2008 Woodie Awards
'We need to bring closure to this.'
Benjamin Pomerance
Issue date: 2/15/08 Section: News
Originally published: 2/14/08 at 4:54 PM EST
Last update: 2/14/08 at 4:52 PM EST
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He wanted to talk about his son, Josh, the one who spoke three languages and published poetry and deejayed for college radio. Who had dedicated his life toward achieving his dream of becoming a foreign correspondent. Who had just learned that his grades were high enough to regain his state financial aid package and return to Plattsburgh State in time for the spring semester.
Who, on the night of Dec. 23, had walked out of the picture of a Pearl Street surveillance camera, disappearing from view and seemingly vanishing from the world.
To this day, his whereabouts are still unknown.
That's not from a lack of trying. Bill and his wife have been spending every waking moment on the trail of their lost son, a path into uncharted territory with no landmarks to follow and no clearing in sight. So last Wednesday night, when he returned home at the witching hour after another fruitless meeting with City of Albany police officials, another two or three hours spent hearing that no clues have been found regarding the whereabouts of his child, Bill Szostak did the only thing he felt he could do.
He talked.
He talked about the one thing he ached to talk about, spilling out his son's life story in a desperate biographical tidal wave. - his ability to converse fluently in Russian, Swahili and Arabic; his devotion to WQKE, the PSUC student-run radio station for which Josh was promotions manager; his dream of being a foreign correspondent and seeing the world. He talked about his son's work in community service, organizing fundraisers for Somalia through WQKE and helping out whenever he saw a need to serve.
"Nobody," Bill said emphatically, "could ever accuse Josh of not having a big heart. When he felt somebody or something was in trouble, he was always there, on hand and ready to help out however he could."
He talked about Josh's human struggles, about the decline in grades that cost him his state financial aid package at the end of his sophomore year at PSUC. He talked about his devotion to learning, how he transferred to more affordable Hudson Valley Community College for a semester instead of taking the tempting route of dropping out of college entirely. He talked about his triumphs, about how Josh's grades improved so significantly over the fall 2007 semester at Hudson Valley that he was almost sure to re-gain his financial aid and return for the spring semester at PSUC.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
Rosa
posted 2/15/08 @ 11:01 AM EST
I am a 30 year old mother who not too long ago, had the same life style that Josh once led... my family lives close to the Szostak's, and although I do not know them personally, I hung out at the same bars in Albany. (Continued…)
John Dukes
posted 2/16/08 @ 4:19 PM EST
To Josh, to Bill and to everybody in the family:
I, like the previous poster, am not a religious man. I tend to be a cynic about all matters of life. (Continued…)
JP
posted 2/17/08 @ 11:25 AM EST
To the Szostak's: You have our entire family's support in this difficult time. We do not know you, but everybody is a friend of yours in a situation like this. (Continued…)
Jimmy and Liz
posted 2/18/08 @ 2:09 PM EST
Our prayers and thoughts are with all of you.
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