Last week, I received a notice from WBAI broadcaster Mimi Rosenberg that her long-term partner, Ken Nash, with whom she shared the airwaves on “Building Bridges,” had passed away. While I await more information, particularly vital statistics, I can recall the memorable occasions I had with him during my tenure as an instructor at DC-37 and the College of New Rochelle, which had a campus there.
Ken was the librarian for the union’s library, and in this capacity, he was an invaluable resource for my research and lectures. We often had extensive discussions about the Civil Rights Movement, labor history, radical politics, and various other things. I remember accepting his invitation to appear on the radio with him during Black History Month celebrations, and he was as deeply informed about Black history as he was about union activism and labor history.
Whenever new books arrive at the library, he would tip me off, making sure I was aware of them and whether I wanted him to set them aside for future use. Sometimes I would arrive early for my classes to have chats with him. He was among the first people I talked to in February 1993, after the first attack on the World Trade Center. I had come there to pick up my check and stopped by the library to share my impressions with him. I took exception to his firing in 2001.
In 2017, I was surprised to learn that he and Mimi had featured my book, “Black Detroit,” on the air. Of course, I shouldn’t have been stunned by this attention since Ken and I often had books on our minds.
He is certainly on my mind now, and what a remarkable conversationalist he was and an extraordinary communicator — on and off the airwaves. As we often say to our dearly departed, rest in peace and power, Ken.