. . . who was a Board member of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). The late Right Rev. Walter Dennis -- wonderful man, wonderful bishop! When new priests were ordained in the diocese, he would sometimes send a note of congratulations -- with a roach taped to it!
Here's what the NY Times had to say when he died in 2003:'
[font size=4]
Bishop Walter D. Dennis, 70, Top Aide in Episcopal Diocese[/font]
[font size=2 color="gray"]By PAUL LEWIS
Published: April 3, 2003[/font]
Walter Decoster Dennis, a retired suffragan bishop for the Episcopal Diocese of New York, as well as a lawyer and a civil rights advocate, died on Sunday in Hampton, Va. He was 70.
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He returned to St. John the Divine as a canon residentiary in 1965 and became involved with racial and social issues. He was a founding member of the Union of Black Episcopalians and of the Guild of St. Ives, an association of Episcopal clergy members and lawyers who gave legal advice to the poor over matters of church concern.
After becoming suffragan bishop, he was especially involved in issues concerning individual rights. Bishop Dennis served on the boards of Planned Parenthood, the Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity and the
National Association for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
He was born in Washington on Aug. 23, 1932. He retired in 1998 and moved back to Hampton, Va. He had no immediate survivors.