Farewell to an MCC Friend
Paul Sullivan, an MCC professor of both journalism and business, was buried today, four days after losing his battle with cancer. Thousands of mourners turned out for Sullivan's wake on Wednesday, and hundreds more attended his funeral at the Immaculate Conception Church in Lowell.
Tributes poured in all week for Sullivan, who was arguably MCC's biggest cheerleader in the media market, whether it be in his Lowell Sun columns or his WBZ talk show.
A few years ago, Sullivan, working with President Carole Cowan, had pitched the idea of creating a leadership institute at MCC, a program that would help identify the leaders of tomorrow and introduce them to business development and government, and help cultivate their leadership potential. Sullivan took ill, though, and was never quite able to get the program off and running.
This week, President Cowan announced that she plans to reinvigorate the institute, and has renamed it the Paul H. Sullivan Leadership Institute at MCC. More plans about the program will be announced in the days to come, but we at MCC thought it appropriate to honor Paul in this manner on the day of his burial.
At his service, WBZ radio personality Carl Stevens shared a poem about Sullivan that we reproduce here, in memory of our friend and colleague, Paul Sullivan
FOR PAUL, by Carl Stevens
Go home, Sully
To where the grass is green and tall
Where every home is a microphone;
You can own them all.
You can take calls from Saint Peter,
Argue with prophets and popes.
Take the heavenly twine of rhetoric
And knit yourself some hope.
Know the joy that Adam knew
Long before the fall.
Go home, Sully,
To where the grass is green and tall.
To where angels speak in sound bites
As long as the Nile and wider
Where everything's so peaceful
That Gandhi's considered a fighter;
Where God will bring you breakfast,
Only the expensive stuff;
Breathe in, breathe out, enjoy yourself,
God knows you suffered enough.
Buy yourself a radio
In heaven's shopping mall.
Go home, Sully,
To where the grass is green and tall.
Back here we'll shine your memory
Like a trophy in a case.
We can fill your time slot,
But who could take your place?
Who can fill a room like you
With laughter, wit and venom?
In a week you'll have the
Top-rated talk show in heaven.
Elijah, Paul and Moses
I'm sure that they will call.
Go home, Sully,
To where the grass is green and tall.
Say good-bye to all the doctors
They will not cut again.
I'm sure it seemed these past few years
Like pain was your best friend.
But now the pain is over,
Your spirit rises high.
You showed us how to live
And you taught us how to die.
You're out of that hospital bed;
Laugh out loud, stand tall.
Welcome home, Paul Sullivan,
To where the grass is green and tall.