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25 Jan 2011 11:06

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Culture: Golden-voiced Ted Williams doesn’t stick with rehab very long

  • entering After a fight with his family members, Dr. Phil talked golden-voiced homeless guy Ted Williams into entering rehab, which he did.
  • exiting Less than two weeks after that hopeful gesture, Williams exited rehab on his own, suggesting a fall off the wagon. Sigh. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jan 2011 14:28

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Politics: Some thoughts on Ted Williams’ golden-voiced situation

  • Williams is an interesting figure who represents something far more than his own situation. And as more details come out about Williams, that becomes clear. He’s a product of that specific brand of fading industrialization that cities like Columbus have perfected over the last thirty years. A few years back, when Morgan Spurlock hosted the memorable reality show “30 Days,” he lived in Columbus, Ohio on minimum wage for a month. Spurlock gets beef for his Michael Moore-lite methods, but the truth is, the minimum wage episode was pretty on-point. We imagine Williams being in the background of that episode, thrown away by the society that let him down. And there’s the problem. There are lots of guys like Williams who were also in that scene, who don’t have his miraculous luck. Or the voice. We call them deadbeats. We criticize them for being dregs on society (looking at you, Fox News). Well, what are we doing to fix this? Enforcing drug laws? Citing them for trespassing? Ignoring them? For every Williams with a broken home life and no way to improve his situation, there are thousands of others. And we, as a society, should be asking why. (Now’s a good time to suggest donating to Street Sense. Help the homeless help themselves.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Jan 2011 13:58

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Culture: Ted Williams’ ex-wife: He wasn’t around after drugs took over

Williams’ ex-wife, Patricia Kirtley, had four kids with Williams that she raised by herself for over two decades. She even raised a kid he had WITH ANOTHER WOMAN. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Jan 2011 10:48

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Culture: So, how far did the homeless radio man Ted Williams fall?

  • Of all the people I’ve worked with in radio in 25 years, he would have been the last one I would guess would be famous. To be honest, I’m shocked he’s still alive, considering all the stuff he was into.
  • A former co-worker of golden-voiced homeless man Ted Williams • Explaining their experience working in radio with the man who’s dramatically been given multiple second chances this week. Williams, who has spent about five months in jail over the last twenty years and has a long-ranging list of misdemeanors, reportedly had a reputation of theft, according to the co-worker. Williams, who has six children (and myriad grandchildren and great-grandchildren), ended his marriage in 1998 because of his infidelity and crack-cocaine habit. He’s been clean for the last two years, and showed up on the “Today Show” this morning. Talk about comeback stories. Let’s hope that this time, he doesn’t get sucked into a world of drugs and alcohol. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Jan 2011 21:39

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Culture: Golden-voiced homeless guy comes with lots of baggage

  • » The Cavs still want to help, though: Look, if you have a long history of drug and alcohol abuse like Williams here, it’s understandable that there might be a criminal record in there. But that isn’t deterring Quicken Loans, which owns the Cleveland Cavaliers and has offered Williams a home along with an voiceover job with the team and company. “We believe in second chances and second opportunities,” said Tracy Marek, senior vice president of marketing for the Cavaliers. “The gentleman deserves an opportunity to explain certain situations. We’re not jumping to conclusions. It’s not fair.” We hope that the obvious rough edges don’t deter anyone else, either. Too many give up on the homeless – and most of them don’t become YouTube celebrities.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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