Showing posts with label Dick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dick. Show all posts

Monday, April 24, 2023

EP 93 Judge Richard Daschbach - "A Lucky and Blessed Life"

 Richard J. Daschbach



Judge Richard Daschbach
 "A Lucky and Blessed Life"

I first met "Dick" Daschbach when we served together in the NH House of Representatives (1986-1988). Dick and I formed an immediate bond and along with our colleagues, particularly V. Michael Hutchings and Deborah "Arnie" Arnesen, we formed the backbone of a "peanut gallery" sitting at the back of Reps Hall together and offering a running commentary on the proceedings to one another.




Dick's first job after college but before Law School was as a worker in the US Senate Post Office. He worked a half day and went to Law School the other half.

In 1967 He and his wife vacationed in NH on Lake Spoffard and fell in love with NH. Shortly after that they bought a home in Walpole, NH. He became a legal services lawyer for the area.

New Hampshire would turn out to be Dick and Virginia's "Spot on the Porch" for the balance of their lives (so far!)

On the last day of class in his first year of Georgetown Law School Dick received a call from the office of Senator Russell Long asking him to come and work for Sen. Long. On that same day his first child was born and Dick was appointed as Maritime Counsel to Long's Merchant Marine Committee. US Senate: Office of the legendary Senator Russell Long of Louisianna. Senator Long was the son of Huey Long, also a legendary figure in Louisiana politics.

He was appointed Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter. Richard retired from that position upon the election of Ronald Reagan.

Assistant to the President: Seafarer's Union, a Union representing the men and women who work on US flagged ships. Trying to raise the work standards all over the world so US ships, and employees, could be more competitive.

At 74 he was appointed Chief Judge of the Federal Workers Compensation Appeals Board, a position he would hold for 4 years before returning to New Hampshire full time in his retirement.

Note: About a pocket veto, mentioned in the podcast: 



Timing is everything with a pocket veto. Congress has the authority to override a pocket veto. However, the process for overriding a pocket veto is different from the process for overriding a regular veto.
When the President takes no action on a bill and Congress is in session, the bill becomes law after 10 days without the President's signature. However, if Congress adjourns before the 10 days are up, the President can use a pocket veto to effectively kill the bill.

If Congress is still in session after the 10-day period has elapsed and the President has not signed the bill, Congress can override the veto with a two-thirds vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. However, if Congress has adjourned before the 10-day period has elapsed, there is no opportunity for Congress to override the pocket veto. In this case, the bill dies and must be reintroduced in the next session of Congress.




Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Ep 77 From Hollywood to Holy Weird! From Broadway to Oddway: Actor, Writer and NH Icon Richard “Dick” Backus takes his shot at Public office.

From Hollywood to Holy Weird! From Broadway to Oddway: Actor, Writer and NH Icon Richard “Dick” Backus takes his shot at Public office.


If you saw a photograph of Dick Backus and you thought - "I think I know him!" it may be because you are of a certain age when you watched daytime soaps like Ryan's Hope or went to see Eugene O'Neill's "Ah Wilderness" at the Ogunquit Playhouse, or you even went to see "Butterflies are Free" on Broadway. These are just a few of the gems that Richard Backus, born, and still living, right here in New Hampshire, has to his credit.


Today, however, you are more likely to find him going door to door in his hometown of New Boston or one of the other towns in Hillsborough District 42 running for the NH Legislature. 


This was not how Dick saw himself spending time in his golden years, but his deep concern for the loss of community among our citizens and our elected officials has drawn him into the fray. I caught up with Dick recently over Zoom and we chatted about running for the legislature, always with the thread of rebuilding community running through the discussion and how rebuilding impacts and is impacted by so many of the challenges we face in our lives. How do we rebuild a sense of community when our commitment to public education is under fire? How do we restore community when more than 50% of our population are denied bodily autonomy? These and other issues compelled Dick to do something he never expected to do, to run for public office.



Listen here:


Back when I was a student at UNH in the 70's I spent a good deal of time at the Memorial Union Building where I was running the photo school for MUSO and eventually Photo Editor of the New Hampshire, our student newspaper.

 

I'll never forget one of the first times that I walked into the MUB at midday to find hundreds of students crowded around every available TV watching the day's episodes of their favorite soap opera. The General Hospital crowd was in one room and Guiding Light fans in another, etc.

 

I had no idea that so many of my fellow students were so invested in the day-to-day drama's of what were TV's hottest and most profitable productions in that era.

 


Panted Skies over Lake Umbagog

  

New Hampshire's roots in the acting and performing community run deep and Dick Backus has been an important part of that legacy over the years. 

 

Though his first love has always been the stage, Dick is An Emmy-nominated soap actor ("Ryan's Hope"), he eventually went behind the scenes as a daytime serial writer. In fact He has been nominated for four Daytime Emmy Awards for writing and one for acting.

 

In 1972 he won the Theatre World and Clarence Derwent Awards for his multiple roles in the Broadway comedy "Promenade, All!".

 

He also understudied Keir Dullea on Broadway in the original "Butterflies Are Free" (1969) and eventually took over the role.

 

 

Richard Backus was born on March 28, 1945 in Goffstown, New Hampshire, USA. Where

His dad was a local physician.

 

He discovered his love for acting, the theatre and writing at a relatively early age and made his Broadway theatre debut at the Booth Theatre in the Theatre District of Manhattan in the original production of Butterflies Are Free. The production began in October 1969 with Backus cast as the understudy for Keir Dullea in the role of Don Baker. He was first appeared in the role, which we would later take over, in 1971.

Since then, he has appeared in several other Broadway productions, including Ah, Wilderness!, Camelot, and most recently You Never Can Tell.[5] Other venues at which Backus has appeared include the American Shakespeare Theatre, the Ensemble Studio Theatre, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.[3]

 


Wind on the Rails at Livermore

Backus has also acted in film and television. In the seventies, Backus was in Deathdream a movie that today is considered a cult classic in the horror genre. He also portrayed scheming but well-meaning Jason Saxton on Lovers and Friends. Closer to home, he appeared in several episodes of Spencer for Hire with the late Robert Urich.

 

On the Soap Opera circuit He replaced Eric Roberts in the role of Ted Bancroft on Another World. From 1980 through 1981, and portrayed Barry Ryan on the soap opera Ryan's Hope, a performance for which he was nominated for the 1981 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role in a Daytime Drama Series



Reaching into the Past at the Powwow

 

 

He married his wife Sharon Romeyko in 1985.

 

In 1989 he turned his talents toward screenwriting and has not looked back. Richard Backus has been a screenwriter since early 1989. He has worked on three television shows: As the World Turns, One Life to Live, and Days of Our Lives. As the World Turns and One Life to Live have each earned Backus two nominations for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team.[2] The writing team behind One Life to Live was also nominated for the 2004 Writers Guild of America Award for Daytime Serials.[6]

 







Willing Workers Red White and Blue - Study No 2