9 November—Tucker Carlson and his admirers must be celebrating Kristallnacht today (and tomorrow) on the 87^th anniversary of the Nazi-sponsored antisemitic pogrom in Germany and its annexed territories.

On to the topic of the day, then, Dave Driscoll would have turned 82 last Friday had he not died of Cancer in September. Here’s a reader’s observation on Driscoll’s legacy:

TWO GATHERINGS, TWO OBJECTIVES

This past weekend, there were two gatherings for Dave Driscoll, the former coach of the Litchfield Track Club and the Litchfield school system who passed away this past September. Each gathering had different perspectives on his life.

The first gathering was at St. Anthony’s cemetery. Officiating the rite of committal was Monsignor Tucker for Dave Driscoll’s final resting place. Gathered together were true friends who offered their final farewells to Dave’s life and accomplishments. Of the many comments that were made to honor his legacy, there was one comment that stood out. There was one fact about Dave, “Of the many years I knew him, there wasn’t one time he ever said anything bad about anyone.” There is always a good side to remember for everyone. God bless Dave Driscoll for his memorable achievements in the running world he so admired.

That wasn’t the case for him at the second gathering. It took over thirty years for people to come forward to convey their thoughts and feelings about Mr. Driscoll. Of course, there wasn’t any need for respect knowing this wasn’t the time to gather on the same day of his burial. This was importantly a day to gather for truth and healing for survivors of the coach’s abuse and to blame just about everyone associated with Mr. Driscoll.

They took away a social gathering at the Community Center, had a photo removed from a restaurant and believed his role with the Litchfield Hills Road Race had to do with their abuse. After thirty years of being silent and with his passing, it was time to get revenge and proceed to take action to ban his name from being associated with any town functions. It’s safe to say these speakers’ goals of getting even and settling the score are being achieved. But who was really to blame for the past?

Who was to blame for the oversight of their abuse? Did these victims ever question their parents about their unwillingness to pursue the abuse? If they had pursued this issue at the time, maybe there wouldn’t have been a gathering. Did any of the speakers mention the lack of proper attention by their parents toward their abuse at their gathering? The aim was to encourage open dialogue and the importance of truth-telling!

Hopefully, they did mention the reasoning why their parents were unwilling to file charges. Their decision not to open it up made prosecutors decline to proceed with any prosecution. In turn, all the negative remarks at this gathering and action to ban his legacy are pointed at someone with a clean record of never having any criminal charges against him. Because of this, to ban Dave Driscoll’s past association with the LHRR would be a dishonorable decision by the race committee and morally wrong to his legacy.

Richard Morin
Litchfield

For the benefit of readers not familiar with this episode in Litchfield’s purposefully sanitized but none the less sordid history, Dave Driscoll was accused over 30 years ago of sexually abusing boys he coached. A police investigation confirmed Driscoll’s alleged pederasty and recommended he be charged with three felonies.

But Driscoll was never arrested because parents of the minor alleged victims were unwilling to prefer charges or allow their children to testify in court. That was and is inexcusable, to say the least. In all events, without testimony there could be no case. A warrant for Driscoll in Maine, where he worked at a summer camp, was never executed. So an alleged pedophilic predator remained on the loose. And he maintained his relationship with Litchfield track events and the town’s school system for many years thereafter.

On the other hand, Dave Driscoll wasn’t around to defend himself at the catharsis on the green a week ago . . .