C. Edwin “Ed” Baker -- Communications Law Scholar

C. Edwin (Ed) Baker was a Madisonville, Kentucky resident throughout his childhood, Ed attended Stanford University, Yale College of Law, and was a Fellow at Harvard on three different occasions. C. Edwin Baker, the Nicholas F. Gallicchio Professor of Law and Communication at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a leading scholar in the fields of constitutional law, communications law and free speech, who died suddenly on December 8, 2009 in New York City, where he had lived the past 20 years. He was 62. He collapsed while exercising and could not be revived.

Ed Baker’s four published books, Human Liberty and Freedom of Speech, Advertising and a Democratic Press, Media, Markets, and Democracy, and Media Concentration and Democracy: Why Ownership Matters, dealt with the First Amendment and with media policy. He also authored over 70 professional articles and book chapters, as well as numerous Op Ed pieces over the years, including two published in the New York Times. Yale Professor Jack Balkin describes Ed Baker as “the finest media law scholar of his generation.” His current work focused on the threats to democracy poised by the concentration of media ownership and the loss of active newspaper reporters. He testified before Congress last year on these issues. Professor Robert McChesney, co-founder of SavetheNews.org, writes that: “It is impossible to gauge the immensity of the loss with Ed Baker's passing. He has been the leading constitutional scholar on matters of freedom of the press for two decades. His commitment to a strong free press and a vibrant democracy guided all of his work.” Professor Baker was working on his fifth book at the time of his death as well as preparing to present a paper at the International Human Rights Conference in Israel.

Since his death, the University of Pennsylvania Law School Class of 2010 has awarded Ed Baker the prize for Outstanding Professor. Additionally, the law school has named an award honoring public service by students to be presented annually at the Law School graduation the C. Edwin Baker Award for Public Service. Several Symposia, including one that the recent International Human Rights conference in Israel have also been dedicated to Ed’s memory, and he has been remembered by scholars and friends around the world.

Ed Baker, known as Eddie during his childhood, was the son of the late Falcon O. Baker, Jr, and Ernestine Magagna Baker. Professor Baker is survived by his sister, Nancy Baker, of El Granada, Calif., who is on the faculty of Fielding Graduate University; her spouse, Cathy Hauer; and seven first cousins with whom he was very close. 

From Wikipedia:

C. Edwin Baker (May 28, 1947 – December 8, 2009), the Nicholas F. Gallicchio Professor of Law and Communication at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, was a leading scholar of constitutional law, communications law, and free speech. 

Biography

Baker was considered one of the country's foremost authorities on the First Amendment and on mass media policy.[1] His most recent scholarship focused on the economics of the news business, political philosophy, and jurisprudential questions concerning the egalitarian and libertarian bases of constitutional theory.

Baker was a native of Madisonville, Kentucky. He received his bachelor's degree from Stanford University and his law degree from Yale Law School. He was a law and humanities fellow at Harvard University in 1974, a fellow at Harvard's Shorenstein Barone Center in 1992, and a Radcliffe fellow there in 2006.

Baker served as a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union and was a professor at the University of Oregon and an assistant professor at the University of Toledo. He joined the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1981, and since 2007 held a joint appointment at the Annenberg School for Communication at Penn. He was also a visiting professor at New York University, the University of Chicago, Cornell University, Harvard University, and the University of Texas.

Baker was survived by his sister, Nancy L. Baker, Ph.D., a member of the faculty at Fielding Graduate University. He was predeceased by his parents, Falcon O. Baker, Jr. and Ernestine Magagna Baker.

Books

• Human Liberty and Freedom of Speech (Oxford, 1989) defends interpreting First Amendment freedom of speech as concerned primarily with individual freedom and autonomy rather than the more traditional understanding of it being about a marketplace of ideas
• Advertising and a Democratic Press (Princeton, 1994)
• Media, Markets, and Democracy (Cambridge, 2002), 2002 winner of the Donald McGannon Award for Social and Ethical Relevance in Communications Policy Research.^[2] This book has been translated into Chinese and a number of other languages.
• Media Concentration and Democracy: Why Ownership Matters (Cambridge, 2007)

 

 THE LINEAGE:

(C. Edwin "Ed" Baker was the son of Falcon Olero, Jr. and Ernestine Maria Theresa Magagna Baker, grandson of Falcon Olero, Sr. and Myrtle Golladay Baker and grandson of James Richard and Ida Thomas Golladay.  Ida was the first child of Alfred Marshall and Eliza Anne Martin Thomas.  Alfred was the fifth child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas.  Starkie was the fourth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.  Mary Bridges was the seventh child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)

Eric Vaughn Plunk--Professional Baseball Player

Eric Vaughn Plunk (born September 3, 1963) is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1986-1999.

Plunk was involved in two trades for Rickey Henderson. On December 5, 1984, as a minor leaguer, he was traded by the New York Yankees with Tim Birtsas, Jay Howell, Stan Javier, and José Rijo to the Oakland Athletics for Rickey Henderson, Bert Bradley, and cash. On June 21, 1989, he was traded by the Oakland Athletics with Greg Cadaret and Luis Polonia to the New York Yankees for Rickey Henderson. Plunk was part of the pennant-winning 1988 Athletics.

Known for his bookish looks and thick glasses, Plunk threw a mid- to upper 90s fastball and emerged with the Indians as a reliable set-up man in one of the American League's best bullpens.

Plunk's career took him to the Cleveland Indians as a free agent signing in the winter of 1992. There, he was the winning pitcher in the first ever game played at Jacobs Field on April 4, 1994. Plunk became one of the most reliable set-up men in baseball, posting a sub-3.00 earned run average in four consecutive seasons from 1993 to 1996. On September 17, 1996, Plunk pitched the final three innings and got the save in the Indians' 9-4 win over the White Sox that clinched the Tribe's second consecutive Central Division title.

Plunk's regular season success never translated over to the postseason. In 15 playoff appearances with the Athletics and Indians, Plunk had a 7.53 ERA and walked 10 batters in 14 innings of work. He was the losing pitcher for Game 3 of the 1997 World Series, his final postseason appearance.
Days before the trade deadline during the 1998 season, the Indians traded Plunk to the Milwaukee Brewers for Doug Jones. Plunk pitched one more season in the major leagues for the Brewers in 1999.

(From Wikipedia) 

THE LINEAGE:

(Eric Vaughn Plunk was the son of Kenneth Acile and Melva L. Akers Plunk, grandson of Orvan Orin and Louise Myrtle Haywood Plunk and great-grandson of Elijah C. and Mary Elizabeth Bridges Haywood.  Mary was the fourth child of John William "Buck" and Nancy Adeline Pugh Bridges.  John William was the fourth child of Orren Dates and Mary Elizabeth Hixon Bridges.  Orren was the first child of William and Mary Thomas Bridges.  William was the fourth child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.  Mary Thomas was the fifth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)

Richard A. Thomas - Hotel Executive

Richard A. "Dick" Thomas was born March 19, 1929, to Cyrus B. and Carolyn C. Thomas, of Takoma Park, Maryland. His grandparents were Stanley Thomas, Jr. and Callie May Bennett. He had three siblings, brothers, Stanley and Frank, and a sister, Dorothy. In 1932, the family left Maryland for Florida where Dick attended Mirror Lake Junior High School and St. Petersburg High. Much of his childhood was spent on a small island in nearby Tampa Bay where he hunted, fished and swam, but unknown to most, also caddied at a local golf course, starting at age 10, inspiring a lifelong love of that game. At age 20, Dick moved to Chicago to join the Hilton Hotel Corporation at the largest hotel in the world at the time, the Stevens, renamed the Conrad Hilton a few years later. From that point forward, Dick's career reads like a textbook example of how to succeed in hotel sales and tourism management. As his knowledge increased, responsibilities were expanded and his productivity soared. Dick's initiative, doggedness and charm were not lost on Hilton senior executives, who gave him increasingly daunting posts within their Statler and Biltmore divisions. It was at this time that Dick married and began his family. Continued career success lead to an offer, unrefused, by Carling Dinkler for Dick to become director of sales at Dinkler's renowned Tutwiler property in Birmingham. Dick was summarily boosted to director of sales at Dinkler's flagship Plaza Hotel in Atlanta, where Dick also oversaw sales at all 35 hotels and motels in the Dinkler chain. It was here that he coined his trademark soft-spoken phrase, "Is there anything you need anything I can do for you?" Dick's stability, family orientation and respected professional accomplishments brought him to the attention of the leadership of a city undergoing transformation from vacation-only to a blend of leisure and convention orientations. New Orleans, America's brashest city, recruited one of America's most staid hospitality executives to manage that intimidating task. Within five years, Dick's stewardship of NOLA's convention sales operation brought him once again to the notice of another world-class destination seeking to increase its rank of sustainability within the rooms' reservation scheme. Las Vegas was, at that time, reaching out to the cream of hospitality sales gurus from across the nation to join with hotel and casino executives at already famous resorts aptly named Desert Inn, Caesars Palace, Tropicana, Dunes, Sands, Thunderbird, Frontier, Flamingo and Sahara. Over the next 28 years, Dick found his way into the executive suites of several of those iconic-named properties, settling in at the crown jewel Desert Inn Country Club for close to 20 of those years, and during Las Vegas' most astounding growth and development period. Dick and his wife, Karen, created a marketing management company named Kerat in 1995, and provided sales and convention-related services for the next 11 years at the Holiday Inn Boardwalk hotel and casino. Richard A. Thomas was stalwart in his devotions to family, to profession, to colleagues and to philanthropic associations. He rose to become a SKAL International president in Las Vegas, Statewide Chairman of both the Alabama and Georgia JAYCEES, and a sustaining member in ASAE, MPI, PCMA, SITE, PATA, HSMA and JATA. He was loved and respected in each of his professional avocations.

 

 THE LINEAGE:

(Richard Alfred "Dick" Thomas was the son of Cyrus Bryan and Carolyn Calve Coates Thomas, grandson of Stanley, Jr. and Callie May Bennett Thomas and great grandson of Stanley and Emily Ann Light Thomas.  Stanley was the second child of Starkie and Mary Bridges Thomas.  Starkie was the fourth child James and Mary Standley Thomas.  Mary Bridges was the seventh child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)

William Bert Baker -- Educator

William Bert Baker was the founding president of North Arkansas College (Northark) in Harrison, Bill led Northark from 1974 until his retirement in 2001. As a result of his vision, Northark's off-campus programs led to two new colleges: Arkansas State University-Mountain Home and NorthWest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville.

Bill grew up in Gilbert, Arkansas where he met the love of his life and future wife, Bonnie King. His was the kind of remarkable childhood only possible in such a small town with great friends, caring neighbors, and a supportive family that consistently exhibited unconditional love. A place where there was someone around to lend an ear or a hand. Bill found new adventures every day along the Buffalo River and the River served as a place of reflection to gain perspective on his life and his core values of love and acceptance. These values continued to draw Bill back to Gilbert over the years and ultimately was the natural choice for retirement for Bill and Bonnie.

Bill attended school primarily in Marshall, Arkansas. He and his brother, Noel Jr. spent their free time playing basketball and were teammates on a Marshall Bobcat team that advanced state basketball tournament under the coaching of Cecil Medley. With his typical self-deprecating wit, he often said Arkansas Tech recruited him to play basketball in 1949 because he was outstanding in his field. “That’s where they found me,” he would say, “out standing in my field.”

A four-year starter for legendary Tech coach Sam Hindsman, Baker and his Wonder Boy teammates posted a record of 98-14, won the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference (AIC) all four years, and played in four NAIA national tournaments. Named All-AIC three times in basketball, Bill graduated from Tech in 1953, and he and Bonnie were married that summer on July 13.

After Bill earned a master’s degree from the University of Arkansas in 1954, he served in the United States Army during the Korean War. Stationed at the Pentagon, he was impacted significantly as a result of his daily walk to work past the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Bill was honorably discharged from the Army in 1957 and returned to his alma mater, Arkansas Tech as a faculty member and administrator. He earned a doctorate in education from the University of Arkansas in 1962. During his 17 years working at Tech, at various times he served as a teacher, coach, athletic director, and vice president of student affairs before accepting the challenge to start a new college in Harrison.

The founding president of what is now North Arkansas College in Harrison, Bill led Northark from 1974 until his retirement in 2001. He was the longest tenured president or chancellor of any public college or university in the state when he retired.

As a result of Bill’s vision and leadership, Northark’s offcampus programs directly led to the creation of two new colleges: Arkansas State University-Mountain Home and NorthWest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville.

A strong believer in the community college model of bringing education to students where they live, Bill and his faculty and staff also offered credit classes in partnership with three vocational technical schools. Those efforts provided the spark that helped ignite a statewide conversion of vo-tech schools into technical colleges.

In 1993, Bill led the merger of North Arkansas Community College and Twin Lakes Technical College, the first union of its kind in Arkansas history. He also was instrumental in creating Arkansas Community Colleges (originally, the Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges) and was a leader of the state’s two-year college presidents and chancellors throughout his career.

Throughout his distinguished tenure at Northark, he welcomed with the same open arms the Vice President of the United States and students who were the first in their families to attend college. He created a family atmosphere that nearly replicated the one he grew up with in Gilbert.

Bill had a remarkable ability to encourage others and let them know they were loved and special. He was beloved by employees and students alike, and his success as an advocate for his college with legislators at the Arkansas General Assembly was legendary.

Among his many awards and achievements, the Bill Baker Amphitheatre on the South Campus of North Arkansas College was named in his honor in 2001. Bill was inducted into the Arkansas Tech Hall of Distinction, received Marshall High School’s Distinguished Alumni Award, and just last year was named a John Paul Hammerschmidt Man of Distinction. He taught Sunday school at the First United Methodist Church of Harrison for 27 years and served as a lay speaker at numerous rural churches during his time in Russellville and Harrison.

A member of the Harrison Lion’s Club, he served on the boards of the Area Agency on Aging and Security Bank. He was a 33rd degree mason and received the Silver Beaver Award from the Boy Scouts of America.

For all of his accomplishments as an educator and a leader, it was Bill Baker’s love for his family, his passion for serving others, his sense of humor, and his amazing positive attitude that made him special. Two of his favorite sayings were: “Even when it doesn’t work out, it works out!” and “Always have something to look forward to!”

He once explained his philosophy of life in this way: “I try to approach everyone with love.” Certainly, the thousands of students and others whose lives he touched would agree.

William died on Friday, January 6, 2017, at his home in Gilbert.

THE LINEAGE:

(William Bert Baker was the son of Riley Noel and Loucille Anne Moore Baker, grandson of Jesse White and Alpha Gemima Myatt Moore and great-grandson of James Hardy and Permelia Emily Vinson Myatt.  Permelia was the third child of Thomas Allison and Alpha Gemima Sholar Vinson.  Alpha was the ninth child of Allen and Jemima Bridges Sholar.  Jemima was the first child of Drury and Charity Cohoon Bridges.)