Remembering Dick and Myra Larkin - National Association of ...

oard of directors together.As we know, Dick never stopped beinginstrumental in successfully advancingthe rights and interests of Allstateagents across the country. He was a trulygutsy guy, who never allowed his own intereststo interfere with his pursuit of thetruth or his quest to uncover wrongdoing.Dick was a paragon of integrity andrelentless in his efforts on behalf of Allstateagents, all of whom should take amoment to pay homage to his memory.John MannixFormer NAPAA DirectorCommack, Long Island, New YorkDick, along with his lovely wife Myra,and my family were together at manymeetings and conferences. His favoritedrink was gin and tonic with a slice oflime. They stayed at my home when Ihosted a NAPAA meeting.I will always admire Dick for his courage,determination, talent and the factthat, even in his retirement, he continuedto work for Allstate agents by being partof the NAPAA Board of Directors. Heleft his mark and will be sorely missed.Edward “Ed” ErbacherFormer NAPAA DirectorLakeville, CT3. His mission should continue. Theagents are worth it.Myra, I haven’t forgotten about you.I will miss your giggles, smiles, laughter,and your passion for traveling and collectingnew things. I admire your dedicationto each other (51 years). I hopeyou and Dick are walking down a beachholding hands, watching the sun rise ina better place.Joe LazcanoFriend and advisorJacksonville, FLDick and I had a long history, evenbefore there was a national association ofAllstate agents. Our paths crossed wayback in the mid-seventies when I wasinvolved in unionizing the New YorkMetro agents. Dick was leading similarorganizational efforts in Virginia at thesame time. In fact, because of the successfulunionization effort in New YorkMetro, he invited me to speak to theagents in his area. Ed Erbacher, the thenVice President of the Allstate AgentsAssociation of the New York MetroRegion, was also there. Ed would laterbecome active in the national agent association,which became to be known asNNOAC, and later as NAPAA.Our paths would cross again after thefounding of NNOAC. We served on theI first met Dick Larkin in the early70s while a group of us were attemptingto form a union for Allstate agentsin New York. We heard there was also anagent movement in the Virginia/WashingtonD.C. area. The leader of the groupwas Dick Larkin. Some in our group, includingmyself, Ron Binday, John Mannixand a few others, paid Dick and hisgroup a visit hoping to bring them intothe union effort. We were not successfulbecause, at the time, Dick was still hopingthat a more favorable agent agreementcould be negotiated.In any event, we succeeded in ourunion effort in New York. It was a hotlycontested election with 321 votes in favorof the union and 313 against. The outcomeof the election was a big blow toAllstate, which was a part of Sears at thattime. There were no other unions at Sears.Including the organizing campaign, theunion lasted for about four years.After the union was decertified, managementwas good to the agents for aboutfive years. Then the baloney started allover again. In 1989, Dick, Jim Cason,myself and others started a non-certifiedagent association. Dick was a leader and afront-runner. He sued the company, wrotetremendous articles for the organization,spoke at meetings around the country andwas always up front. Dick had a keen intellectand an investigative reporter’s talent.He exposed the Church of Scientologyat Allstate, which resulted in a leadarticle in the Wall Street Journal.I remember something about DickLarkin that stands out in my memory.About 15 years ago, the association metin different cities three or four times ayear. We would usually meet for threedays. And they were long days. By theend of the day (or night) we would be sotired that all you could do was eat dinnerand go to sleep.On one of these trips, which I believewas to Atlanta, the meeting brokeup about 9 p.m. We all went downstairsto the hotel restaurant, which appearedto be underground. When we got there,the restaurant was already closed. Wewere hungry, so we talked to the hotelmanager. He said if we could give him afew minutes, he would re-open the restaurantfor us with a limited menu. Sowithout any hesitation we all agreed.Now, just when you think you knowsomeone and what they do, or like to do,or what they are capable of doing, you aresometimes in for a big surprise, which iswhat happened with Dick that night. Atthe bottom of the staircase sat a babygrand piano. Since we had a few minutesto wait before we could be seated in therestaurant, Dick sat down at the pianoand began playing. I don’t mean to saythat he clanked and clunked out “Heartand Soul” or “Chopsticks,” he played likeLiberace. We were so surprised and impressed;you could have knocked us overwith a feather.I will never forget Dick and Myra and18 — Exclusivefocus Summer 2009