OREGON S LGBTO NEWSMAGAZINE
i
TRANSITIONS
In Remembrance of
Kevin Grant Peppel
July 2 6 ,1972-September 13,2011
Kevin played softball in the Rose City
Softball Association for three years with me
on the Redwings. He was loved and adored
by many. His big smile and even bigger laugh
were infectious. I will miss that and his loud
“ W hooo” and his way o f saying, “Hey, girl.”
He also had his own cleaning and handy
man business, and he was amazing at both.
Kevin loved his family, friends, his dog and
his bike.
I am going to miss him, a lot.
You’re at peace now, Kevy! Enjoy!
— Tim Bias
Richard Kneller Ludt
May 11 ,1965-October 10,2011
Richard “Ricardo” Ludt was born Ricky
Kneller to Richard and Patricia (Arkell)
Kneller at Weir M aternity Hospital in C en
tral London on May 11,1965. His father was
a British rock ‘n roll singer known as Dickie
Pride— “the Sheik of Shake.” A t the height
o f Dickie Pride’s career, in 1960, the Beatles
(then called the Silver Beatles) were slated to
be his backup band for a U.K. tour, but Dick
ie’s manager Larry Parnes decided against
this. Although Dickie was chosen to be the
supporting act for a Stevie W onder tour in
1966, his career had been spiraling downward
due to mental illness and drug abuse. A lo-
transitions&letters
botomy followed, and he died o f a sleeping
pill overdose in 1969.
Shortly after Dickie’s death, Patricia met
and married Rudolph Ludt, who legally ad
opted Ricky, and the family moved to New
York—where his sister Michelle was born—
and later, Colorado, where Richard— the
“awesome brother and ringleader o f trouble”—
spent most his youth. After graduating from
high school, he traveled extensively through
out Europe, and fell in love with and in Spain,
where he lived for several years.
Returning to the United States, he worked
with his beloved grandm other Stella Arkell
at her English tea shop in La Jolla, Califor
nia. At the urging of his best friend Cathie
Joy Young, he moved to Portland in 1992,
where he worked at Caffe M ingo and Zefiro
restaurants, among others. He graduated from
the Oregon School of Massage and estab
lished his own very successful practice, Spirit
Body Massage, and was beloved by his clients
for his healing abilities.
D uring the brief period o f time when gay
marriage was legal in M ultnom ah County,
Richard married Thate’(Tate) O ’Shaughnessy
in 2004.
Like his father, he loved to perform , and
dived into flamenco, belly dancing, piano/
guitar/accordion playing, and singing with
a fervor. He had an incredible sense o f
humor, and loved the theatrics o f creating
voices and characters, such as the homeless
caped superhero Dangerous D an, W olver
ine, Jesus on the cross and a grass skirt and
hat-w earing witch doctor with no under
wear. N ot surprisingly, his favorite holiday
was Halloween.
OCTOBER 21. 2011
fr
Richard jumped off the Fremont Bridge
on October 10, 2011, after months o f severe
depression. He is predeceased by his father,
by his adoptive father Rudy, and his beloved
grandm other Stella. He is survived by his sis
ter Michelle Ludt o f Denver, his mother Tri-
cia Browner and stepfather Philip Browner,
and numerous aunts and uncles and cousins.
He is also survived by his ex-husband Thate’
(Tate) O ’Shaughnessy and hundreds and
hundreds o f friends.
There will be a celebration of Richard’s life
with his family and friends on Sunday, October
30 at noon in the atrium of Wieden+Kennedy
(224 N W 13th Ave.). Remembrances or do
nations can be made in Richard’s name to Q_
Center (pdxqcenter.org) or The Trevor Project
(thetrevorproject.org).
5
Original letter reguarding the Portland Luggage
ad in JO's August 5 issue:
“...I'm angered and disgusted by the Port
land Luggage ad on page 7 - the one that opens
with "Nobody likes an OLD Bag/" accompanied
by a photo of a scowling grey-haired woman
wearing glasses (who appears to be anywhere
from 55 to 95 years old).
For the store, there’s no excuse - you folks
obviously think your ad is funny and compelling.
One result of your bad judgment, bad taste and
bad attitude, however, is that I (a customer for al
most 16 years who has bought a variety of excel
lent products at the downtown store and happily
referred other shoppers) won t be buying luggage
from you anymore + will be telling my friends
about this - angrily. I'm guessing you don't care,
given your use of this ageist/sexist ad copy but I
do want you to know.
...JO should not be accepting ads that delib
erately offend/insult any of us (eg. Old Lesbians
Organizing for Change) - or anybody else, for that
matter (except maybe well-known bad guys; it's
probably ok to insult people who are vicious, vio
lent queer-haters).. . "
LETTERS
An Ad(d) About
Acceptance
To: Gregg Simon, Portland Luggage Company,
cc: Marty Davis, Just Out
D ear M r . S im o n ,
Thank you for your willingness to withdraw
the ad and your explanation o f the rationale
behind it [“Letters” dated Sept. 16, in response
to Vol. 28, No. 19, Sept. 2, Page 3, “Putting the
A d ’In Adverse”].
We as an organization did not write the letter
to the editor [quoted in Page 3] nor did we au
thorize it as a statement from our group. How
ever, we do not disagree with the letter writer’s
point of view. We are concerned about ageism in
general and specifically the images of old women
in the media. We seek to promote positive im
ages of old women as vibrant, productive and
contributing members o f our society, as opposed
to “old” models who are either ignored, scorned
or are considered to be inferior to the “new.”
It seems to us that if we really value ac
ceptance and tolerance we would extend it
beyond issues o f skin color, gender identity,
sexual orientation and physical disability and
also reject negative comments about age and
physical appearance.
We appreciate your commitment to adver
tise in Just Out. We only ask that the humor
not reinforce negative images o f old people or
be at the expense o f people who do not fit the
“Madison Avenue” image.
Sincerely,
Mary Beth Brindley,
Old Lesbians Organizing fo r Change
Portland
“When Open-Minded
People Close Their
Minds—Portland’s
Hypocrisy”
T o T he E d ito r :
Let me begin by stating who I am. I’m an
atheist. A liberal. A true Portlandite. One who
proudly speaks o f Portland because o f the ap
preciation I have for one another’s differences.
I-
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