"Forever immortalized - Family, friends, community gather as statue of Rich Weiss is unveiled along banks of the Yampa
By Jon Libid Sunday, June 10, 2001
Steamboat Springs — The world came to a standstill as Peter Van De Carr read his memories of the late Dr. Rich Weiss at the edge of the Yampa River. The blues playing in the background stopped. Bike riders and dog walkers paused to listen in. Even passing kayakers managed to struggle against the river's flow to watch as one of the greatest in their sport was remembered.
But it was Tyler Richardella's rendering of Weiss that froze time, captured it in bronze. He had stopped the waters of the mighty Yampa as it held its favorite son, breaking from its foamy embrace with a determined look on his face.
Old friends, family and locals applauded as Richardella, 24, and Weiss' son River, 3, uncovered the sculpture at Dr. Rich Weiss Park. Weiss, a two-time Olympian, drowned while kayaking the White Salmon River in Washington state in 1997.
"I just wish Rich was here," said his wife, Rosi, in a voice quivering with emotion. "He wouldn't believe it. He wouldn't want to be put on a pedestal; it's not his way at all.
"This is his home, this is where he did everything, where he grew up."
Rosi Weiss now lives in San Diego, a place with little to remind her of Rich. He could have put any of the other towns they were in as his hometown, she said, but he always put down Steamboat.
She had to explain to young River, who had never met his father, the concept of the event, framing it in a much softer light. He thought his father would actually be at the dedication.
But he remained poised in the gravity of the moment. He ran around, posing for pictures and testing the pond, sporting the same forehead-hugging bangs his father always had.
Weiss' former coach, Tom Steitz, was there. He chuckled as he recounted how he and Weiss would steal a City Market shopping cart every now and then and use it to drag their kayaks to the river. How they would make Weiss, "the kid who didn't have a driver's license," ride in the back of a pickup truck on kayaking trips to Buena Vista or Colorado Springs. If it would rain or get too cold, maybe they'd let him crawl up front with them. He chuckled again at the thought of the country's, and possibly the world's, greatest paddler ever, riding in the back of an uncovered pickup truck just for a chance to go kayaking.
There was Gilbert Chavez, Weiss' high school wrestling buddy who had driven with his wife, Maria, from Castle Rock. Even in high school, Weiss was an accomplished athlete and student. Even then, he stayed humble in the face of his achievements, a "fantastic guy." Didn't drink, didn't smoke, didn't cuss. Clean as you can get. Dedicated, with an unbelievable work ethic. Never a harsh word to say.
For Van De Carr, who pushed the project from renaming the park to getting a statue raised Weiss was a hero, a best friend. A pioneer of kayaking in an area ruled by the land. It's Ski Town USA, but it's also Kayak Town USA, he said. He called numerous years he spent on the project since Weiss' death "a pleasurable process." What now? he asked. They had achieved a community goal, with the statue as their "artistic Stanley Cup." It's a bummer that it's over, he said.
There are the well-deserved hugs and handshakes for the artist, Tyler Richardella. He was commissioned to work on the piece four years ago, at the tender age of 20. Never mind the countless days of research, peering into the past through pictures of a man he had never met. Time spent watching kayakers to get a feel for the lifestyle. Conversations with Van De Carr and Steitz on technical details. Noticing how the slope of River's neck is so much like his father's.
"I wish I got to know him," Richardella said. "I feel like I do know him."
Never mind that he has also had to deal with heart and liver problems, probably caused by the steroids he took for crippling arthritis. But never mind that. Like any other artist, the moment begins to play on his nerves. Did I get his face right? Are they going to like it? Did I do a good enough job? Never mind that his first commissioned piece will be seen for generations to come in a popular public venue.
His mother and father, Leslie and Bob, purse their lips as he speaks to the crowd about his piece before they unveil it, thanking person after person for his or her help. His mother is overwhelmed with pride, never knowing during the four and a half years of the project if he would make it that far. A lot of pride, she said. It's kept Tyler going.
"While this is a memorial to Rich, this is an honor to you that you did this," said Harry Weintrob to Richardella. His son, Elliot, was on the 1992 Olympic Team with Weiss.
In the background, there are still kayak and open canoe races. Many cheer on the junior contest, with preteens braving the water in competition. They all win prizes. They close out the awards ceremony handing the first-ever Richard Weiss Cup given for "Excellence in River Life" to co-winners Sean Cavanagh and Kevin Dombey, who have raced all day to a draw.
For Van De Carr, who runs the event, the 21st Yampa River Festival may be his favorite, he said as the day closed out. Less money, he said, but truer to the small-town nature of the event. And the chance to honor a personal hero.
"This is a better world because he walked and paddled with us," he said at the dedication. "He was, in short, the best we had to give." (from (
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"World View : When Ophthalmologist Richard Weiss of Newport Beach Set Out to End Curable Blindness, He Envisioned a Plan Without Borders
November 10, 1998|KATHRYN BOLD | TIMES STAFF WRITER
No matter how many times Newport Beach ophthalmologist Richard Weiss shows visitors a videotape of blind, destitute people waiting hours for surgery they hope will bring them sight, he's the first to tear up.
For more than 10 years, Weiss has worked to restore the sight of poor people in places such as India, South Africa and Haiti, where the blind line up by the hundreds for his free surgeries. He has seen, and treated, children with opaque, unseeing eyes like those pictured on his video.
"In a country like India, where people are so caught up in survival, [restored vision] is literally a miracle to them," Weiss said. "You just see their face open up. It's a feeling you can't even describe to bring such important and permanent change in their life."
Realizing that one person alone could do little to cure world blindness, Weiss set his sights higher. In 1989, he started the One World Sight Project (OWSP) Inc., to mobilize members of the entertainment industry, corporate sponsors and eye-care providers to support international ophthalmology. The project's goal: to create a united fund to expand programs that provide eye care to the world's poor.
"You have to be kind of idealistic to do this," Weiss said. "I figured I'd keep at it until someone could tell me why it's not a good idea. But everyone wanted to help, and it kept building."
As OWSP president, Weiss has spent the last decade lining up the kind of endorsements he felt necessary to lend credibility to his cause. Now, with the participation of leading ophthalmologists, the backing of blind pop musician Stevie Wonder and the encouragement of a famous former patient, South African President Nelson Mandela, he's ready to put the OWSP in the global spotlight.
For citizens of undeveloped countries, loss of eyesight can be a death sentence, Weiss said. Many countries don't have the kind of social services available to the blind in the United States.
"Blind people want to help themselves, but in many countries they are reduced to just begging," Weiss said. The lucky ones find menial, repetitive jobs, but everyday living is still hard.
"In the United States, we take so much for granted. We have curbs that dip and [crosswalk] alarms that chirp when it's safe to cross the street," Weiss said. "In countries like India, the blind have to be literally led around by sticks."
Many countries also face a critical shortage of eye doctors. Said Weiss: "There are more eye surgeons in metropolitan San Francisco than in all of Africa."
Of the 42 million cases of blindness worldwide, Weiss says, 80% could be prevented or treated. The 20 million people blinded by cataracts in both eyes could be cured with a simple 20-minute operation that costs about $30, Weiss said. So far the OWSP has raised about $75,000 and hopes to net $25 million to $75 million by staging a global fund-raiser in 1999.
Weiss envisions a telethon held simultaneously in the United States, Germany, Japan and England, targeted for Sept. 1. Each telethon would broadcast documentaries of A-list musicians and artists who would travel to countries where blindness is endemic and record their impressions of patients having their sight restored. During the telethon, the OWSP hopes to provide cataract surgery to 5,000 to 25,000 blind people around the world.
If anyone can pull off the telethon, it's Weiss, said OWSP board member Robert Welsh.
"Rick is the front leader of the big-bucks raising," said Welsh, president of the Volunteer Eye Surgeons Assn., whose members alleviate cataract blindness around the world. Welsh's son, Derek, serves as director of development for the OWSP, which has quarters at Weiss' Newport Beach office.
"Rick is so committed; it's unbelievable," Welsh said. "He came up with the plan, and . . . I think it's the only way we'll get the job done."
Treatments
No matter how many times Newport Beach ophthalmologist Richard Weiss shows visitors a videotape of blind, destitute people waiting hours for surgery they hope will bring them sight, he's the first to tear up.
For more than 10 years, Weiss has worked to restore the sight of poor people in places such as India, South Africa and Haiti, where the blind line up by the hundreds for his free surgeries. He has seen, and treated, children with opaque, unseeing eyes like those pictured on his video.
"In a country like India, where people are so caught up in survival, [restored vision] is literally a miracle to them," Weiss said. "You just see their face open up. It's a feeling you can't even describe to bring such important and permanent change in their life."
Realizing that one person alone could do little to cure world blindness, Weiss set his sights higher. In 1989, he started the One World Sight Project (OWSP) Inc., to mobilize members of the entertainment industry, corporate sponsors and eye-care providers to support international ophthalmology. The project's goal: to create a united fund to expand programs that provide eye care to the world's poor.
"You have to be kind of idealistic to do this," Weiss said. "I figured I'd keep at it until someone could tell me why it's not a good idea. But everyone wanted to help, and it kept building."
As OWSP president, Weiss has spent the last decade lining up the kind of endorsements he felt necessary to lend credibility to his cause. Now, with the participation of leading ophthalmologists, the backing of blind pop musician Stevie Wonder and the encouragement of a famous former patient, South African President Nelson Mandela, he's ready to put the OWSP in the global spotlight.
For citizens of undeveloped countries, loss of eyesight can be a death sentence, Weiss said. Many countries don't have the kind of social services available to the blind in the United States.
"Blind people want to help themselves, but in many countries they are reduced to just begging," Weiss said. The lucky ones find menial, repetitive jobs, but everyday living is still hard.
"In the United States, we take so much for granted. We have curbs that dip and [crosswalk] alarms that chirp when it's safe to cross the street," Weiss said. "In countries like India, the blind have to be literally led around by sticks."
Many countries also face a critical shortage of eye doctors. Said Weiss: "There are more eye surgeons in metropolitan San Francisco than in all of Africa."
Of the 42 million cases of blindness worldwide, Weiss says, 80% could be prevented or treated. The 20 million people blinded by cataracts in both eyes could be cured with a simple 20-minute operation that costs about $30, Weiss said. So far the OWSP has raised about $75,000 and hopes to net $25 million to $75 million by staging a global fund-raiser in 1999.
Weiss envisions a telethon held simultaneously in the United States, Germany, Japan and England, targeted for Sept. 1. Each telethon would broadcast documentaries of A-list musicians and artists who would travel to countries where blindness is endemic and record their impressions of patients having their sight restored. During the telethon, the OWSP hopes to provide cataract surgery to 5,000 to 25,000 blind people around the world.
If anyone can pull off the telethon, it's Weiss, said OWSP board member Robert Welsh.
"Rick is the front leader of the big-bucks raising," said Welsh, president of the Volunteer Eye Surgeons Assn., whose members alleviate cataract blindness around the world. Welsh's son, Derek, serves as director of development for the OWSP, which has quarters at Weiss' Newport Beach office.
"Rick is so committed; it's unbelievable," Welsh said. "He came up with the plan, and . . . I think it's the only way we'll get the job done."
Weiss, 45, is a renaissance man. He specializes in laser vision correction and ophthalmic plastic and reconstructive surgery--high-tech eye care. He has invented devices making laser eye-surgeries easier and safer to perform.
He's also a songwriter and pianist, occasionally performing benefits with other physician-musicians. A song he wrote about the plight of the blind called "One Spirit" inspired him to start the OWSP. Sitting at the piano in his Newport Beach home, Weiss got the idea for a benefit to cure world blindness, something similar to the "We Are the World" concert to combat world hunger.
"I thought, 'If we could only get someone who would take the time and effort to raise the most money possible [to cure blindness],' " Weiss said. "And then I thought, 'Maybe I could be that person.' "
Weiss enlisted the help of colleagues, speaking before the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Volunteer Eye Surgeons Assn. "We've united worldwide ophthalmologists in a way that's never been done before," he said proudly." (from (
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