This story has been plastered all over the pages of the Sacramento Bee newspaper yesterday and today. One article was titled Who Is William Rick Singer?, the man who arranged all the fraudulent college admissions. I wondered if it was THAT Rick Singer, but thought that it couldn't be. But it was. He was married to my niece, and I had contact with him many times, and he was very generous to our family. My son drives a fancy but elderly Infiniti, and Rick always drove Infinitis. I'm sure my son got his car from Rick, a nice guy who is now a notorious criminal.

At the time I knew him, Rick spent his time placing low-income athletes on college athletic teams, and Rick's work seemed to be very altruistic. Rick did hobnob quite a bit with the Rich and Famous, but that seemed to be part of his job, to be helping underprivileged kids get into college on scholarship. And yeah, he did seem to be a bit of a wheeler-dealer, but his intentions were good.

I got divorced from Rick's part of the family in 1992, and I don't know if I saw him after that. But he did seem to be an idealistic sort of guy who wanted to help poor kids.

I wonder what changed. Whatever he did, and for whatever reason, I still wish him well.

-Joe-