VOA reports worldwide from Front Royal on the death of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ginsburg

A visitor to Front Royal last weekend (September 18-19) could provide a footnote to the history of our town.

A guest of ours, Steve Herman, now living in Alexandria and working out of the White House, is the Voice of America’s (VOA) bureau chief in Washington. After connecting through the AP Retirees online bulletin, Herman brought his wife, Rosyla, specifically to attend the weekly “Yappy Hour” on Main Street Friday evening, September 18.

Rosyla loves dogs!

It was to be a relaxing weekend for the Hermans. Or so the busy journalist had planned. I’d advised him of our weekly Wagner Animal Shelter fundraiser a few weeks ago and it caught the eye of his wife who agreed to, or perhaps proposed, the overnight trip.

It began as a relaxing ‘Yappy Hour’ gathering for Malcolm and Carol Barr and guests Steve and Rosyla Herman, along with the Barr’s Husky Diva. Royal Examiner Photos by Roger Bianchini

We made it a meet and greet with local reporters Roger Bianchini (Royal Examiner) and Josh Gully (late of the NV Daily). Herman, 60, and me, 87, worked at different times for The Associated Press, me in the U.S., Herman in cities throughout Asia.

Events changed quickly for our guest when news of Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death came up on his phone while we were socializing at ViNoVa’s outdoor “Yappy Hour” seating.

Saturday over lunch Herman told us that after returning to their Remount Road B&B Friday night, “BBC World TV rang him” asking if he could appear live, “preferably from the White House, to discuss how the associate justice’s death would affected the (U.S.) election.”

That eventually changed for Steve after news of the death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg broke over his phone during Yappy Hour. (MSNBC broadcast pictured on writer’s TV later that evening)

With no time to return to Washington, Herman said he went on the air via Skype on a slow-speed Internet connection from his Front Royal B&B bedroom to carry his VOA bureau chief report to BBC World’s international audience. Routinely, his VOA broadcasts are translated into 47 languages for 350 million people through a network of more than 2,500 local broadcast affiliates. He said he did his reporting sitting on the floor using a mid-19^th century fireplace as a backdrop for his appearance on BBC’s worldwide broadcast.

Is that another first for Front Royal, a town of many firsts recorded since the Civil War? Maybe so. Local historians take note.

We invited Steve and Rosyla back to Warren County for “another relaxing weekend” where Rosyla fell in love – with our dog, the rescue Siberian husky, Diva (hamming it up in accompanying photos).

Diva may be alerting Steve, phone in hand, that it will soon be time to get back to work. With her own British connections, Diva may have been anticipating Steve’s call from BBC World for comment on Ginsburg’s death.