Book Signing and Discussion Dinner for Bill Doescher’s "Removing Barriers: Diverse Voices Shaping Tomorrow" Scheduled for Oct. 21 at Hitchcock Presbyterian Church

Rachel Robinson and Bill DoescherBill Doescher, a former 40-year-long resident of Scarsdale who now lives in an adjacent vicinity, has written a book about diversity in collaboration with 19 collaborators from the Scarsdale area and around the country. His first book, “Dear Folks: Essays and Insights from a Public Relations Leader,” was published by the PR Museum of New York City in 2019. Doescher's new book, “Removing Barriers: Diverse Voices Shaping Tomorrow,” published by Orange Frazer Press, is expected on booksellers’ shelves and online by late October 2026.

On Wednesday, Oct. 21, a book signing and and discussion will be hosted at the Lower Children's House at Hitchcock Presbyterian Church, at 6 Greenacres Avenue in Scarsdale. The cost of the event is $35, which includes a copy of the book and a light dinner. For participation in the event, please respond to Rev. Pete Jones at [email protected].

In “Removing Barriers: Diverse Voices Shaping Tomorrow,” Doescher has collected 19 voices (Black, white, known and lesser-known) who understand the sensitive dynamics around diversity and have been involved with well-defined missions to fight for social justice during the last 60 years. Doescher notes, “The co-writers of my latest book, who are a mix of Black and white Americans, male and female, were hand-picked for their knowledge and expertise about the almost always controversial subject of diversity and for their penetrating personal stories.”

During Doescher's residency in Scarsdale, he was a Village volunteer extraordinaire, serving such roles as the president of the Scarsdale Historical Society for more than seven years, chairman of the Village’s Ethics Committee, a member of the Cable Commission and a member of the Board of Governors of the Scarsdale Golf Club. He has also been an elder, choir singer and bell ringer at the Hitchcock Presbyterian Church. In his profession as a public relations guru, Doescher was, for decades, a well-known worldwide and highly respected award-winning communications and marketing executive.

Doescher said he worked diligently with his writing associates to develop the book's chapters over emails, telephone calls and Zoom meetings.

"Inside these individual chapters, the co-writers recount personal stories directly related to diversity and its history. Some of these stories recall abusive, destructive and even life-threatening encounters. Some of these stories outline positive triumphs and progress made,” Doescher says. "The purpose of this book is to invite numerous voices to retell their lived experiences as a way of expanding the conversation about diversity for greater awareness, understanding and positive change."

He adds, “These co-writers no doubt over time most likely have made their parents, close relatives, as well as their high-school-and-college teachers and professors, other fellow diversity voices and leaders, and close personal friends, extremely proud of their words and deeds. Without hesitation or fanfare, they tell it like it is in an unvarnished way.”

And equally important, Doescher, a self-described "octogenarian white guy" who for years "has sung in Hitchcock Presbyterian Church’s Chancel Choir, played bells, been an elder and given sermons there, and who continues as a vibrant church participant," doesn’t hold back on his personal thoughts on diversity, which he includes in his expanded chapter, which serves as the book’s to-the-point and straight-forward introduction.

Reasons for Doescher’s Second Book

The impetus for writing this book, according to Doescher, was primarily inspired by his long association with Rachel Robinson who taught him a lot about diversity. Robinson is described as one of Doescher's mentors and a dear friend, who is now 104 years old. Robinson is the widow of the famous baseball legend, Jackie Robinson, affectionately nicknamed "No. 42," who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball after signing a contract with the always colorful Branch Rickey, then president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and playing in his first professional game for the Dodgers in 1947.

A Baseball Contract That Stunned the Country

Ira Berkow, a former sports columnist and features writer for The New York Times, wrote in “the [1986] definitive biography” for McGraw-Hill about Red Smith: “Rickey had defied the other 15 major league owners (then) and stunned not only the baseball world but the country in signing Jack Roosevelt Robinson to a Dodgers contract.”
According to Doescher, after Jackie Robinson's untimely death, Rachel Robinson founded the Jackie Robinson Foundation (JRF) at her kitchen table in Connecticut in 1973. It was an organization that picked up from the ideals to which Rachel and Jackie had committed themselves -- to create different kinds of diversified activities and support for the future and betterment of America and its minorities.

“For sure,” Doescher says, “the work of JRF was intended to honor Jackie Robinson, while providing a superb and active development program and a stipend to help minority youths with, among other things, college expenses. The foundation also organized annual conferences for all of its scholars at the time, about how to always perform politely and intellectually in public and private as a proud JRF scholar.”

Over the years JRF, for which Doescher served in differing capacities on its Board of Directors for 22 years, including as Director of Development, has nurtured more than 2,200 minority college students.

“I learned a lot about diversity from Rachel, her daughter Sharon and son David, as well as from the other dedicated, professional and highly respected board members over those 22 years. They have included people well-informed about the various diversity issues in the U.S.A.,” Doescher continues, “such as Martin Edelman, the highly respected global lawyer who was at Rachel’s kitchen table as a lawyer and advisor in 1973; Leonard S. Coleman, Jr., Chairman of JRF for nearly 20 years, as well as one time the President of Major League Baseball’s National League, and an affiliate of the late South African and Apartheid Leader Archbishop Desmond Tutu; Della Britton, current President and CEO of JRF, and for more than two decades for days on end, has worked on transforming its relevant college scholarship program into a significant educational initiative, and Norman Siegel, former Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union -- as well as JRF's always hard-working and dedicated staff members and the JRF scholars themselves.”

“Collectively,” he adds, “they certainly opened my eyes wide to a different kind of world, more diversified than I could ever have imagined growing up in Utica, a somewhat small city in Upstate New York with then 100,000, now about 65,000, citizens, including back then a relatively small number of Black people, or attending the distinguished liberal arts college, Colgate University in Hamilton, NY, 30 miles down the road from Utica, in the 1950s as an undergrad economics major, or later as a master’s degree student in public relations and communications as well as an adjunct professor at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and teaching and lecturing in a variety of communications and investor relations courses at an ever-growing list of other colleges and universities, including Columbia University, New York University, Iona University, University of Maryland, Utica University and Colgate, my alma mater." Or early on, working as a young sportswriter for The Evening Press in Binghamton, NY, or two other newspapers, his hometown Utica Observer-Dispatch and Utica Daily Press. Or still later, employed at a number of blue-chip companies including The Chase Manhattan Bank, then headed by the late Chairman and CEO David Rockefeller, the youngest son of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Dun & Bradstreet, Champion International and Drexel Heritage Furnishings, where he recommended and for a number of years supervised the company’s sponsorship of a regular and still functioning PGA golf tournament -- the Heritage Golf Classic, on Hilton Head Island, SC.

His last corporate job before semi-retirement was with Dun & Bradstreet, where for 22 years he worked in increasingly important positions, and at the last was the Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, and publisher for 15 years of D&B Reports, a small-business magazine he revitalized with highly recognized senior editors in the U.S. and creative and modern graphics from Ken Resen, a Mamaroneck, NY, resident, and well-known international graphics magician with a Yale University sheepskin.

Doescher adds, almost with tears welling-up in his eyes, “The education I received at JRF while serving as a board member for 22 years was nothing short of spine-tingling.”

“Scarsdale’s Intellectual Team”

Doescher selected co-writers for his book from what he dubs “Scarsdale’s Intellectual Team,.” The group includes two of the most popular clergy and residents in town--Senior Rabbi Jonathan Blake of the Westchester Reform Temple and the Rev. Pete Jones, Senior Minister at the Hitchcock Presbyterian Church.

Blake graduated from Amherst College in 1995, and was ordained from Hebrew Union —Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, OH, in 2000. He took over the role of Senior Rabbi of Westchester Reform, a position previously held by Rabbi Richard Jacobs, who in 2011, became president of the Union for Reform Judaism.

Jones, who joined Hitchcock as the pastor at age 37 in 2016, has followed in the footsteps of his father, sister and brother as a minister. He graduated from Dickinson College with a major in religious studies and a minor in political science. In addition, he is a graduate of Lexington Theological Seminary with a master in divinity, and he also holds a doctorate of ministry from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Also, equally as popular as Blake and Jones and also included in Doescher’s second book is Jane Veron, former mayor of Scarsdale from 2021 to 2023, and a most devoted person who has dedicated her career to helping under-resourced entrepreneurs and their small businesses across the U.S.A.

Veron’s notable career is marked by her dedication to public service and her commitment to emerging small-business owners. Seeking to mobilize talent for the public good, Veron co-founded, in 2012, and continues to serve as CEO of, The Acceleration Project (TAP), a non-profit social enterprise company that empowers thousands of under resourced small-businesses in the U.S. and accelerates their growth Veron's organization is 88 percent women-led, with 200 pro-bono specialized volunteer professional consultants who provide first-rate advice—strategic, financial, operational and marketing.

Jane earned a BA magna cum laude degree from Yale University and an MBA with honors from Harvard Business School. She is also the leader of EJA Industries, a holding company for middle-market private equity investments and serves on several boards. Previously, Veron worked in strategy and marketing at Bain & Company, and she also worked for American Express.

CEOs Weighs In

Rich Nightingale, president and CEO of Westhab, is also a co-writer in the book. Nightingale's Westhab, which is headquartered in nearby Yonkers, is dedicated to its mission to assist underserved Westchester County and New York City residents with necessary resources, including housing, Nightingale first started at Westhab as a teenager during the summer months following the strong recommendation of his parents and after receiving approval from the higher-ups at Westhab. In his mind, he fell in love with the work and never left, even though he still found the time to obtain college and post-graduate degrees from Tufts University and Fordham’s Graduate School of Social Science, as well as leadership training at Harvard Business School.

Also included in Doescher’s book is Earl G. “Butch” Graves, Jr., formerly a Scarsdale resident, who was a top student and outstanding basketball player at Scarsdale High School (SHS). Graves went on to attend Yale University and Harvard Business School, and he played for three professional teams in the National Basketball Association. He is currently President and CEO of Black Enterprise, succeeding his late father, Earl Sr., in that position.

Jeremy Whyte, another proud SHS graduate, also contributes a chapter in the book. Whyte is the son of Rudy Whyte and Beverly Thornhill of Scarsdale. He is now married with two children, and he resides in Chicago. After graduating from Columbia University and working for a large technology company, Jeremy attended Harvard Business School.

Others Selected for the Book

Others selected by Doescher and included in the book are Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League and former mayor of New Orleans; Jesse Jackson, Jr., a former U.S. Congressman of the 2nd District of Illinois and son of the late Jesse Sr., a well-known civil rights activist for decades; Westina Matthews, a non-profit executive, author and first woman and person of color to be named as secretary and trustee of the Merrill Lynch Foundation; Lori George, an ordained minister and former global diversity executive at Coca Cola at its Atlanta headquarters; and Diane Ciccone, a lawyer, TV executive and the first Black woman elected to the board of trustees at Colgate University.

In addition, the book also includes Keith Alexander, a writer at The Washington Post, who twice won a Pulitzer Prize for co-authored news stories; Vickee Jordan Adams, daughter of the late Vernon Jordan, who is herself a seasoned public relations executive for well-known PR and investor-relations firms; Kenn Gaither and his father Thomas Gaither, who are respectively dean of Elon University’s School of Communications in North Carolina, and a dedicated Civil Rights Movement activist; Kim Hunter, a renowned diversity advocate and the owner of three communications agencies/foundations on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, CA; and Andia Winslow, a former Jackie Robinson Foundation scholar and Yale University graduate, who briefly played for the LPGA, and who is now an award-winning voice-over actress for such books as WNBA star’s Brittany Griner’s “Coming Home.”

Other co-writers include Griffin Granberry, a Generation Z activist working as a book center manager at Madison Reading Project in Madison, WI, and Dr. A. Najah Salaam Jennings-Bey of Syracuse, NY, whois CEO of Street Addiction Institute Inc.

“Banded together, these 19 contributors represent a solid and diverse group of Americans talking about the subjects of diversity and social justice,” Doescher says. “Their thoughts and stories are real, refreshing, honest, and intellectually stimulating. I hope that their voices inspire and add to the conversation on these important topics."

Doescher, who turns 89 in early December, says this is not his last rodeo. He is already at work on several other books, and he continues writing the 1959 column for the Colgate Magazine. He was married for 48 years to the late Linda Blair Doescher, a well-known interior designer in Scarsdale, Westchester County, New York City, Connecticut and Florida, who in May 2005 was the lead designer for a successful and profitable showhouse at the Scarsdale Woman’s Club on Drake Road, where she successfully managed the participation of 20 other professional interior designers and decorated the largest room in the house, the first floor's “Grand Salon,” herself. In what Doescher describes as a well-functioning ecumenical family, they have four grown children and seven grandchildren.