EAST GREENWICH, R.I. (AP) — In medical school and throughout his career as a neonatologist, William Cashore often was asked to proofread others’ work. Little did they know he was a spelling champion, with a trophy at home to prove it.
“They knew that I had a very good sense of words and that I could spell correctly,” he said. “So if they were writing something, they would ask me to check it.”
Cashore won the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 1954 at age 14. Now 84, he’s the oldest living champion of the contest, which dates back to 1925. As contestants from this year’s competition headed home, he reflected on his experience and the effect it had on him.
“It was, at the time, one of the greatest events of my life,” he said in an interview at his Rhode Island home. “It’s still something that I remember fondly.”
Cashore credits his parents for helping him prepare for his trip to Washington, D.C., for the spelling bee. His mother was an elementary school teacher and his father was a lab technician with a talent for “taking words apart and putting them back together.”
“It was important for them, and for me, to get things right,” he said. “But I never felt pressure to win. I felt pressure only to do my best, and some of that came from inside.”
When the field narrowed to two competitors, the other boy misspelled “uncinated,” which means bent like a hook. Cashore spelled it correctly, then clinched the title with the word “transept,” an architectural term for the transverse part of a cross-shaped church.
“I knew that word. I had not been asked to spell it, but it was an easy word for me to spell,” he recalled.
Cashore, who was given $500 and an encyclopedia set, enjoyed a brief turn as a celebrity, including meeting then-Vice President Richard Nixon and appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show. He didn’t brag about his accomplishment after returning to Norristown, Pennsylvania, but the experience quietly shaped him in multiple ways.
“It gave me much more self-confidence and also gave me a sense that it’s very important to try to get things as correct as possible,” he said. “I’ve always been that way, and I still feel that way. If people are careless about spelling and writing, you wonder if they’re careless about their thinking.”
Preparing for a spelling bee today requires more concentration and technique than it did decades ago, Cashore said.
“The vocabulary of the words are far, far more technical,” he said. “The English language, in the meantime, has imported a great many words from foreign languages which were not part of the English language when I was in eighth grade,” he said.
Babbel, which offers foreign language instruction via its app and live online courses, tracked Cashore down ahead of this year’s spelling bee because it was interested in whether he had learned other languages before his big win. He hadn’t, other than picking up a few words from Pennsylvania Dutch, but told the company that he believes learning another language “gives you a perspective on your own language and insights into the thinking and processes of the other language and culture.”
While he has nothing but fond memories of the 1954 contest, Cashore said that was just the start of a long, happy life.
“The reward has been not so much what happened to me in the spelling bee but the family that I have and the people who supported me along the way,” he said.
Ramer reported from Concord, New Hampshire.
William Cashore, 84, smiles as he looks at his 1954 Scripps National Spelling Bee championship trophy, Wednesday, 29 May, 2024 in Greenwich, Rhode Island. As a 14-years-old Cashore correctly spelled the final two words of the contest, uncinated and transept, in 1954. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wasn't with his better-known rivals, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, when they debated Thursday in Atlanta.
But Kennedy responded in real time to the same questions — about inflation, the COVID-19 response and abortion — that were posed to Biden and Trump in an unusual livestream on the social platform X. Host John Stossell kept Kennedy's answers to the same strict time constraints imposed on the other candidates.
Standing alone on a stage in Los Angeles, Kennedy opened his event, dubbed The Real Debate, by accusing CNN, host of the main contest, of colluding with the Republican and Democratic parties to keep him off.
“This is something that’s important for our democracy because Americans feel like the system is rigged,” Kennedy said during his opening remarks. “This is exactly the kind of merger of state and corporate power that I’m running to oppose.”
Aside from the livestreamed response to the debate, Kennedy has nothing on his public schedule for the coming weeks. Nor does his running mate, philanthropist Nicole Shanahan.
After a busy spring hopscotching the country for a mix of political rallies, fundraisers and nontraditional campaign events, Kennedy appears to be taking a breather.
Kennedy’s absence from the main debate stage and the campaign trail carries risk for his insurgent quest to shake up the Republican and Democratic dominance of the U.S. political system. He lacks the money for a firehose of television commercials, and he must spend much of the money he does have to secure ballot access. Public appearances are a low-cost way to fire up supporters and drive media coverage he needs to stay relevant.
Kennedy says he can’t win unless voters know he’s running and believe he can defeat Biden, a Democrat, and Trump, a Republican. That problem will become increasingly acute as the debate, followed by the major party conventions in July and August, push more voters to tune into the race.
Still, Kennedy has maintained a steady stream of social media posts, and he continues to sit for interviews, most recently with talk show host Dr. Phil.
“Mr. Kennedy has a full schedule for July with many public events, mostly on the East Coast and including one big rally,” said Stefanie Spear, a Kennedy campaign spokesperson. “We will start announcing the events next week.”
For Thursday’s debate on CNN, the network invited candidates who showed strength in four reliable polls and ballot access in enough states to win the presidency. Kennedy fell short on both requirements.
He has cried foul about the rules, accusing CNN of colluding with Biden and Trump in a complaint to the Federal Election Commission and threatening to sue.
Kennedy wasn't on stage, but his supporters had a visible presence on the streets around the debate hall.
Some Kennedy backers set up a lemonade stand a few blocks from the spin room where the press was gathered. A sign on top of the stand read, “CNN Lemons = Kennedy Lemonade.” Others waved “Heal the Divide” signs. Not far away, a Kennedy campaign bus blasted music.
Sujat Desai, a 20-year-old student from Pleasanton, California, who supports Kennedy, said Kennedy's absence from the debate is a major hurdle for him to overcome.
“I don’t think there’s any way to get awareness if you’re not on the debate stage,” Desai said. “I think it’s a pretty lethal blow not to be in this debate, and it would be detrimental not to be in the next.”
Still, Desai said he won't be dissuaded from voting for Kennedy even if he appears to be a longshot come November.
“I think this is probably the strongest I’ve seen an independent candidate in a while, so I’ll give him that,” Desai said. “I think he’s definitely doing well. His policies are strong enough to win, I just don’t know if there's awareness."
Independent and third-party candidates like Kennedy face supremely long odds, but Kennedy’s campaign has spooked partisans on both sides who fear he will tip the election against them. Biden supporters worry his famous Democratic name and his history of environmental advocacy will sway voters from the left. Trump supporters worry his idiosyncratic views, particularly his questioning of the scientific consensus that vaccines are safe and effective, will appeal to people who might otherwise vote for Trump.
Christy Jones, 54, a holistic health and mindfulness coach from Glendora, California, worries people won't know Kennedy is running without him standing next to Biden and Trump at the debate. But she said he's still all over her social media feeds and she's confident he's making himself visible.
“I do feel like he could still win if people choose to be courageous,” she said. “If all the people that actually want change voted for him, he would be in. People are asking for change.”
Until recently, Kennedy’s website promoted a variety of events weeks or more in advance, including public rallies and private fundraisers. He held comedy nights with prominent comedians in Michigan and Tennessee.
But since he went to the June 15 premiere of a film on combatting addiction, Kennedy has been dark, though he continues to promote in-person and virtual organizing events for his supporters.
Cooper reported from Phoenix. Associated Press journalist Steve Peoples in Atlanta contributed to this report.
Supporters of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., stand at a lemonade stand near the presidential debate site before President Joe Biden and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump debate in Atlanta, Thursday, June 27, 2024.(AP Photo/Steve Peoples)
Supporters of Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. protest outside the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, Calif., Friday, June 21, 2024. Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN's parent company, plans to relocate to its Burbank studios. Host network CNN said Thursday the independent presidential candidate fell short of benchmarks both for state ballot qualification and polling. The missed markers mean the June 27 showdown will be solely between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Supporters of Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. protest outside the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, Calif., Friday, June 21, 2024. Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN's parent company, plans to relocate to its Burbank studios. Host network CNN said Thursday the independent presidential candidate fell short of benchmarks both for state ballot qualification and polling. The missed markers mean the June 27 showdown will be solely between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
