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Jennifer Hepburn

Willimantic
In 2002, The Hartford Courant publishes Tracy Gordon Fox and Bill Leukhardts
Heroin Town: seven stories, twenty-plus pages, and over forty-seven photographs
depicting Willimantic, Connecticuts heroin epidemic. In 2003, Dan Rather and 60
Minutes II air a story titled Heroin Town with consultant Tracy Gordon Fox. 60
Minutes II features Willimantics Hotel Hooker framed as a den of addicts, dealers, and
prostitutes. The New England town and its hotel are thrust into the national spotlight as
Heroin Town, USA.
Dan Rather Goes Slumming 2003
Dan Rather walks down the snow-covered streets of Willimantic, Connecticut, an
iconic scene of small town USA. Rather is there to expose a decades old problem in a
place youd never expect (Leung). The story of a small towns innocence destroyed by
heroin. Rather refers to Willimantic as a small or little town five times in the segment
opening. The little town, Rather reports, is big on drug dealers maps (Leung). The
small police force was overwhelmed by heroin. Ex-Willimantic police officer Paul
Slyman warns viewers that Willimantic, a small, quaint, cute little townappears to be
a hub for drug trafficking.
Rather stands on Willimantics Main Street near the Hotel Hooker, named after its
founder Seth Hooker. He notes the poetic new meaning of the Hotels name, now
inhabited by prostitutes and addicts. Rather narrates hidden camera footage into Hotel

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Hooker. The hotel, Rather says, is dreary, dimly lit with peeling wallpaper and cracked
linoleum (Lueng). Dozens of lost souls reside here, says Rather. Resident Rob
confesses he never used drugs before he moved into the Hotel Hooker. Rather reports
that after only a few minutes in the hotel, the cameraman is offered dope-in
exchange for other drugs (Leung). John, the dope dealer reveals that residents of
Hotel Hooker let their wives and girlfriends prostitute themselves to support their habit.
The hidden cameraman sits in a parked car. In a few minutes he is approached by a
prostitute. Story consultant Tracy Gordon Fox tells Rather there are many, many places
to buy drugs 24/7 in Willimantic. The segment concludes with Rather outside the Hotel
Hooker as he says, its easier for kids to buy a dime bag of heroin than a six-pack of
beer.
60 Minutes II emphasizes Willimantic as a small town, Anywhere, USA; overrun
with heroin and without the resources to prevent drug traffic or cope with addicts. The
addicts are portrayed as victims, lost souls as Rather refers to them. Hotel Hooker,
inhabited by addicts, drug dealers, and prostitutes; is singled out as a symbol for the
nations failed war on drugs.
Fox in the Henhouse 2002
60 Minutes II picked up Heroin Town from local reporters Tracy Gordon Fox
and Bill Leukhardts The Hartford Courant story; Small Town, Big-Time Heroin Use. It
begins, as 60 Minutes II mimics, by emphasizing Willimantic as a small town, a
modern-day Mayberry with an anomaly of drug arrests in proportion to larger cities.
Fox and Leukhardt report the communitys response to their addict population. Social
workers hand out condoms in Jillson Square to heroin-addicted prostitutes.

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Wednesdays, the Bikers for Christ bring donuts, sodas, and counselling to the junkies.
Thursdays, Willimantics First Baptist Church give soup and sandwiches to the
homeless and addicted (Gordon Fox, Leukhardt 2). After their investigation, Gordon Fox
and Leukhardt believe heroin has taken over Willimantic- It goes on everywhere and
addiction is inherited (2, 9). Willimantic is losing generation after generation to heroin.
Gordon Fox and Leukhardt tell readers that with heroin comes prostitution (4).
They interview heroin addicts and prostitutes, Michelle Missino and Rosa. Missinos
story, Gordon Fox and Leukhardt explain, is a familiar one (5). Missino has four
children with four different fathers, she does not have custody of her children (5). Rosas
story, we are told by Gordon Fox and Leukhardt, is more typical of the girls on Main
Street (6). Rosas only possession, other than her pipe, is a black cat. I love her.
Rosa saysthe day before, she tried to sell the cat to someone for a fix. (6).
Gordon Fox and Leukhardt focus on Willimantics small town status. Is this
emphasis on the town as small meant to tell readers the town is insignificant? Or
ineffectual in protecting its citizens from the evils of drug use? They describe a town
permeated with addicts that survive off the communitys outreach and charitable efforts.
However, Gordon Fox and Leukhardt do not interview the outreach members or the
addicts that utilize the charitable efforts. They select Missino and Rosas familiar and
typical stories to portray drug users as morally bankrupt. They conclude by reporting
the continuation of addiction from parent to child down generations. Willimantics high
unemployment rate is mention in passing as part of the history of the town. They offer
no solutions or hope in the drug trafficking and abuse in Willimantic.

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Willimantic Makes It in the Big Apple 2004 and Tiny Tim visits the Hotel Hooker
2003
Gail Braccidiferros Makeover at Hotel in Willimantic Goes Far beyond Name,
Tenants Says in The New York Times (TNYT) covers the changes at Hotel Hooker
since the 60 Minutes II feature. Tracy Gordon Fox also offers Owners Bid To Close
Willimantic, Conn., Hotel Clouds Citys Revival Plan in the Hartford Courant on the
same topic. Christopher L. Morano, of the States chief attorneys office and First
Selectman Michael T. Paulhus are addressing Willimantics heroin problem-by
prosecuting Hotel Hooker owner Robert Riquier under the states Nuisance Abatement
and Quality of Life Act. A receiver, Albert Bleau Jr., has been appointed for the hotel.
Riquiers request to close Hotel Hooker is denied by the Connecticut Superior Court
(Braccidiferro, NYregions). The hotel serves as low-rent housing, the court refuses the
sale because the Hotel Hooker benefits the community. Bleau Jr., has hired Pam Hall, a
former social worker and addiction counsellor, as executive director of Hotel Hooker.
Fox praises the heroic actions of hall as she confronts and then evicts a former resident
and drug dealer

(Fox 1). The remorseful dealer confesses, There is no dealing here

now (Fox 1). Fox describes the cosmetic changes accomplished in the hotel. She
portrays the grateful residents; rushing to thank Bleau and Hall and buying Bleau and
Hall Christmas gifts with their meager incomes. The residents decorate a Christmas tree
and feel like it is Christmas at the Hotel Hooker for the first time (Fox 1). Paulhus and
Bleau Jr. are on record to block Riquiers request to sell the Hooker, yet they are very
excited at the possibility of Common Ground Community Inc. buying Hotel Hooker.
TNYT applauds the possible purchase. Common Ground Community Inc. is a non-profit

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organization that purchases city buildings and turns them into low-income housing with
social and medical services for addicts, half-way houses.
Gordon Fox originally covered the heroin epidemic of Willimantic. In both the
TNYT and Foxs story, the epidemic has coalesced on the Hotel Hooker. TNYT praises
the Connecticut court, First Selectman Paulhus, and Albert Bleau Jr. as champions, not
in a war on drugs, but in a war against Hotel Hooker owner Robert Riquier. Riquier is
portrayed as the owner of an isolated slum, existing only to keep addicts and the poor in
the thrall of drugs, prostitution, and poverty. In both stories, Willimantic is only
mentioned as the Hotel Hookers location. The residents are helpless victims, not the
criminal element described by 60 Minutes II and the original Fox and Leukhardt story.
Unlike the 60 Minutes II and Fox/ Leukhardt features, that emphasized the failure of
the war on drugs; TNYT and Fox emphasis the progress and reform the court appointed
receiver Bleau Jr. has made. It is not explicate in this article that Robert Riquier is
footing the bill for all changes to the hotel and the salaries of Bleau Jr. and Hall. Drug
trafficking outside the walls of the Hotel Hooker is forgotten.
A Champion for Wllilmantic 2004
Josh Goldbloom takes a hand-held camera and finances his own eighty-eight
minute movie on Wllimantic after watching the 60 Minute II story. Like Dan Rather,
Goldbloom begins on a street in Willimanitc. Instead of snow-covered streets, it is
summer. Goldbloom is on Main Street recording Third Thursdays; Willimantics
monthly summer celebration. Main Street is closed for Third Thursdays parades, music,
puppet, and talent shows. A local band is performing several songs condemning and
threatening Dan Rather and 60 Minutes. Goldbloom interviews children who think

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Rather wanted to make an exciting story by exaggerating Willimantics heroin problem.
Goldbloom records the local radio morning show, WILI 14am. The radio hosts are
unable to understand how the State can take someones business. They sympathize
with Riquier, who is facing jail time for not cooperating with the receiver. Goldbloom
visits the Hotel Hooker. John, the resident who offered the 60 Minutes II cameraman
dope, no longer lives at the Hotel. Goldbloom interviews Jerricha Gavitt, Mike Helmer,
Chicky, Cheryl Hanser, Pat Kelly, and Toni. Three times the number of residents
interviewed by 60 Minutes II hidden cameraman or Gordon Fox and Leukhardt. Toni
admits she has a heroin addiction. The other residents are angered by the 60 Minutes
II episode. They resent being labeled as addicts, as the dregs of society. Audiences
meet Robert Riquier, a heavy set married man in his fifties. He works six to seven days
a week at the Hotel that has been in his family for over fifty years. He knows his
residents cannot afford to pay more for rent, Riquier only does needed repairs, ignoring
the cosmetic, to keep the rent low. Gordon Fox refuses to be interviewed, however,
First Selectman Paulhus agrees to an interview with Goldbloom. Paulhus admits he has
never been to the Hotel Hooker, but feels it is key to repairing the towns image.
Goldbloom follows Riquiers court proceedings. When the receivership ends, Requier is
allowed to sell Hotel Hooker, but only to a non-profit organization. Goldblooms
documentary ends with scenes from the Third Thursdays festival and the caption
Ladies and Gentlemenhere is your Heroin Town (Goldbloom).
How does a newspaper story about heroin trafficking and abuse in Willimantic
morph into the struggle of one man to keep ownership of his hotel? The original story
and 60 Minutes II coverage featured a small town with a big drug problem, a symbol of

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Americas pervasive drug use and a failed war against it. 60 Minutes II begins and
ends its investigation at night in or near the Hotel Hooker. Goldblooms documentary
begins and ends on sunny Main Street filled with Willimantics families enjoying Third
Thursdays. Both frames are valid and over simplistic. Heroin is not equal to a six-pack
of beer; however, without the restraints placed on legal substances, heroin can be an
easier score. Riquier is bullied by the state of Connecticut; however, there are court
records of drug and prostitution arrests at the Hotel Hooker. After 60 Minutes II, the
Hotel Hooker is transformed from a symbol of a larger problem, to the nexxus of
Willimantics heroin problem. State officialdom, unable to fix Willimantics economy or
end drug trafficking, grasps what it can; the Hotel Hooker. Sadly, Willimantics high
unemployment, the extensive community outreach, and the complexities of drug use are
lost in the flurry of reactions. Each piece moves from one sensational exploitation to the
next. First the small town filled with heroin users, in the original Hartford Courant and
60 Minutes II stories. Then TNYT and the Hartford Courant cover Robert Riquier, the
slum landlord profiting from housing dealers, prositutes and addicts. Finally, Goldbloom
ignores Willimantics need for rehabilitation services and low-income housing, instead
he focuses on Riquiers fight against bureaucracy gone amok. No one gives a voice or
soul to Willimantics dopers and straights.

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Works Cited
Braccidiferro, Gail. "Makeover at Hotel in Willimantic Goes Far Beyond Name, Tenants
Say." 22 Feburary 2004. print. 19 September 2014.
Gordon Fox, Tracy and Bill Leukhardt. "Small Town, Big-Time Heroin Use." Hartford
Courant 20 October 2002, special reports ed. print. 19 September 2014.
Gordon Fox, Tracy. "Owner's Bid To Close Willimantic, Conn., Hotel Clouds City's
Revival Plan." Hartford Connecticut 31 December 2003: Business 1. print. 2014
September 2014.
Heroin Town. Dir. Josh Goldbloom. 2004. film.
Leung, Rebecca. "Heroin Town A Drug War In A Small Town." CBS, 10 June 2003.
television. 19 September 2014.