Tag Archives: John Coffee

“Roger Smith Voted Most Immoral Boy”

 

I was an active member in the early 1960’s of Liberal Religious Youth (LRY). During the 1963-1964 academic year, I was the Chairman of the New England Regional Committee (NERC).

Prior to that, I was the representative to NERC of the Norfolk-Suffolk Federation.

The May 1963 Norfolk-Suffolk Federation newsletter had a story based on a supposed popularity poll. The headline read, “ROGER SMITH VOTED MOST IMMORAL BOY IN FED!”

The joke was that I was regarded as such a straight arrow.

The spoof article showed that in the “poll,” I was — besides being voted “most immoral” — also voted “most intelligent,” “most rule-conscious,” “most conservative,” and “most likely to succeed.”

Rev. John Coffee, our advisor, minister of the Unitarian Church in Roxbury, cooked this up and took great delight in his joke.

Rev. Coffee told me years later that several adults were alarmed by this headline and wanted to know just who this “immoral boy” was and just what was going on.

Rev. Coffee passed away in 2014.

Philip J. Pierce, tribute to Rev. John M. Coffee, Jr.

 

Delivered at memorial service for Rev. Coffee at the First Church, Unitarian Universalist, Boston, MA on June 18, 2012

Philip J. Pierce, tribute to Rev. John Coffee

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rev. John Coffee, letter to Roger Smith

 

Rev. John Coffee to RWS 2-7-1964

 

Posted above as a PDF file is a letter from Rev. John Coffee, advisor to NERC, the New England Regional Committee of LRY (Liberal Religious Youth), to Roger Smith, dated February 7, 1964. The letter concerns NERC’s 1963 Mid-Winter Conference, which was held at Goddard College in Plainfield, VT.

Rev. John Coffee, LRY advisor

Rev. John Coffee

 

 

 

Norfolk-Suffolk Federation newsletters, Liberal Religious Youth (LRY), 1962-1964

 

Norfolk-Suffolk Federation of Liberal Religious Youth (LRY) newsletters, 1962-1964

 

— posted by Roger W. Smith

  December 2015

“Remembering Rev. John M. Coffee Jr.”

 

Remembering Rev. John M. Coffee Jr.

 

The above PDF file comprises the memorial tribute to Rev. John M. Coffee (1928-2012) at Emerson College in June 2012.

Remembering John M. Coffee, Jr. / November 20, 1928 – May 8, 2012

A Collection of John’s Writings and Photos, and Remembrances of His Friends

Delivered at Memorial Service / June 18, 2012 / First Church, Boston

 

posted by Roger W.  Smith

   November 2015

 

Rev. John Coffee, LRY advisor

John Coffee