As we heard the unfortunate news that Boston Pride was postponing its 2020 celebration, many of us recalled the one other time that the Pride parade and outdoor festival were cancelled. In 1998, following a month of heavy rain, Boston had 5.63 inches of rain on Saturday, June 13. Some areas to the south of the city had over ten inches. Confronted by the deluge, Pride had to cancel all of its activities that weekend.

The Pride Committee's finances were precarious in those years and the cancellations threatened Pride with financial disaster. During this dark time Harry Collings and Vin McCarthy stepped up to raise money for the committee and saved Pride.

Fortunately, Harry is still with us and he continues to be a pillar of our community but Vin (his name was Vincent but everyone called him Vin) passed away on January 27 of this year at the age of 79. Born in Brighton with a Boston accent he was proud of, Vin was a pioneer. He was one of the first openly gay partners at a major law firm (Hale and Dorr, now WilmerHale), headed Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign in 1968, and unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1986.

Vin's public service is legendary. Having achieved sobriety in the 1970s, he dedicated his adult life to helping the Pine Street Inn provide services to Boston's homeless. He cofounded the Human Rights Campaign and served as chair of the Governor's Advisory Committee on Gay and Lesbian Youth, Massachusetts' groundbreaking effort to assist queer youth. Whenever there was a cause to help or a wrong to right, Vin was there. No one was surprised that he helped save Pride in 1998.

In this challenging time, we want to remember Vin's tremendous contributions to our community and ask that you also do what you can to keep our institutions alive.

Stay safe.