Bill Ayres
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the former football player and manager with a similar name, see Billy Ayre. For the 1960s and 1970s political activist, see Bill Ayers.
Bill Ayres is a radio talk show host and Executive Director and co-founder of World Hunger Year (WHY).
Ayres became a Catholic priest for the Archdiocese in New York in 1966, but always had a fondness for radio broadcasting. He began hosting and producing a weekly radio talk show on NY Radio WPLJ 95.5FM in 1973[1], on which he has taken thousands of calls and offered advice about personal, relational, spiritual and social values.[2][3]
He served for 10 years at St. Joseph's Church in Babylon until 1979. He resigned from the active priesthood in the early 1980's and focused on charitable work full-time.
[edit] World Hunger Year
In 1975, Ayres and his close friend, folksinger and songwriter Harry Chapin, saw a pressing need to aid the impoverished with basic needs such as food. They began World Hunger Year, an organization with a stated mission to defeat hunger through charity, using grassroots efforts and rallying celebrities and leaders to help promote the cause.[3][4]
Ayres has served as Executive Director since 1983. Ayres and Chapin believed that solutions to hunger and poverty are found through long-term solutions, like supporting community-based organizations that empower individuals and build self-reliance.[5].
Ayres has spun off two other national hunger coalitions, The Medford Group of national hunger organizations and the National Jobs for All Coalition. He is also a board member of Long Island Cares, Long Island's food bank.
He is the co-author of the book All You Need is Love: And 99 Other Life Lessons From Classic Rock Songs with radio colleague Pete Fornatale[6].
He resides in Huntington, Long Island, New York with his wife Jeannine. He has two daughters, Michelle born in 1981 and Suzanne, born in 1985.
[edit] References
- ^ The Record (Bergen County, NJ), Sounds Of The Riviera, By. Raymond A. Edel, 02-28-2000
- ^ WPLJ Ayres Show Page
- ^ a b Konig, Susan. "Q&A: Bill Ayres; In Forefront of Fighting World Hunger". New York Times. March 29, 1998
- ^ Bux, Michael. "Fighting World Hunger from Mineola.". New York Times. May 7, 1978
- ^ Bux, Michael. "A Group Founded on Long Island Seeks to Rectify ‘injustice’ of the Hungry". New York Times. May 7, 1978.
- ^ Ayres, Bill (1998). All You Need is Love: And 99 Other Life Lessons From Classic Rock Songs (Simon and Schuster), New York: Fireside,. ISBN: 0684845296 .
