Posted by Chuck Darst on October 06, 2009 at 17:00:04 from 209.173.253.208 ixpress-adsl-209-173-253-208.253.173.209.in-addr.arpa :
I was one of the peace activists to whom Ed Powell opened his home in 1971. He was tremendously gracious to us, the "Buffalo 5." We had been arrested in the old federal building that August, doing our bit to bring an end to the American war in Vietnam. Meaux Considine and I had been taking his "Sociology of War" class at UB that summer, and we were almost to the end of the term when we did the Buffalo 5 action, destroying Selective Service files, and raiding the office of Military Intelligence. We spent a few days at the Erie Co. Jail until the peace community could raise bail. When we got out, Meaux and I went straight to Ed's class, only to find him talking to the class about our action. As we walked in, he looked up, beamed and said, "Well, here they are now! I'll let them tell you about it." After class, he told us we'd done a brave and bold thing and said he was going to exempt us from the term paper and give us an "A" for the action as a "class project." His house at 124 Jewett Pkwy became the offices of the Buffalo 5 Defense Committee. I got to know Ed very well over the years that followed, and enjoyed many memorable times with him, conversing, hiking, contemplating the mysteries of life. We kept up with each other even after I moved to Washington State in 1974. He visited me there a couple of times. I was crestfallen to have my annual Christmas card returned, stamped 'Deceased." He was a wonderfully learned man, and I was privileged to count him among my dearest friends. I will miss him. CHUCK DARST