A Note on the Passing of Cameron Ramsay
By David Salzillo
I just learned of Mr. Ramsay’s passing a few hours ago. He was only 36 years old. For those of you outside the Rhode Island orbit, Mr. Ramsay was an expert campaign manager and an important advocate for progressive politics and causes.
I mainly knew him from our work on Rhode Island State Senator Sam Bell’s 2022 successful reelection campaign against then-Providence City Councilman David Salvatore and Senator Bell’s earlier 2020 reelection campaign against Councilwoman Jo-Ann Ryan in 2020. From what I saw of his work on both campaigns, I can tell you this: he was a tireless worker, a natural political talent, and a personable man with a great sense of humor. Needless to say, we won those election in landslides. Perhaps the best of all vindications.
He was a great magician as well. As his obituary notes (https://www.heraldnews.com/obituaries/pneo0602657), he was a part of the Rhode Island Society of Magicians (RISM). In fact, he once offered to show me and my brother Michael a few of his storied sleight of hand tricks.
Yet I did not know Cameron as well as I would have liked to. I never knew, for example, that he struggled with poor motor skills as a child. As someone diagnosed with Autistic Disorder at the age of 3, I certainly can relate. I remember IEP meetings where I would have to practice with buttons and shoelaces, and catching a baseball, and with the many other simple tasks that people take for granted. Although it was a frustrating experience for me—and I imagine it was a frustrating experience for him—experiecing those types of frustrations can prepare you well for the everyday frustrations of life.
We apparently shared more in common than I could have ever imagined. However, his was a true success story. He faced adversity, he got back up, and then he never looked back. He even ended up playing on both the Tiverton High School tennis team and on an adult Whiffle Ball League. He definitely earned his bragging rights.
It provides, I hope, a good lesson to me. My future is still very much in the air. What direction will my life take? What should I do next? And how much time do I have to do it? I have no idea. That is life. It is one great big unknown. A giant question mark.
But he rose to the challenge. I can picture him as he was 14 years ago. Fresh out of college. With a bachelor’s degree that can sometimes seem like little more than a meaningless piece of paper. Yet he crossed over that uncertain path of early adulthood. He made something of that piece of paper. Created out of it an entire lifetime of accomplishments. He did in 36 years what some people fail to do in 80. He left this world with something he could be truly proud of.
I hope I can do the same.
Goodbye Cameron. See you on the other side.