We are saddened to share the news that CAC Board Member and former Board Co-Chair
Shirley Romaine has passed away at 96.
Board Co-Chair Dr. Davenport (Mike) Plumer, who had served with Shirley until she stepped down as Co-Chair in 2014, said of Shirley that she "could always be counted to share her love of the Cinema." Longtime CAC member and Circle of Friends volunteer Charlotte Koons shared that "Shirley Romaine has always been a role model for me! Her charm and graciousness, as well as her dedication to the Cinema Arts Centre have endeared her to so many!" Our Co-Founder and Co-Director Charlotte Sky shares the following reflections as we remember Shirley Romaine:
Remembering
Shirley
by Charlotte Sky
Earlier this month, the Cinema Arts Centre lost a great friend and a valuable member of the Cinema Arts Centre. Shirley Romaine died on April 14th, 2019.
Shirley had been Co-Chair of the CAC Board of Directors for many years. She had a great love for the arts and had many careers including as an accomplished actress, and a television producer and host of the hit show
Artscene on Long Island
. Shirley interviewed many great celebrities on her show such as Isabella Rossellini
and Andre Gregory. She had a rare talent as an interviewer to make personal connections with her guests. She also presented and lectured on many diverse artists: the poet
Edna St. Vincent Millay, Arthur Miller, and Neil Simon to name a few. She was an active participant in the Gold Coast International Film Festival in Great Neck where she lived, and she lectured at the Heckscher Museum in Huntington.
As Board Co-Chair, she was a compassionate leader who made important contributions to Board culture, and she helped to raise funds by personally contacting CAC donors, by addressing CAC audiences, and serving as an advocate for the CAC in our community.
Shirley was an ardent believer in human rights. Each year, she and her husband Stan organized a commemoration of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors of the nuclear tragedy in 1945, she was active in SANE (
SANE, the Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy
), and made many contributions as an anti-war activist.
In the midst of all her activities, her husband Stan was seriously ill and she became his caregiver.
She was so proud of her two daughters, Jenny and Erica, who are artists and have performed at the CAC.
Shirley touched the lives of so many people. What she gave will always be a part of all of us and a very large part of the Cinema Arts Centre.
On behalf of all of the Cinema Arts Centre Board and staff, Thank you Shirley.
Watch our website and newsletter for announcement of a remembrance program for Shirley that is currently being planned.