
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, July 22, 1990                   TAG: 9007230294
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

REMARKS ON SNYDER LACKED GENEROSITY

I AM SORRY to say that I found your July 7 editorial summarizing the life and work of Mitch Snyder somewhat lacking in generosity. Readers unfamiliar with Mitch's work could well conclude from the tone of the editorial (which twice referred to him as a zealot and stated that his methods "angered as many as they persuaded") that his efforts were more counterproductive than helpful in meeting the needs of his chosen constituency, the homeless.

If anyone in this country has been instrumental in bringing to the attention of the affluent the painful plight of those who have for years been relegated to subhuman status and treated as disposable (or worse, invisible), it was Mitch Snyder. In making their despair his own and in fighting to end it, whether through a natural genius for television or through battling a reluctant political structure by literally putting his life on the line, he was a genuine hero to many of us in an era woefully short of heroes.

His successes include 1,200 people sheltered each night in Washington and a greatly heightened national awareness of the human consequences of our horrendous lack of affordable housing. That he sometimes chose contentious tactics - he was "no Mother Teresa," as he admitted - makes his successes all the more remarkable. JEANNE HOWARD BLACKSBURG

by CNB