Vigil held for Mullica's 'most hated man'


(Published: Saturday, May 31, 2008)

ABSECON - To some, Larry Angel was smart, energetic and passionate. To others, he was nuts, fanatical and over-the-top.

The legacy left by Mullica Township gadfly Larry Angel differs with whom you talk to, but all agree the 66-year-old Los Angeles native was a fixture whose absence will be noticed.

About 30 of Angel's friends met at Route 30 and Route 9 for a vigil in his honor Friday night. At the same time, Mullica Committeewoman Janet Forman said she thinks her "life's going to be a little easier from here on out."

Angel died May 12 of a heart attack.

Forman said Friday that Angel had constantly "slandered and defamed her" and other officials, prompting them to file a defamation lawsuit against Angel in 2003 for comments on his Web site:

www.gadfly01.blogspot.com
The suit was thrown out in 2005.

"I never wanted to see anything bad happen to the man but he did damage my business," Forman, a Realtor, said Friday evening.

Democratic Mullica Mayor William Kennedy, Republican Committeewoman Kathy Chasey and several audience members left a recent public meeting when Committeeman Michael St. Amour spoke to pay tribute to Angel.

"He tried to make you look as bad as he could," Former Councilman Bruce Crowe said. "He went about things the wrong way, always saying nasty stuff about people - all the bad publicity just makes Mullica look like a fool."

Such sentiments weren't lost on Angel, who once declared himself the "most hated man in Mullica" after someone smashed his mailbox and left a deer's torso and front legs in his driveway just before the defamation suit went to trial.

But for all who despised him, there were those who felt admiration and gratitude for his tireless scrutiny of public officials.

Friends took turns talking about Angel at the Friday night vigil. Some cried.

"He was a pain in the neck, but he didn't have ill will for anybody," said Ernie Aponte, Angel's friend and, until recently, Mullica's public defender. Aponte said he resigned last week because he feared retribution for criticizing township government. He also threatened to sue the township after the police chief and Kennedy entered Angel's property, but dropped the issue in respect for Angel's family's wishes.

St. Amour, a Democrat in his first term, said Angel encouraged him to run for office last fall.

"He was so committed to helping people find their moral compass," St. Amour said. "It's sickening (how) many things you see that you think, 'That can't be right.'"

Angel's work resulted in, among other things, the prosecution of a former business administrator and prevented a garbage dump from coming into town.

To e-mail Emily Previti at The Press