“In the midst of winter … I found within myself an invincible summer.”

                                                                                                    – – – Albert Camus

I’ve always loved the quote.  And now as I sit at my desk on this January day struggling to pull together my fifth book (another anthology), I shake off the cold weather blues by reflecting on just how lucky I am. 

I’ve written previously of the good fortune which has accompanied me in every season of my already long life … even during the turmoil and chaos of recent years.

Happy Rockefeller once told me:  “Good friends rally round when life turns sad and difficult.”  And Mario Cuomo advised me recently to “sweep away the rubble …”  But I can’t discard my gratitude to some wonderful individuals whose encouragement and friendship sustained me during the travails of the last several years.

You will recognize a lot of familiar, if disparate, types among these good souls.   But every single one of them went out of their way to do something nice for me and mine at least once.  But I must admit I taxed the friendship of a great many on an almost daily basis.

As I consider my good fortune and tally up my blessings … there are, to be sure, some others.  But these are the ones whose generosity I’ll remember. 

I’m grateful for their kindness in any season …

And I don’t forget …

Cindy Adams … Roger Ailes … Ahmet Aloqui … Eleanor Alter, Esq. … Gregorio Alvarez … Joe Amaturo … Joe Apicella … David Aronson, Esq. … Michael Assaf … Rob Astorino … Fabio Avendano … Jon Ballin … Vanessa Battle … Special Agent Charles Beaudoin …Joseph Berger … Kara Bennorth … Henry Berman … Judge Jeffrey Bernbach … Karen Dobbis Bernbach … Jerry Biggins … Robert Blau … Carol Bobrowsky … Dr. David Breindel … Gerardo Bruno … Colin Burns, Sr. … Billy Bush … Jonathan Bush … Dr. Steven Butensky … John Cahill … Suzanne Calabrese … Kylie & Louis Cappelli … Father Michael Carnevale, OFM … Peter Carpenter … Commissioner Pat Carroll … John Catsimatidis … Lachlan Cartwright … Trooper Matt Cashman … Chuck Castleberry … Father Joe Cavoto, OFM … Guillaume Chamot-Rooke … Jody Chesnov … Jennifer & Douglas Clement … Maria Cuomo Cole … David Patrick Columbia … Judge Matthew Cooper … Tim Corvo, Esq. … Jerry Cummins … Bill Cunningham … Jim Cunningham … Governor Andrew Mark Cuomo … Governor Mario M. Cuomo … Matilda Raffa Cuomo … Cynthia Foster Curry … Tony Damiani … Mayor Ernie Davis … Robert Davis … Lydia Devine, Esq. … Fred Dicker … Judge Tom Dickerson … Fiorita & Michael DiLullo … Joey DiMarco … Chief Lou DiMeglio … Abramo DiSpirito … Timothy Cardinal Dolan … David Donovan … Jimmy The Doorman … Jose The Doorman …  Judge Ann Dranginis … Bruno Dussin … Dr. Fritz Ehlert … Dr. Marc Sabin Eisenberg … Kevin Scott Elliott … Lee Elman … Ambassador Edward Elliot Elson … Frank Endress … Judge Saralee Evans … Erica Farber … Michael Fasano, Esq. … Tony Federici … Steve Fisher … Dick Foreman … Joe Fosina … Justice Samuel George Fredman … Judy Fremont … Scott Fybush … Cindy Hall Gallagher … Dr. Tom Gallagher … Ambassador Charles Gargano … Leon Geller … Christine Gemelli … Jim Generoso … Simoni Gentile … Raul Geraldo … Edward “Ned” Gerritty … Gary Gerstein … Judge Charles Gill … Marla Golden … Marty Goldsmith … Terry Golway … Shari Gordon, Esq. … Jeff Greenberg … Rich Guberti … Jo Hallingby … Ron Harris … Michael Harrison … Graham Hastedt … Donald Hayde, Esq. … Cynthia Hayes … John Hennessy … Billy Herman, Esq. … Luis Hernandez … Maggie Hernandez … Debbie Hield … Trooper Jim Holm … Judy Huntington … Billy Jacobs … Joan Jedell … Richard Johnson … Robert Johnson … Thomas Johnson … Dr. Bob Jones … Charlie Kafferman … Larry Kaiser … Noel Kane … Mel Karmazin … John Kelly … William Kennedy … Mike Kinosian … Hon. Henry Kissinger … Ralph Kragle … Erwin Krasnow, Esq. … Cappy LaBarbera … Senator George Latimer … Franco Lazzari … Mike Licalzi … Philip Lombardo … Salvatore Lombardi … Egidiana Maccioni … Marco Maccioni … Mario Maccioni … Mauro Maccioni … Sirio Maccioni … Alec MacGillis …  Kevin Mackin, OFM … Ed Mancuso … John Mara …  Carl Marcucci … Charles Masson … Michaele McCarthy … Brian McCormick, Esq. … Kevin Barry McGrath, Esq.  … John McKenna … Patrick McMullan … Paolo Middei … Barbara & Joseph Migliucci … Faith Miller, Esq. … Judge Sondra Miller … Mark Miller … Suzi Mion … Dr. Sandy Mirabile … Jay Mitchell … Wendy Moger-Bross … Joe Mondello … Tom Mullen … Betty Ann Mummert … Dan Murphy … Deborah & Declan Murphy … Mark Murphy … Ryan Murphy … Ted Murphy … Fred Nachbauer … Joe Napolitano … Jimmy Neary … Ambassador Edward Noonan Ney … Judy Ney … Vu Nguyen … Julian Niccolini … Margaret Noonan … Deborah Norville & Karl Wellner … Ken Norwick, Esq. … Amelia Nulty … Flynn Nulty … Tucker Nulty … Dr. Joseph Nyre … Anita Oken … Ellen & Ray Oneglia … Bill O’Neill … Cara Ferrin O’Shaughnessy … Coco O’Shaughnessy … David Tucker O’Shaughnessy … Isabel O’Shaughnessy … Julie Ascenzo O’Shaughnessy … Kate Wharton O’Shaughnessy … Lacey O’Shaughnessy … Lily O’Shaughnessy … Matthew Thayer O’Shaughnessy … James O’Shea … Phyllis Steves & Bob Partridge … Gregg Pavelle … Alina Pedroso … Dr. Paul Pellicci … Joe Percoco … Al Pirro, Esq. … Judge Jeanine Pirro … Kathy & Dr. Rich Pisano … Ray Planell … Caryl Donnelly Plunkett … Kevin Plunkett … William Plunkett … Postmaster Vincent Polacco … Mary Porcelli … Dr. Ken Porter … Assemblyman Gary Pretlow … Dominic Procopio … Doug Quinn …  Dan Rather … Ambassador Ogden Rogers Reid …  Joe Reilly … Phil Reisman … Elva Amparo Reynoso … Eric Rhoads … Dan Ribicoff … Anthony Riccardi … Murray Richman, Esq. … Judge Vincent Rippa … Col. Marty Rochelle … Joseph “Jim” Rocco … Tim Rooney, Sr. … Cristina Rose … Janine Rose … Alan Rosenberg … Marjorie Rubin … Gianni Russo … Constable Pete Russo … Ed Ryan … Dr. Steven Safyer …  Emilia St. Amand … Joao “Bamboo” Santos … Steve Savino … Mike Scully … Judge Judy Sheindlin … Judge Alan Scheinkman … Michele Silva Thomas, Esq. … John Sterling …  Liz Bracken Thompson … Geoff Thompson … Mark Simone … Barry Slotnick, Esq. … Emily Smith … Jan Johnson Smith … Liz Smith … John Spicer … General Joe Spinelli … Rob Speyer… Renee & Stuart Stengel … Don Stevens … Gayle Stevenson … Chuck Strome … Howard Sturman … Laurie & Rob Taishoff … Joan & Val Taubner … Tom Taylor … Steve Tenore … Ann Wharton Thayer … Janet & Wes Tilden … Jonathan Tisch … Father Robert Tucker … Irma Valencia … Jesus Valencia … Charles Valenti … John Valenti … Sean Vokhshoorzadeh … Alex Von Bidder … Ron Vuy … Mario Edwardo Wainer … Sabrina Wender … Ed Whitman … Bud Williamson … Rabbi Amiel Wohl … Greg Wright … Francis X. Young … Zahir Ziani … William Zimmerman … Guliano Zuliani … Todd Zuzullo.  

I still love that “invincible summer” line.  But before summer comes spring.

Pitchers and catchers report next week.

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William O’Shaughnessy, a former president of the New York State Broadcasters Association, was chairman of Public Affairs for the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington.  He has been a point man and advocate for the broadcasters of America on First Amendment and Free Speech issues, and is presently chairman of the Guardian Fund of the Broadcasters Foundation of America.  He operates two of the last independent stations in the New York area: WVOX and WVIP.

He is the author of “AirWAVES” (1999) … “It All Comes Back to Me Now” (2001) … “More Riffs, Rants and Raves” (2004) … “VOX POPULI: The O’Shaughnessy Files” was released in January, 2011.  He is currently working on his fifth book for Fordham University Press, an anthology which will include this piece.