Peter Meade has just announced he is stepping down, effective February 2008, from his position as Executive Vice President at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. It’s no exaggeration to say Peter is one of the most respected and influential individuals in Massachusetts. He has been at the center of more public controversies than we can count or remember, always adding a voice of common sense and wisdom. He leaves a huge imprint no one will ever replace.
I’ll just give one personal example, non health-related. Back in 2003-04, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese announced a big set of parish closings, including a tiny, self-supporting parish in my old legislative district called St. Mary of the Angels, on the Jamaica Plain/Roxbury border in Egleston Square. Smart people told us there was no way to reverse the decision. Peter got involved, and that church, with its extraordinarily diverse population, got saved. Peter took no credit — but he did it.
He’s a special guy. And he’ll be missed by a lot of folks. And this post is “uncategorized” because there’s no category for Peter — he’s in a class by himself.
John McDonough
