wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Notes about people

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This story available online:
www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2009/09178<http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2009/09178>

Notes about people

by Jerry L. Van Marter
Presbyterian News Service

Leon Howell, the final editor and publisher of Christianity
and Crisis ? the journal of social policy and criticism
founded by Reinhold Niebuhr in 1941 ? died Feb. 27 in
Silver Spring, MD. A rare disease had rendered him unable
to walk in recent years but he continued to travel and
speak, using a wheel chair to get around.

Though a member of the United Church of Christ, Howell was
well-known throughout ecumenical circles for his passionate
commitment to social justice and his artful writing on many
aspects of church life, including the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.).

He increasingly turned to writing books after Christianity
and Crisis folded in the mid-1990s. he was also a frequent
contributor to various denominational and ecumenical
documents and studies.

Howell was known for his sharp wit, analytical ability,
global perspective and his pioneering research into the
interconnectedness of conservative religious groups within
Protestant denominations.

His annual summer seminars at Ghost Ranch were consistently
among the most popular offered by the PC(USA)-related
conference center in New Mexico.

A memorial service for Leon Howell was held at Chevy Chase
Presbyterian Church on March 3.

# # #

José Aurelio Paz Jiménez, a longtime correspondent for the
Latin America and Caribbean Communication Agency (ALC) and
the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) ? a partner
of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ? has been honored by
the Cuban government with the “José Antonio Fernández de
Castro” National Cultural Journalism Award, granted on the
basis of a life of service.

Jiménez will receive the award for his 30 years of
journalistic excellence as editor of a provincial
newspaper, Invasor (“Invader”). During his career he has
received numerous other journalistic awards.

The “José Antonio Fernández de Castro” National Cultural
Journalism Award is granted annually by Cuba’s Ministry of
Culture.