R.I.P. Richard Marks

Marks suffered from leprosy, aka Hansen’s Disease. Like thousands of others with the disease, he was banished to the Kalaupapa leprosy colony on the Hawaiian Island of Molokai. Marks helped overturn the quarantine, and he remained on the island, operating a tour company and educating travelers about the disease. He also “achieved his goal of establishing Kalaupapa National Historical Park in 1980 with the help of late Hawai’i congresswoman Patsy Mink,” according to the obituary in the Honolulu Advertiser. He was 79.

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