Berkeley Fire Chief Debra Pryor is retiring Dec. 28, 2012 after 27 years in the Berkeley fire department. She was the city’s first woman firefighter, the first woman chief and the second black woman to head a fire department in the nation. (Doug Oakley/Staff)
BERKELEY, CA — It’s a drizzly cold Tuesday evening and Berkeley Fire Chief Debra Pryor is outside the city’s public safety building talking to a homeless man with two shopping carts piled high with possessions. The man loops in and out of lucidity, but Pryor doesn’t appear annoyed, pressed for time or afraid. She listens and talks to him, then politely wraps it up and approaches a second man to ask if he needs help deciphering the front desk hours of the police station.
Pryor, 51, is retiring Friday after 27 years in the fire department and 27 years of smashing race and gender barriers: she was the city’s first female firefighter, its first female fire chief and the second black female fire chief in the country behind Rosemary Cloud of East Point, Ga. (Earlier this year Oakland named Teresa Deloach Reed as its fire chief, making her the first black woman fire chief of a major metropolitan city.)
NFL Star Ray Lewis to Sign with ESPN After Retirement
Linebacker Ray Lewis #52 of the Baltimore Ravens warms up prior to the game against the St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome on August 30, 2012 in St. Louis, Missouri. The St. Louis Rams defeated the Baltimore Ravens 31-17. (Photo by David Welker/Getty Images)
He’s mentored scores of NFL players, past and present, as well as provided motivational talks and workout ‘sessions’ for college teams and communities. Lewis’ former head coach in Baltimore Brian Billick recently called Lewis the “greatest individual leader on a football team” he’d ever seen on ESPN’s ‘Mike and Mike in the Morning.’
SI.com’s Deitsch also reports Lewis’ son Ray Lewis III and his college football career (Lewis III will be a freshman at dad’s alma mater University of Miami in the fall) weighed heavily on the decision to work with ESPN. The schedule is reportedly flexible enough for Lewis to attend games and remain involved.
article by Todd Johnson via thegrio.com
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