For a forthcoming anthology of civil rights journalism, I'm attempting
to put together a biographical sketch about Bob Clark, author of
"Nightmare Journey," an article about Clark's personal experience
during the Detroit riots of 1967 published in Ebony magazine in the
same year. I've been able to locate a couple of article citations from
around this period (one, in Essence, has a Bob Clark interviewing
Gordon Parks), but after that, nothing. I'd like to be able to give
birth and death dates (or current whereabouts), and the basic outlines
of his professional career. An obituary and/or working address and
phone number, or anything that helps me get to these, will be
considered an answer. Thanks!

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Request for Question Clarification by knowledge_seeker-ga on 11 Jul 2002 17:15 PDT

Ok, I think I've found your man!  

"THINK" being the operative term.  Before I take credit for the answer
here, we (as in either you or I) need to confirm that this is in fact
the same man you refer to. But, my gut feeling is that we’re there.

Everything feels right about it, but the confirmation eludes me. 
The problem is two-fold. First, besides a whole bunch of
circumstantial evidence, I can't find anything solid that links this
man to your man (Just one sentence that says, "formerly a
photojournalist and author of .."  would be a dream come true!)

Second, I haven't found a way to reach him directly. And, though I
could send emails to the organizations he's affiliated with, I can't
hope to hear back from any of them while I've got the lock on this
question. (I also doubt they'll give me any personal info anyway).

Let me lay out some of what I've found, and you take a look and tell
me what you think. Then we can decide how you want to proceed with
this question.

Since the 1980's this Bob Clark has been involved with civil rights,
Union Activism and leadership, and in the formation of the Labor
Party.
He served as a highly admired secretary-treasurer of the United
Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) from 1994 until
his decision not to run for office in 2000.  This UE newsletter quotes
him as he's leaving office and has 3 photos of him.
http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/uen1001conv_main.html
Another photo is here:  
http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/uen_1298_lparty.html

He served as the Labor Party's National Co-Chair from its inception in
1996 (?) until at least Jan 2001. Their newsletter is here, but hasn't
been updated since January 2001. His name is listed down the
right-hand column.  They also don't offer a way to contact the
organization except by phone or letter. No email.
http://www.igc.org/lpa/lppress/index.html

And he's been active in countering racism - 
"Just months before the AFL-CIO national convention came to town, the
American Knights of the KKK and the Hitler Free Corps jointly staged a
rally outside the Allegheny County Courthouse. UE’s Bob Clark, interim
co-chair of the Labor Party, was among the labor, community and
religious leaders who addressed a counter-rally several blocks away. "
http://www.igc.org/lpa/lpv35/lpp35_fight_hate.html

And, he even blurbed a book on activism
“Activists everywhere have much to learn from the people Dale Hathaway
profiles in this book. Solidarity is the best answer to
globalization.”
—Bob Clark, General Secretary-Treasurer, United Electrical Workers
(UE)
http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:hizbywuA2PYC:www.southendpress.org/books/fat.shtml+%22Bob+Clark%22+union&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

So, that's what I have to go on. I'll leave it to you to decide
whether or not these are profitable leads, how you want to handle the
follow-ups, and when you consider the question answered to your
satisfaction.

Just in case you are not familiar with the system here remember, you
don't get charged and nobody gets paid until someone posts an answer
in the actual Answer space. I've not done that because I'm not 100%
sure we're there, and I sure don't want to take your money unless we
are.  Please let me know what you'd like to do.
--K~

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Clarification of Question by rrtnrvrb-ga on 12 Jul 2002 08:29 PDT

The Bob Clark we're looking for is not the labor leader. There are a
couple of small photos of him in the October 1967 Ebony article; he's
taller, thinner, more broad-featured. Looks to be at least 25 in the
pictures. Here's some more info from the article: he was working as a
freelancer for Black Star photo agency (who no longer have any contact
information). He writes: "I had covered a race riot in San Francisco
and worked on news stories in the deep South. I once interviewed
Stokely Carmichael for a German magazine." He describes himself as "a
Negro photographer." A caption says "New York photographer." I'm
checking out "davidsar"'s suggestions...

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Clarification of Question by rrtnrvrb-ga on 25 Jul 2002 14:16 PDT

Here are 2 article citations:
Clark, Bob. "Interview: Gordon Parks, Jr. Hooked on Photography."
Encore ( January 1973): 56-58.
Clark, Bob. "Calvin Lockhart: He Never Stops Trying To Win." Essence (
September 1970): 28, 74, 76-77.
He also seems to have taken photographs of voodoo in Harlem in the
early 1970s.

The Committee of Concerned Journalists lists a Bob Clark and a Robert
Clark among its members:

Bob Clark, ABC Radio News, Washington, DC

Robert C. Clark, Former Executive Editor, Courier-Journal; Former ASNE
President, San Antonio, TX [NOTE -- ASNE = American Society of
Newspaper Editors]


You may want to check with CCJ to see if either of these is your man. 
Their web site is:


http://www.journalism.org/members1.html

Good luck.

Davidsar seems to have located the ABC News journalist Bob Clark but
not the man in question. Davidsar's Bob Clark was riding with the
press pool in Dallas when Kennedy was assasinated.
"ABC Reporter Bob Clark (rode in the National Press Pool Car) -
Reported on the air that the limousine stopped on Elm Street during
the shooting [WFAA/ ABC, 11/22/63]"
"Fifty-nine Witnesses: Delay on Elm Street"
http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/59wit.htm

He also interviewed Robert Kennedy in 1967 for ABC News. Seems that
one would have mentioned being at JFK's assassination and interviewing
his brother in a list of experience that rrtnrvrb-ga mentions above.
"Vietnam on Film and Television..." compiled by Victoria E. Johnson
(The Sixties Project, 7/89)
http://lists.village.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Bibliographies/VN_on_TV/VN_on_TV_02.html

-- mother-ga

rrtnrvrb-ga,

It seems that you have the same information that is in entry for Bob
Clark from "An Illustrated Bio-Bibliography of Black Photographers,
1940-1988." [By Deborah Willis-Thomas. Garland Reference Library of
the Humanities, vol. 760. New York: Garland Publishing, 1989.]

The author, Deborah Willis-Thomas, may be a valuable contact in your
effort to get more information for Bob Clark. "Willis has curated
numerous major exhibits, including Black Photographers Bear Witness:
100 Years of Social Protest (1989)" in addition to authoring and
compiling numerous works about black photographers and photography.

MacArthur Fellow Deborah Willis (MacArthur Foundation)
http://www.macfound.org/programs/fel/2000fellows/willis.htm

Deborah Willis' contact information is listed here:

Deborah Willis (NYU TSOA)
http://www.nyu.edu/tisch/photo/faculty/willis.html

Good luck!
-- mother-ga

On mother's smart suggestion I e-mailed Deborah Willis-Thomas, 7/13. Thanks!

rrtnrvrb,

Have you contacted the major professional photography organizations?

American Society of Media Photographers
(previously known as the "American Society of Magazine Photographers")
http://www.asmp.org/

National Press Photographers Association
http://www.nppa.org/default.cfm 
- NPPA also has a mailing list
(http://www.nppa.org/services/listserv/default.htm) where you could
post an inquiry.

Professional Photographers of America
http://www.ppa.com/

huntsman