Obituary
George Jackson, dance critic and author, dies at 92
Longtime D.C. resident served as career scientist with U.S. government
Longtime D.C. resident George Jackson, a highly acclaimed dance critic and dance historian who wrote dance reviews for publications including the New York Times and the Washington Post — all while working in his day job as a microbiologist for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — died Aug. 5 of natural causes at the age of 92.
Friends said he passed away peacefully in his sleep in New York City, where he recently moved to be close to his husband and partner of many years, dance photographer Costas Cacaroukas, who shared Jackson’s intense interest in the performing art of dance, especially ballet.
Biographical write-ups on Jackson show he was born in Vienna, Austria, on Dec. 10, 1931, and placed on a train by his parents in 1938 at the age of 7 and sent to London to be with cousins to escape the Nazi invasion of Austria as a member of a Jewish family. His birth name was Hans Georg Jakobowicz, which he later Americanized to George Jackson.
He was reunited with his parents, and the family moved to Chicago, where he grew up and saw his first dance performance at the age of 14 “and fell in love with the art form,” according to a 2021 tribute to Jackson by the publication Dance View Times. It says Jackson continued to patronize dance performances and later became a student at the University of Chicago, where he studied microbiology and became a microbiologist.
In a December 2011 interview with the Washington City Paper, Jackson said he took ballet lessons before starting his studies at the University of Chicago. He said the editor of the student newspaper had heard he was interested in dance and asked him to write dance reviews for the paper. “That’s how I got started,” he told the City Paper.
Jackson said in the interview that he moved to Washington “because a very good job opened with the Food and Drug Administration,” where he soon began work as a food parasitologist, which was his specialty.
He said around that time he was writing dance reviews for the publications Dance News and Dance magazine before both the Washington Post and then Washington Star invited him to do dance reviews. He said he began doing reviews first for the Star, which has since gone out of business, and then for the Post.
Although he started doing dance reviews in D.C. around 1972, Jackson told the City Paper he wrote his first review in 1950. Since then, according to a write-up by fellow dance critic and author Alastair Macaulay, Jackson’s reviews as well as essays about dance, have appeared in multiple publications, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Washington Dance View, Dance Magazine, Dance Now, the German magazine Balliett, “and many others.”
The Dance View Times tribute to Jackson says, “He used his scientist’s eye and analytical mind to comment on what he saw but his writing is vivid, descriptive as well as analytical.”
In his Washington City Paper interview in December 2011, Jackson announced he was retiring as a dance critic at that time at the age of 80. But he said he was not about to stop writing.
To the delight of many of his followers, Jackson went on to write two historic novels, one in 2014 called “King of Jerusalem,” a fictional account of the life of Otto von Habsburg, the last crown prince of Austria-Hungry and heir to the ancient title of King of Jerusalem. The second novel, published in 2018, “Burn Berlin, Burn,” is a fictional mystery account of who the arsonist was in the 1933 burning of the Reichstag parliament building in Berlin at the time of the Nazi takeover of Germany.
Both books, in paperback and that remain available through Amazon, bear the name of Hans Georg Jakobowicz, Jackson’s birth name, as the author.
“Many of us also knew George as a figure of great courtesy,” fellow dance critic and author Macauley says in his Aug. 14. tribute to Jackson. “He never seemed to proclaim the importance of his opinions, but he was eager to share enthusiasm and information, historical information not the least.”
Jackson is survived by his husband Costas Cacaroukas of New York and many friends in Washington, across the nation, and in Europe. No immediate plans have been announced for a memorial service or celebration of life.
Obituary
Longtime DC resident Thomas Walsh dies at 87
Pa. native’s husband was by his side when he passed away
Long-time D.C. resident Thomas Walsh died on May 16. He was 87.
Walsh was born on Sept. 17, 1937, in Scranton, Pa. His family later moved to Levittown, Pa.
Walsh met his husband, Anthony Carcaldi, at the Blue Note, a gay bar in Asbury Park, N.J., in 1964.
“I walked in the bar with friends from New York City,” recalled Carcaldi. “I looked at the piano and this person was singing … and all I noticed were his blue eyes.”
Walsh was singing “Because of You.”
“I walked up to the piano while Tom was singing and stared at him, which caused him to forget the words,” said Carcaldi. “He composed himself and started from the beginning.”
Carcaldi and Walsh became a couple in 1965, a year after they met, when they moved to Philadelphia.
“We moved in together and have been together ever since,” said Carcaldi.
Walsh was a freelance graphic designer until he accepted a job in Temple University’s audiovisual department. Walsh and Carcaldi moved to D.C. in 1980.
Walsh began a graphic design business and counted Booz Allen as among his clients. Carcaldi said one of his husband’s “main loves was painting,” and became a fine artist in 2005.
Walsh showed his art at the Nevin Kelly Gallery on U Street, the Martha Spak Studio near the Wharf, and at the Wexler Gallery in Philadelphia. Walsh also sang with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington.
Walsh and Carcaldi married at D.C. City Hall in 2014.
“Tom and I have been together since 1964 until his death,” said Carcaldi. “Tom died peacefully with me at his side in bed on May 16, 2025, holding Tom in my arms as he made the transition out of life.”
A celebration of life will take place in September.
Obituary
Beloved schoolteacher, D.C. resident Patrick Shaw dies at 60
Colleagues, friends say he ‘touched so many lives’ with warmth, kindness
Patrick Dewayne Shaw, a highly acclaimed elementary school teacher who taught and served as vice principal in several D.C. schools since moving to the District in 2002, died April 19 at the age of 60.
His friend Dusty Martinez said his passing was unexpected and caused by a heart related ailment.
“Patrick touched so many lives with his warmth, humor, kindness, and unmistakable spark,” Martinez said in a statement. “He was a truly special soul – funny, vibrant, sassy, and full of life, and we are heartbroken by his loss,” Martinez wrote.
Among those reflecting on Shaw’s skills as an educator were his colleagues at D.C.’s Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School, where he served as a second-grade special education teacher since August 2023.
“Patrick brought warmth, joy, and deep commitment to Mundo Verde,” his colleagues said in an Instagram posting. “His daily Broadway sing-alongs, vibrant outfits, and genuine love for his students filled our community with energy and laughter,” the posting says.
Biographical information provided by Martinez and Karen Rivera Geating, a senior inclusion manager at the Mundo Verde school and Shaw’s supervisor, shows Shaw had a distinguished 38-year teaching career and multiple degrees in the field of education.
He was born and raised in Little Rock, Ark., and graduated from Little Rock’s Catholic High School for Boys.
He received two bachelor’s degrees, one in philosophy from St. Meinrad Seminary College in Indiana and one in elementary education from the University of Minnesota in St. Paul.
The biographical information shows Shaw received three master’s degrees. One is in secondary education and history from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. His second master’s degree is in special education from The Catholic University of Washington, D.C. His third master’s degree is in school administration from Trinity College in D.C.
Shaw began his teaching career in 1987 in Little Rock, Ark., as a fourth grade General Education Teacher at Our Lady of Good Counsel School and a short time later at Little Rock’s St. Theresa Catholic School as a fourth-eighth grade teacher through December 1989.
He next moved to Minnesota where he spent part of the 1990s as a fifth and sixth grade teacher and a physical education instructor, according to biographical information. His resume shows that from January 1995 to December 1998 he was associated with the Minnesota AIDS Project in Minneapolis.
He “recruited, interviewed and staffed volunteer education and transportation programs for people living with HIV and AIDS,” his resume states.
Shaw next returned to Little Rock where he served from January 1998 to December 2004 as Theology Department Chair at the Mt. St. Mary Academy. His work included creating theology lessons for ninth-12th graders and creating a social justice program for 12th graders.
Upon moving to D.C., Shaw served as classroom teacher and vice principal at several schools, including the D.C. Public School’s Benning Elementary School; vice principal at Chavez Prep Public Charter School; vice principal at Bridges Public Charter School; Special Education Coordinator at Monument Academy Public Charter School; and Special Education Case Management and Math Intervention Specialist at D.C.’s College Preparatory Academy for Boys.
“Patrick dedicated 38 wonderful years to teaching, from 1987 to 2025, inspiring generations of students with his passion, wit, and kindness,” Martinez said in his statement.
Shaw was predeceased by his mother, Myrna G. Shaw, and is survived by his father, Thomas H. Shaw, his brother, James Shaw (Michele), his sister, Angela Mahairi (Wafai), and his cherished niece and nephews Austin, Tariq, Reed, Ramy, and Jasmine, according to information provided by Martinez.
Martinez said a funeral mass would soon be held in Little Rock, Shaw’s hometown.
“His family will be honoring one of his last wishes,” Martinez wrote, “to be returned home and remembered in a unique and meaningful way” – by having a tree planted in his honor, “a living tribute to the full and beautiful life he lived.”
Details of the location of the planted tree will be shared soon to offer a place where “friends and family can visit, reflect, and stay connected with his spirit,” Martinez states.
In D.C. a celebration of life for Shaw is scheduled to be held Saturday, May 3, from 2-5 p.m. at JR.’s bar at 1519 17th Street, N.W. Martinez points out that the tribute will be held during JR.’s weekly Saturday “Showtunes” event, in which sing-along performances of famous Broadway musicals are shown on video screens.
“JR.’s Saturday Showtunes were one of Patrick’s absolute favorite traditions, and gathering in that spirit feels like the perfect way to honor him,” Martinez said.
“Many have asked how they can help,” Martinez concludes in his statement. “In response we’ve created a GoFundMe page to support funeral expenses, help find a loving home for Patrick’s beloved dog, Birdie, and assist with other needs during this difficult time.”
Any remaining funds, according to Martinez, will be donated to a charity “that reflects Patrick’s passions and values.”
The GoFundMe page can be accessed at: gofundme.com/f/honoring-patrick-shaws-vibrant-legacy.
Obituary
Local attorney, LGBTQ rights advocate Dale Sanders dies at 75
Acclaimed lawyer credited with advancing legal rights for people with HIV/AIDS
Dale Edwin Sanders, an attorney who practiced law in D.C. and Northern Virginia for more than 40 years and is credited with playing a key role in providing legal services for people living with HIV/AIDS beginning in the early 1980s, died April 10 at the age of 75.
His brother, Wade Sanders, said the cause of death was a heart attack that occurred at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore shortly after he had back surgery.
Wade Sanders described his brother as a “trial lawyer, passionate criminal defense, and civil litigator for human rights” for close to 50 years, with some of his work focused on “civil law, notably gay-related insurance discrimination during the AIDS epidemic.”
He called his brother “a zealous advocate for the oppressed, his clients, and his personal convictions.”
Born in Arlington, Va., and raised in McLean, Va., Dale Sanders graduated from Langley High School in McLean and received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia, his brother said. He received his law degree from D.C.’s American University Washington College of Law and began his law practice in 1976 in Old Town, Alexandria, Wade Sanders said.
Amy Nelson, director of Legal Services for D.C. ‘s Whitman-Walker Health, said Sanders became one of Whitman-Walker’s original volunteer pro-bono attorneys in the 1980s.
“Dale was a beloved part of the legal services program and our medical-legal partnership for nearly 40 years,” Nelson said. “Dale was one of the clinic’s first volunteer attorneys at Whitman-Walker’s weekly, legal walk-in clinic offering free counseling to clients about their legal rights in the face of HIV/AIDS and LGBT discrimination from employers, landlords, medical providers, and insurance companies,” according to Nelson.
Nelson added, “Dale represented dozens of people impacted by the ignorance and prejudice attendant to an HIV/AIDS diagnosis, and his litigation wins were instrumental in advancing the legal rights of persons living with HIV/AIDS.”
Sanders’s most recent case on behalf of Whitman-Walker took place in 2023 in support of a transgender woman in Virginia who faced discrimination from her employer and health insurer, Nelson said.
In 1989, Whitman-Walker presented Sanders with its Gene Frey Award for Volunteer Service, and in 1994 presented him with its Founders Award for Pro Bono Legal Services, Nelson told the Blade. She said in 2024, Whitman-Walker re-named its annual Going the Extra Mile Pro Bono Award as the Dale Sanders Award for Pro Bono Excellence.
“Dale’s legacy helped to shape HIV/AIDS law, and his fierce commitment to justice will live on at Whitman-Walker Health,” Nelson said in a statement. “We will miss him dearly.”
Daniel Bruner, who served as Whitman-Walker’s legal services director prior to Amy Nelson taking that position, said Sanders played a role in shaping his own legal skills and knowledge.
“Dale was one of my earliest legal models among local, and national, advocates for people living with HIV and LGBT people,” Bruner told the Blade. “He was a fierce, persistent advocate for his clients and for the community,” Bruner said, adding, “He won key victories in several cases where employees’ or health care patients’ privacy had been egregiously violated. I certainly will never forget him.”
Wade Sanders said his brother was also an avid bridge player, saying he played competitively. “He earned the rank of Ruby Life Master, a pretty big deal in the bridge world,” Wade Sanders said.
Dale Sanders is survived by his husband, Christian Samonte; his sister, Joyce Sanders of York, S.C.; his brother Wade Sanders of West Jefferson, N.C.; and his beloved dogs Langley and Abigail, his brother said in a statement.
A memorial service for Dale Sanders organized by the Sanders family and the LGBTQ Catholic group Dignity Washington will be held Saturday, May 10, at 1 p.m. at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church at 1830 Connecticut Ave., N.W. in D.C., a Dignity Washington spokesperson said.
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