Me and Richard Marx

This photo was taken in 2005? I hiked down to the Kalaupapa peninsula on Molokai with my husband and two friends, Fr. Juan Mendez and Fr. Nathan Libarie. We took the tour that Richard Marx started up many years ago. I was surprised that he still did the tour because he was 'retired'. Nonetheless, I was honored and delighted. I also knew that somehow, that would be the last time I would see him alive.

(Richard Marx and Paula Scott)

We both sat down on in front of St. Francis church there to have our photo taken together. I felt like I was with a rock star, because he has been quite a champion in bringing to public awareness the importance of not letting the history of the leper colony there on Molokai be ignored, forgotten or turned into a tourist trap later on down the line after all the remaining patients have died.

Richard had a lot of stories to tell about the leper colony there. Many of them first hand experience. I just hope that someone has recorded them all and that someday the public will have a way to know all of his stories.

Richard passed away on Dec. 9, 2009. What a legacy he has left us all!