Rose - A True American Citizen

Will the local media carry this excellent, ALREADY-WRITTEN, bio of citizen-activist Rose Nader (Ralph's mom) who just passed away yesterday? Will they do any follow-up? Will they give this news ANY coverage at all? Will they talk to Phil Donahue or people on Ralph's staff? Will they totally ignore it as if its irrelevant? Oooohhh, the suspense is killing me!Seriously, though, for those of us who care about the United States and American issues, the loss of such a wonderful citizen-activist and human being IS news and we all know that the mainstream media will never cover anything like this without ulterior motive. We'll just have to make do with this one-time emailing of an excellent biography of Rose written by the Nader family, themselves. Although, I did send out a notice earlier about Rose's death, the one below is MUCH more comprehensive. A friend of mine, Matt Bradley (who works for Ralph) sent it. It's well worth a read. Send it to others who care.

Rose Bouziane Nader – Teacher, homemaker, civic advocate and author.
Rose Bouziane Nader, who raised a family of civic activists by her teaching, writings and personal example, died on January 20 in her 100thyear at her home in Winsted, Connecticut. The cause was congestiveheart failure, according to her daughter, Claire Nader.Born in Zahle, Lebanon on February 7, 1906, Rose Nader became a high school teacher of French and Arabic. She married Nathra Nader in 1925,and emigrated to the United States shortly thereafter, settling with herhusband, a businessman, in Danbury and then in Winsted, Connecticut where they raised four children.She is survived by a sister, Angele Bouziane Mokhiber, of Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, two daughters, Dr. Claire Nader of Washington D.C. andWinsted, Connecticut, and Anthropology Professor Laura Nader of Berkeley, California, a son, Ralph Nader of Washington, D.C.; threegrandchildren and three great-grand children. She was predeceased byher first son, Shafeek Nader, the principal founder of the Northwestern Connecticut Community College, in 1986 and by her husband in 1991. In the nineteen fifties, after the destructive hurricane and flood of Winsted in 1955 – the third disastrous flood there in thirty years- she famously pressed then Senator Prescott Bush in a public gathering topledge to push for a dry dam by not letting go of his handshake until hehad promised to do so. And it was built. No more floods since. Afterthe flood damaged the local movie theater she also arranged for acommunity room at the local YMCA to be devoted to the recreational needsof local youngsters who otherwise might be loitering on the streets. Shealso initiated and led the Women's Club International Relations Committee, bringing distinguished speakers to the Town to inform thecitizenry about world affairs. Mrs. Nader was active in adult education in Connecticut, where she and her students were featured on a statewide television show in thenineteen fifties. Her public interests ranged from the local to thestate to the global level, as a member of Peace Action, Co-op America,and as President of The Shafeek Nader Trust for the Community Interest. She fought for the expansion and later the preservation of the Winsted Memorial Hospital. During the seventies, Mrs. Nader was criticized in an editorial by theWall Street Journal for having insisted that her children munch chick peas on their walk to school instead of presumably something sweeter.They charged that she was puritanical. This so amused her. Later, whenhummus became a popular dish, she remarked, "I suppose I was a little ahead of the times for the Wall Street Journal,"In 1991, after years of orally responding to questions from peoplecurious about what formula she used to raise her children, she authoredthe book It Happened in the Kitchen, which contained her philosophy of child-rearing, the intimate connection between good food and diversekitchen table/family conversations and some 100 recipes to nourish thisfood and thought combination. The last segment includes many perceptive observations by her husband, Mr. Nader, during discussions with theirchildren. She was featured that year on the Phil Donahue Show with herbook, which received wide circulation. One of the recipes presented on the show was hummus!Dr. Donna Andrea Rosenberg, a specialist in child rearing, wrote thatthe first section of the book "is the best I have ever read on childdevelopment. It is a masterpiece of utility and brevity. I constantly recommend it."Mrs. Nader was a contributor of articles to several publications,including one in the New York Times on the irony of those commonassurances of credibility ("in all honesty," "to be perfectly frank,"), which have the unintended effect of undermining the speaker's previousstatements. In the U.S. Postal Service's magazine she wrote praisingso-called "junk mail" from citizen organizations that do inform you about what is going on in their world and give you a choice to helpexpand their efforts.Rose Nader was a joyous person with an engaging vibrant manner, a loveof singing songs and spreading proverbs and an irreverent sense of humor. "She was not a person of many words," said her daughter Claire,who is active with many citizen groups, "but her content contained muchmemorable wisdom." For example, her daughter Laura noted, "on child-rearing formulas, Mom observed that, 'there is no recipe.' On supporting each other, it was 'operation cooperation.'"To her young children, Rose Nader would explain health care just whenthey were most receptive--lying in bed with childhood ailments. To her growing children, she would teach about priceless things by asking them the price of sunshine, or songbirds or cool breezes. She declined toread to her little ones, preferring to draw on her wide historical and literary memory and speak directly to their eyes so as to discern their reactions and expressions. Rose Nader consistently conveyed to her children their duty to improvethe country to which she had emigrated. "One day, when I was about nine years old," recalled her son Ralph," she asked me if I loved my country," I replied that I did, whereupon she said "Well I hope when you grow up, you'll work hard to make your country more lovable." When her children came home from school for lunch, she would relateinstallments of an historical saga. While at the evening meal, she listened to the children talk about what the school day was like.A practicing advocate of the uses of proverbs to raise children andenrich adult conversations as well, she was collecting Arabic proverbsused liberally in her own family upbringing and community in Lebanonwith a view of compiling them in a book. A memorial service will be held at a date to be determined. Memorial contributions may be made to The Shafeek Nader Trust for the Community Interest, an educational foundation, PO Box 500, Winsted, CT06098. For further comments about the life of Rose Nader, you may wish tocontact Phil Donahue at 212-564-3234, David Halberstam at 212-580-4835, and Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's Health ResearchGroup, at 202-588-7735, and publisher-author Richard Grossman at860-824-0367. Contact telephone number is: 860-738-1262. The above was written by the Nader family on January 23, 2006. Thank you for your interest.