Morning Edition: Parting Thoughts

Gilberto Vázquez Valle was a beloved host on KFAI community radio in the Twin Cities. For nearly 15 years, before he passed away last week, he broadcast a deeply researched program on Latin American folk music. His show, Encuentro, aired on Thursday nights from 8-10 p.m.

A beloved member of the St. Paul community passed away last week. Manuel Cervantes was a longtime workers’ compensation appeals court judge and served as city attorney. His brother Ricardo Cervantes spoke with MPR News Host Phil Picardi about Manuel’s life.

A Minneapolis woman lost her father to COVID-19 early in the pandemic. But she didn’t feel the impacts of his death in a single moment. They’ve rippled out over months. She’s still sorting through all he left behind.

Burmeister was shaping major campaigns during the “Mad Men” era, when very few women held executive roles. She continued the work well into her 80s.

For nearly fifty years, if you lived near Albany, Minnesota and needed a doctor, there’s a chance you went to see Dr. Richard Salk. He died of COVID-19 earlier this month, at the age of 95. Many of the people who cared for him in his final days were people he once served, as a small-town doctor.

Carol Connolly, a beloved figure in the Twin Cities literary world and the city of St. Paul’s first poet laureate, has died. For years, Connolly hosted the popular monthly series Readings by Writers. Beyond writing poetry, she was a columnist, a playwright and a humorist — and she was politically active, as well.

Minnesota has lost a great advocate for women and women writers. Drury died earlier this month at the age of 75. Her daughter Kelly Kager joined MPR News Host Cathy Wurzer to remember Drury’s remarkable life.

Former Democratic state Sen., Lt. Gov. and Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Sandy Keith died over the weekend. He was 91.

Maury Graham’s family and friends say he was a talented salesman and a savvy real estate investor. He loved adventurous road trips and fishing, though his friends say his stories about the fish he didn't land were far more dramatic than his actual catches. 

Johnson was a fierce criminal justice advocate and most recently served as ombudsman for victims of Catholic clergy abuse.