I’m talking to my partner and I see this limo pull up outside. We were seated in the first booth to the right after you walk in. I went to lunch at the Capital Grill with a co-worker. To this day when I meet a colleague who attended the conference back in 2000 the very first thing they inevitably mention is “Buddy’s” performance and it was a performance.- Paula Most, Coordinator of the Arts for Lifespan Buddy brought the house down with his jokes and stories. Everett Koop, MD, was our keynote speaker, but it was our Mayor Buddy Cianci who was the STAR with his hilarious welcome address to the attendees. Over 300 members of the organization attended the 2 ½ day conference. In 2000, Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence hosted the Society for the Arts in Healthcare (SAH) annual national conference at the Biltmore Hotel. We were getting high and thought we were being busted! - Anonymous He landed in a helicopter one day in 1975 at a parking lot in Cumberland to ask directions. Accompanied by his friend on bongos, his talk was a piece of beat poetry about the RISD experience. The young man shed his cap and gown in favor of a hip cardigan. I must say you could even argue he upstaged the very original student speaker that year. Well, he got a rousing standing ovation, much to the dismay of the stoic president. I remember that parking tickets were a particular theme of his speech. He did not pay tribute to the institution at all - this was about the art students, and his insights were poignant and hilarious. Then he launches into an impromptu speech about how vital RISD students are to Providence. With no introduction from president Lee Hall, Buddy strolls out on stage and just grabs the podium. At one odd point in the proceedings there was an awkward pause, and some offstage stirrings that got the attention of the faculty seated on stage at the Providence performing Arts Center. It’s funny because RISD ‘s graduation is known to be an affair that undermines decorum - graduates in wild costumes, irreverent guest speakers, etc. On this occasion, though, he was left off the program. The mayor traditionally always appeared on stage and spoke at RISD graduation. I don’t know the exact timeline, but the assault allegations against him were known and in the headlines.
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