RIP, Mr. C.
July 3rd 2008 09:17 am
Grant Cushinberry has died at the age of 86.
Mr. Cushinberry was born in Nicodemus, an all-black town founded in 1877 in northwest Kansas by former slaves fleeing the south. He came to Topeka after WW II to attend the Kansas Vocational School. That means he was here during the Brown v. Topeka Board of Education turmoil and decision.
His nephew Dale is now the principal at Highland Park High School.
He owned a trash-hauling business, and the first I remember being aware of him was seeing the brightly-painted truck lumbering down the street. It was a moving billboard, mobile graffiti. Every message, every word painted there was positive. It was his blog before there was an internet. And splayed across the front was, “Here Comes Cush!”
He founded, and for almost 30 years spent most of each November organizing, the Topeka Community Thanksgiving Dinner. The food is donated (with, I’m sure, some arm-twisting) by local businesses and is prepared by volunteers. Anyone can come eat, no questions asked. Most years, 3,000 people show up.
Mr. Cushinberry also operated what he called “God’s Little Half Acre.” He grew vegetables there, and distributed food, clothing, furniture, and who-knows-what-else to those who needed them. Again, the goods he gave away were donated, solicited from local businesses and individuals.
Mr. Cushinberry probably wouldn’t have called himself a libertarian, but on a fundamental level, that was exactly what he was. I’m proud to have lived in the same town with him.
Mayor Bunten is quoted in this morning’s paper as saying, “I think there will be a little celebration in heaven tonight because a guy like Grant is coming home.”
I don’t doubt it for a minute.