeping bag in the
Channing Way house where he had lived many years. Friends
and family said that he suffered from high blood pressure
and that he apparently had died in his sleep a couple of
days before he was found.
The Alameda County coroner's office said Wednesday that the
exact date of death was unknown and that analysis of tests
to determine the cause of death could take a month.
Mr. Nichols was easily recognizable in his shoulder-length
graying hair and beard.
He earned his living as a union stagehand and made his mark
in Berkeley as an advocate for People's Park and as a
generous soul to the down and out. He was also an avid
musician, insatiable reader of newspapers and books, and
writer of songs, poems and letters to the editor.
He played with Jack, a folk-rock band in the early '80s, and
wrote skits for the micro-power Free Radio Berkeley.
Spurred by what he saw as the local press' failure to cover
corruption, he started the Hard Times community paper,
forerunner of the satiric, 9-year-old Pepper Spray Times,
according to Carol Denney, publisher of the latter paper.
He "leaves a legacy of unparalleled compassion, incisive
writing and good humor," Denney said.
When a Berkeley street person, Amos Tuckahoe, was near
death, Mr. Nichols converted a spare room into a home
hospice for the man until his death.
One Thanksgiving in front of Caffe Giovanni near his house,
he encountered a homeless man nicknamed Cowboy who had been
given an uncooked turkey, recalled Nancy Delaney, one of the
housemates who shared the six-bedroom politically active
house in the Berkeley flatlands.
Mr. Nichols took the turkey home, cooked it, bought some
trimmings and went back out to serve and eat Thanksgiving
dinner with Cowboy and his friends at their makeshift
encampment behind some stores, Delaney said.
He gave blankets and coats to those who needed them and
helped others manage their welfare payments.
He also helped organize a vigil against UC Berkeley's
installation of volleyball courts at People's Park and was
among about three dozen demonstrators arrested at a park
protest in 1991.
"He was a champion for people who were getting hurt and
being run roughshod over," Delaney said.
"He was a rugged guy, yet he was very sensitive, very
intuitive," she said.
One of his guitar-playing friends, contractor Jim
Cunningham, said he often found Mr. Nichols intently reading
newspapers at a favorite hangout, the Kings X pub in
Oakland.
"He was one of the finest, most informed people I ever met,"
Cunningham said.
Born of Scottish ancestry in New Bedford, Mass., and raised
in Lancaster, Pa., he attended Pennsylvania State University
for two years and took a construction job in Israel for two
years, said his brother Tom. He then hitchhiked around the
United States and Canada before deciding to settle in the
Bay Area, his brother said.
In the Bay Area, he became a dedicated member of the
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)
Local 107. He worked at UC Berkeley and the Oakland
Coliseum, Delaney said.
He is survived by three brothers, his twin, Harry, and Tom
and Duncan, all of Lancaster, Pa.
A public memorial service will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday at
the Union Hall at 8130 Baldwin St., Suite 124, Oakland.
Letters of condolence may be sent to Carol Denney, 1970 San
Pablo Ave. #4, Berkeley, CA 94702. Donations in his
remembrance may be made to Project Open Hand, 730 Polk St.,
San Francisco, CA 94109, (415) 447-2419.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO
Robert Nichols of Berkeley was the founder of the Hard Times
community newspaper.
November 24, 2005 Thursday
Robert Nichols -- People's Park activist
Charles Burress, Chronicle Staff Writer
Robert Nichols, a Berkeley community newspaper founder,
musician, professional stagehand and champion of the
homeless and People's Park, has died at age 52.
His body was found Nov. 13 in his sleeping bag in the
Channing Way house where he had lived many years. Friends
and family said that he suffered from high blood pressure
and that he apparently had died in his sleep a couple of
days before he was found.
The Alameda County coroner's office said Wednesday that the
exact date of death was unknown and that analysis of tests
to determine the cause of death could take a month.
Mr. Nichols was easily recognizable in his shoulder-length
graying hair and beard.
He earned his living as a union stagehand and made his mark
in Berkeley as an advocate for People's Park and as a
generous soul to the down and out. He was also an avid
musician, insatiable reader of newspapers and books, and
writer of songs, poems and letters to the editor.
He played with Jack, a folk-rock band in the early '80s, and
wrote skits for the micro-power Free Radio Berkeley.
Spurred by what he saw as the local press' failure to cover
corruption, he started the Hard Times community paper,
forerunner of the satiric, 9-year-old Pepper Spray Times,
according to Carol Denney, publisher of the latter paper.
He "leaves a legacy of unparalleled compassion, incisive
writing and good humor," Denney said.
When a Berkeley street person, Amos Tuckahoe, was near
death, Mr. Nichols converted a spare room into a home
hospice for the man until his death.
One Thanksgiving in front of Caffe Giovanni near his house,
he encountered a homeless man nicknamed Cowboy who had been
given an uncooked turkey, recalled Nancy Delaney, one of the
housemates who shared the six-bedroom politically active
house in the Berkeley flatlands.
Mr. Nichols took the turkey home, cooked it, bought some
trimmings and went back out to serve and eat Thanksgiving
dinner with Cowboy and his friends at their makeshift
encampment behind some stores, Delaney said.
He gave blankets and coats to those who needed them and
helped others manage their welfare payments.
He also helped organize a vigil against UC Berkeley's
installation of volleyball courts at People's Park and was
among about three dozen demonstrators arrested at a park
protest in 1991.
"He was a champion for people who were getting hurt and
being run roughshod over," Delaney said.
"He was a rugged guy, yet he was very sensitive, very
intuitive," she said.
One of his guitar-playing friends, contractor Jim
Cunningham, said he often found Mr. Nichols intently reading
newspapers at a favorite hangout, the Kings X pub in
Oakland.
"He was one of the finest, most informed people I ever met,"
Cunningham said.
Born of Scottish ancestry in New Bedford, Mass., and raised
in Lancaster, Pa., he attended Pennsylvania State University
for two years and took a construction job in Israel for two
years, said his brother Tom. He then hitchhiked around the
United States and Canada before deciding to settle in the
Bay Area, his brother said.
In the Bay Area, he became a dedicated member of the
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)
Local 107. He worked at UC Berkeley and the Oakland
Coliseum, Delaney said.
He is survived by three brothers, his twin, Harry, and Tom
and Duncan, all of Lancaster, Pa.
A public memorial service will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday at
the Union Hall at 8130 Baldwin St., Suite 124, Oakland.
Letters of condolence may be sent to Carol Denney, 1970 San
Pablo Ave. #4, Berkeley, CA 94702. Donations in his
remembrance may be made to Project Open Hand, 730 Polk St.,
San Francisco, CA 94109, (415) 447-2419.
GRAPHIC: PHOTO
Robert Nichols of Berkeley was the founder of the Hard Times
community newspaper.