[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 13 (Monday, February 23, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S814-S816]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             ROGER STEVENS--A GIANT FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, with the death of Roger Stevens earlier 
this month, the nation lost one of its greatest leaders in the arts. 
Roger Stevens was the Founding Chairman and unstoppable visionary for 
the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Just inside the 
entrance of the Center is a bust of Roger Stevens with those words 
inscribed to him.
  Roger Stevens was a real estate magnate who loved the excitement, 
energy and creativity of American theater. During his lifetime, he 
produced hundreds of plays and musicals, including

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many of the nation's all-time favorites such as ``West Side Story,'' 
``Les Miserables,'' and ``Annie.''
  It was Roger Stevens whose efforts and extraordinary ability created 
Washington's national cultural center which was later named for my 
brother, President Kennedy. The Kennedy Center today is truly the house 
that Roger built, and it is a wonderful living memorial to my brother. 
It presents the finest in the performing arts on its stages, and it is 
an extraordinary success. Washingtonians and an estimated million 
visitors to Washington each year enjoy its performances and educational 
programs.
  In St. Paul's Cathedral in London, there is a tribute to its great 
architect, Christopher Wren. It says, ``If you would see his monument, 
look around you.'' The Kennedy Center is a monument to Roger Stevens' 
too.
  I know that my brother would be very proud of the Center which bears 
his name. All of us who value achievement in the arts treasure the 
Center's continued pursuit of Roger's dream--that Washington will be a 
great center for the performing arts and that the Kennedy Center will 
present the best in plays, symphonies, ballets and operas from across 
the country and around the world. Roger Stevens made it possible for 
all of us to share in that dream--and the nation owes him a tremendous 
debt.
  I ask unanimous consent that the tributes to Roger Stevens at a 
memorial service on February 4 at Oak Street Cemetery Chapel in 
Georgetown be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the tributes were ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                        Tribute by Marta Istomin

       I came to the Kennedy Center in January 1980 and worked 
     closely with Roger Stevens some 10 years and our friendship 
     lasted 'til the end. It was much more than friendship from my 
     part--it was admiration, affection and respect, and the 
     realization of the privilege of being near such an 
     extraordinary personality--from whom I learned so much.
       Many have spoken and written about Roger's lifetime 
     achievements. I can only speak first hand about those later 
     years when he was involved in the development of the artistic 
     dream of making the Kennedy Center a genuine National 
     Cultural Center--raising the awareness of what true Art 
     means--as compared to just anything that carries the label of 
     Performing Arts--and we need to know the difference! A Center 
     that would be a place where the best expression and 
     excellence of American Arts would be appreciated and 
     encouraged--while presenting the best from around the world.
       At the Kennedy Center--the house that Roger built--there 
     was an incandescent spirit within those walls--not only on 
     the stages but before the performances were ever on stage. 
     The ideas, the preparation, the challenges, the excitement! 
     It was Roger that instilled that spirit. He was a passionate 
     believer and supporter of many projects--not only for the 
     Theater--but for all forms of arts. One of his extraordinary 
     gifts was for recognizing creative talent and for bringing 
     together the best artists. As an example, when he served as 
     first chairman of the National Council on the Arts, he 
     assembled such council members as: Agnes De Mille, Ralph 
     Ellison, John Steinbeck, George Stevens, Sr., Gregory Peck, 
     Oliver Smith, Leonard Bernstein, Isaac Stern, William 
     Pereira, Minoru Yamasaki, David Smith, and Philip Hanes.
       This tells us the all encompassing vision he had for 
     culture in America.
       I can tell you what working with him was like.
       If he believed in you--he gave you full reign to pursue 
     your goals, and, while observing their development one could 
     feel supported and understood. When there was a project that 
     he might not be completely familiar with, he would listen--
     look at the budget and finally ask: ``Do you believe in it? 
     Is it worthwhile for this Center? . . . then, go for it.'' If 
     there was something that did not succeed, there would be no 
     blame. Let's learn from it and go to the next project.
       It was a very personal kind of leadership. He inspired 
     others by his dedication and his intuitive genius in 
     recognizing excellence. Unless he was traveling for fund-
     raising or scouting for new projects all over the world, he 
     was day and night at the Center--hardly ever missing a 
     performance. His curiosity and thirst for knowledge were 
     constantly fed by extensive reading.
       He loved to attend rehearsals. He would drop into every 
     office--asked questions. His memory was prodigious, 
     especially for numbers and budgets. During his era there was 
     no need for long memos, strategy meetings or management 
     meetings. He simply led the way--without too many words. We 
     understood, the work was done, and wonderful programs were 
     given. Everything fell into place. He elicited the best in 
     each of us.
       In moments of detente, he would enjoy good laughs, 
     conversation, a glass of good wine, reports on artistic 
     ventures and gossip about artists. He loved to talk to 
     artists, staff, stagehands and volunteers--he would be 
     informed about everything.
       Roger radiated a quality that was powerful but benign. The 
     power to make things happen through the humble, plain and 
     complete dedication for his cause.
       His generosity was as his commitment--enormous.
       My husband Eugene would make him laugh when he mimicked his 
     way of approaching big donors. He would say ``Look it.'' 
     ``There is this great project. I'm giving X thousand dollars 
     towards this play-opera. This is important for our Cultural 
     Center, to work for everybody's sake. Will you join me?'' And 
     so they did. But it was Roger who gave first, and usually the 
     most, and they followed.
       I recall that a beautiful Monet painting, one of the 
     Nymphea Series hung in the living room of the Stevens' home. 
     One day it disappeared. ``Where's the Monet?'' ``I sold it. 
     We needed the money at the Center,'' without even a sign of 
     regret. That was Roger! That was his extraordinary 
     leadership.
       But there is another side of Roger which was perhaps less 
     evident to the public. The personal shining star of his 
     life--Christine. One day I was waiting for him at his office 
     looking at a beautiful picture of Christine that he always 
     had on his desk. I said, ``She is truly a beautiful woman.'' 
     He said, ``Oh . . . so beautiful outside and inside,'' and 
     his eyes filled up as he spoke. Both he and Christine have 
     been missionaries. He was a leading champion for the Arts in 
     America. Christine's mission has been first and foremost the 
     companionship and care of Roger over a whole lifetime and 
     their daughter Christabel. She also embraced humanitarian and 
     humane causes for which she works tirelessly. Because of 
     their example, many have been made aware of how determined 
     dedication can affect our world. They celebrated their 
     wedding anniversaries on New Year's Day and at the 
     celebrations on New Year's Eve at the Kennedy Center, and 
     later on in our home. Christine would always wear a white 
     orchid given to her by Roger. Theirs was a true love story 
     for 60 years.
       Roger you will remain in our minds and hearts.
       You remain as a shining inspiration for generations to 
     come.
       Your life achievements will always be cause for 
     celebration.
       And, we loved you!
                                                                    ____


                   Tribute by William McCormick Blair

       I knew Roger for forty-six years. He was a warm and 
     wonderful friend and one of the most decent and honorable 
     people I've ever known.
       He is gone now but his long and luminous life has left us 
     with indelible memories.
       I had the enormous privilege of working closely with Roger 
     during the Adlai Stevenson years when he was one of our most 
     effective fund-raisers. He didn't change over the years--back 
     then the same unassuming and modest nature, completely 
     without pretense.
       Roger used to say to me that if I could block off a 
     luncheon he would produce five or six people, each of whom 
     would contribute $50,000 to the campaign--a significant sum 
     in those days--and produce he did. I remember standing with 
     him in the fields outside Adlai's house in Libertyville and 
     watching the private planes circling like angels before 
     landing to disgorge the contributors. And in New York, when 
     on occasion the networks would refuse to put Adlai on 
     national TV until the money was in hand, we went to Roger, 
     who would invariably say, ``Don't worry, I'll take care of 
     it.''
       The ``Don't worry, I'll take care of it'' approach carried 
     over to the turbulent years during which the Kennedy Center 
     was constructed. There were difficult times and innumerable 
     provocations, frustrations with architects, contractors, 
     performers, playwrights, etc., to say nothing of endless 
     trips to the Hill seeking funds, but Roger was unfailingly 
     generous, considerate, good humored, and kind--and he made it 
     all work.
       I remember his first heart attack--he called me from New 
     York at six or seven in the morning telling me that he knew 
     he had had a heart attack in his apartment, had gotten 
     dressed and walked over to Lenox Hill Hospital, from where he 
     was calling. He asked me to reschedule or take over some 
     meetings, but admonished me not to call Christine, saying it 
     was too early to bother her and that he would call her in an 
     hour. So typically considerate, as always.
       Dear Christine, together with your independent spirit, you 
     combined over the years a thoughtfulness, enthusiasm and 
     warmth of friendship which you brought to everyone, and a 
     devotion to Roger so tender, so thoughtful, so full of 
     consideration and kindness that it would be hard to suggest 
     an equal.
       Horace Greeley once said, ``Fame is a vapor, popularity an 
     accident, riches take wind, and those who cheer today will 
     curse tomorrow. Only one thing endures--character.''
       And it was his character that was Roger's ultimate 
     strength.
       So with unmeasured gratitude we remember the impeccable 
     dignity and integrity that were the hallmarks of his life. 
     For all of us, and particularly for Christine and Christobel, 
     there are those wonderful memories. It is also for the little 
     things we remember as well as the ones the obituaries have 
     been listing, that we send our love back to Roger.
       Robert Ingersoll could have had Roger in mind when he said 
     of a friend, ``He added to

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     the sum of human joy, and were everyone to whom he did some 
     loving service to bring a blossom to his grave, he would 
     sleep tonight beneath a wilderness of flowers.''

                  Tribute by Senator Edward M. Kennedy

       There's a famous saying that all men are dust, but some are 
     gold dust. And that's how we thought of Roger--a golden 
     friend, one of the finest friends our family ever had.
       Roger was an easy friend to love. He was a quiet, modest 
     man; but his low-key manner disguised energy, passion and 
     ability of the highest order. These three priceless qualities 
     earned him enormous success in his brilliant career. But even 
     more important, they earned him the enduring respect and 
     genuine affection of the countless people whose lives he 
     touched.
       He was well-known for saying very little, and equally well-
     known for mumbling--a lot. But if you paid close attention, 
     you realized he was talking about ``West Side Story'' or a 
     thousand other creations that his mind's eye could so clearly 
     see, and the rest of us would come to see in due course as 
     well.
       He was pre-eminent in real estate by profession, especially 
     for his legendary purchase and sale of the Empire State 
     Building--Roger never did anything small. But as we all know, 
     his heart and soul were with the theater.
       So it was inevitable that Jack and Jackie and Roger would 
     find each other. Frankly, they came together like a magnet. 
     From his first days in public service, Jack had been deeply 
     committed to a leading role for the arts in the nation's 
     life. As my brother said near the end of the 1960 campaign, 
     ``There is a connection, hard to explain logically but easy 
     to feel, between achievement in public life and progress in 
     the arts. The Age of Pericles was also the age of Phidias. 
     The Age of Lorenzo de Medici was also the Age of Leonardo da 
     Vinci. the Age of Elizabeth was also the Age of Shakespeare. 
     And the New Frontier for which I campaign in public life can 
     also be a New Frontier for American art.''
       So it was natural and inevitable that Jack would give Roger 
     the assignment of establishing a national performing arts 
     center here in Washington. Roger was a man after Jack's 
     heart--the difficult you do immediately, the impossible takes 
     a little longer.
       Roger simply said, as he always did. ``I'll take care of 
     it.'' And the rest is history--the house that Roger built, a 
     quarter mile from here--the beautiful living memorial to my 
     brother.
       In a sense, I inherited Roger from Jack. I often kidded 
     Roger that he was a modern Robin Hood--robbing his friends to 
     support the arts.
       His special gift was not just constructing a building, or 
     planning the endless series of hit plays and musicals that 
     bore his special stamp. Roger enriched the entire nation by 
     instilling a higher appreciation across America for the 
     possibilities of artistic achievement. He had a remarkable 
     eye for the best emerging playwrights and the best unknown 
     actors. He gave them a chance and a stage, and he gave the 
     nation a higher level of greatness.
       Roger succeeded where others failed because he would never 
     allow himself to be distracted by the mean-spirited. He had a 
     determination that could overcome any obstacle or criticism. 
     He was never burdened, some might add, by any sense of 
     reality, which made him all the more endearing and 
     successful, when many others would have failed.
       Above all, it was Roger and Christine together--they 
     brought a new era of grace to Washington and new sense of 
     achievement that reflects the best of the human spirit. We 
     miss you, Roger, and we always will.

  Mr. CLELAND. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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