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| With LBJ, 9/29/65 | Father of the Bride, 10/9/94 |
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| New Sheriff in Town | A Proud Grampa, 1997 |
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| Portrait on a Napkin |
SONNET FOR A FALLEN PHILANTHROPIST
by Charles C. Mark date unknown
When leaders of great vision die who takes
their place? Who brings inspired light to hold
the unenlightened souls in line and makes
the timid followers stand tall and bold?
When visionaries die who holds the key
to all those locks that make the doors appear
to open with a magic touch? Are we
the heirs to visions we don't know are here?
Who sees as clearly as the pioneer?
Who visualizes excellence and all
that life and art can be, and hears so clear
the hooting, but ignores the foolish call?
To build where no one else has thought to try
is blessed satisfaction when we die.
More original poetry.
From The Washington Post; Thursday, March 19, 1998; Page B08:
Charles C. Mark, 70, a writer, educator and arts newsletter publisher who was former director of state and community operations of the National Endowment for the Arts, died after a stroke March 17 at the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville. Mr. Mark worked in the arts for more than 40 years. In 1964, theatrical producer Roger L. Stevens brought Mr. Mark, who had been founding executive director of the St. Louis Arts and Education Council, to help in establishing the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington. Mr. Mark served as art consultant to the White House from 1964 to 1965. In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed him director of state and community operations for the NEA. In that capacity, Mr. Mark explored the feasibility of states creating their own art agencies and how those agencies would interact with universities, museums, galleries and other organizations involved in the arts. Later, as NEA director of planning and analysis, he compiled budgets and evaluated grants. He left the NEA in 1969 to become president of the Los Angeles Music Center, but he returned to Washington a year later to start the Arts Reporting Service, a biweekly newsletter covering the international arts world. Mr. Mark also did news briefs on the arts for National Public Radio and taught U.S. cultural history at George Washington University and American University. With costs rising and support of the arts diminishing, Mr. Mark ceased publication of the Arts Reporting Service in 1990. He then retired to write full time. His written works included the 1960 novel "Run Away Home." Mr. Mark was a native of Milwaukee and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, where he also received a master's degree in social work. He served in the [Army] Air Force in 1946 and 1947. His marriage to Alice Mark ended in divorce. Survivors include his wife, Carol Williamson of Charlottesville; two children from his first marriage, Christopher Mark of Greenbelt and Hilary Bradley of Herndon; and a grandson.
Hear a sample of his APR radio show in the '80s.
Note: Requires Real Player.
Publications and unpublished or underproduced works.
