Kirk Henry

@TuckerCarlson I'm so sorry for your loss, your father sounded like an amazing man. I'm so sorry.

Obituary for my father. Richard Warner Carlson died at 84 on March 24, 2025 at home in Boca Grande, Florida after six weeks of illness. He refused all painkillers to the end and left this world with dignity and clarity, holding the hands of his children with his dogs at his feet. He was born February 10, 1941 at Massachusetts General Hospital to a 15-year-old Swedish-speaking girl and placed in the Home for Little Wanderers in Boston, where he developed rickets from malnutrition. His legs were bent for the rest of his life. After years in foster homes, he was placed with the Carlson family in Norwood, Mass. His adoptive father, a tannery manager, died when he was 12 and he stopped attending school regularly. At 17, he was jailed for car theft, thrown out of high school for the second time, and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps. In 1962, in search of adventure, he drove to California. He spent a year as a merchant seaman on the SS Washington Bear, transporting cargo to ports in the Orient, and then became a reporter. Over the next decade, he was a copy boy at the LA Times, a wire service reporter for UPI and an investigative reporter and anchor for ABC News, covering the upheaval of the period. He knew virtually every compelling figure of the time, including Jim Jones, Patty Hearst, Eric Hoffer, Jerry Garcia, as well as Mafia leaders and members of the Manson Family. In 1965, he was badly injured reporting from the Watts riots in Los Angeles. By 1975, he was married with two small boys, when his wife departed for Europe and didn’t return. He threw himself into raising his boys, whom he often brought with him on reporting trips. At home, he educated them during three-hour dinners on topics that ranged from the French Revolution to Bolshevik Russia, PG Wodehouse, the history of the American Indian and, always, the eternal and unchanging nature of people. He was a free thinker and a compulsive book reader, including at red lights. He left a library of thousands of books, most dog-eared and filled with marginalia. His reading and life experiences convinced him that God is real. He had an outlaw spirit tempered by decency. In 1979, he married the love of his life, Patricia Swanson. They were together for 44 years, all of them happy. She died sixteen months before he did and he mourned her every day. In 1985, he moved to Washington to work for the Reagan Administration. He spent five years as the director of the Voice of America, and then moved to the Seychelles as the US ambassador. In 1992, he became the CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and later ran a division of King World television. The last 25 years of his life were spent in work whose details were never completely clear to his family, but that was clearly interesting. He worked in dozens of countries and breakaway republics around the world, and was involved in countless intrigues. He knew a number of colorful national leaders, including Rafic Hariri of Lebanon, Aslan Abashidze of Adjara, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, and whomever runs Somaliland. He was a fundamentally nonjudgmental person who was impossible to shock, and he described them all with amused affection. He spoke to his sons every day and had lunch with them once a week for thirty years at the Metropolitan Club in Washington, always prefaced by a dice game. Throughout his life he fervently loved dogs. Richard W. Carlson is survived by his sons, Tucker and Buckley, his beloved daughter-in-law Susie, and five grandchildren. He was the toughest human being anyone in his family ever knew, and also the kindest and most loyal. RIP.

@PHSGSoccer1 Congratulations, amazing milestone!!!

Well deserved coach! Always putting the kids first!

@Smaldrid @ParkHillSchools Thank you brother you are too kind.

@ParkHillSchools Simply the best at what he does. When kids are excited to take a class and feel a genuine connection with the teacher that says all you need to know. @KirkHenry_ and his connection with my kids has been a highlight of their time at PHS. Thank you Coach!

Park Hill South High School social studies teacher Kirk Henry is one of this month’s Park Hill Star award recipients! Watch this to find out what makes Kirk a Park Hill Star.

@corey_willich @ParkHillSouthHS Thank you so much 😊

Congrats to Mr. Kirk Henry, social studies teacher, and Mrs. Maryam Hadjian, cafeteria manager for their recognition as STAR recipients. Thanks Dr. Kimbrel, Superintendent, for presenting these awards. South is lucky to have these two wonderful adults! @ParkHillSouthHS #Proud

@BrockHarmon94 @CoachRHeld @_CoachDelk @ChaosTempo @Coach_TMunson @UNK_Football @Coachponcy58 @Coach_Rosey_50 @CoachBigReff @PHSPantherFB Extremely proud of you Brock!!!

After much consideration, I am blessed to announce my commitment to the University of Nebraska Kearney #committed @CoachRHeld @_CoachDelk @ChaosTempo @Coach_TMunson @UNK_Football @Coachponcy58 @Coach_Rosey_50 @CoachBigReff @PHSPantherFB

@Q13Gavin @tobifalubi Thank you guys so much for your kindness ❤️

Happy birthday to the legend @KirkHenry_, a true football coach! One of the best football coaches that I’ve been blessed to work with during my time at PHS, always have a positive attitude and impact to the team! Love you brother, enjoy your day sir! 🥳🖤🏈💜🎊😊🙌🏻

@wakeupusa Irrelevant

🚨What comes to mind when you see this picture?

@JoeBiden There was no insurrection. You know this. You are a liar without remorse. You are dismissed now.

We will never walk away from the sacred cause of democracy.

@proudelephant Hustler

What do you think of when you hear the name Al Sharpton?

@wakeupusa Paid propagandist. Just that simple.

🚨BREAKING: Hollywood Actor Ben Stiller officially endorses President Biden. What’s your reaction?

@wakeupusa Yawn.

🚨BREAKING: Hollywood Actor George Clooney has officially endorsed and begun fundraising for President Biden. What’s your reaction?

@ddunaway72 @MOFBCA Thank you so much for your kindness 😊💜

@MOFBCA Congrats @KirkHenry_ So deserved!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Join us in congratulating Kirk Henry of Park Hill South HS on being honored as the Doug Potts Right Hand Man award winner! This December, he will be honored at the Hall of Fame Banquet at the 2024 State Convention.

@OJsimpso32 Thank you so much my friend 😊👍

#DEAL etc...... @KirkHenry_

@PHSFBBooster Thank you so much 😊💜

Our very own Coach Henry! We love how you’re there and always have a joke for us! So well deserved! Congrats @KirkHenry_

@All4Wells21 Thank you so much 😊

Literally, no one better OR more deserving!!! Congrats @KirkHenry_ We love ya!! 💜

@JayviusSmith Love all you guys so much!

The 1 coach who stuck it out with the class of 2024 the whole time🫡🖤

@Mrs_Neri Thanks so much my friend 😊

I could cry happy tears for you @KirkHenry_ ! So well deserved. 💜💜

@Q13Gavin Thanks so much I appreciate it 😊

Congratulations @KirkHenry_, well deserved sir! It’s been a privilege working with you during my time at PHS, you’re still an amazing coach! 🎉🙌🏻🏈

@coachnbiggs Thanks coach I appreciate it 😊

The literal 🐐

@PHS_GBasketball Congratulations!!

Congrats Addi! We knew you could do it!