NEWS
6 • Thursday, August 12, 2021
OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL
UAB Experts Answer Common Questions on COVID-19 Delta Variant
By Rubin E. Grant
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By Emily Williams-Robertshaw Photos courtesy o2ideas
helley Stewart has received his share of recognition throughout the years, but his next honor is special to him because of what it represents. “It’s business, business, business,” Stewart said. “That’s what struck me as different. This is the greatest country in the world. I know because I have traveled extensively. It’s great because of business. It’s business that improves the quality of life. It creates jobs and moves the economy.” Stewart, 87, co-founder of o2ideas, a 54-year-old advertising agency in Birmingham, will be among the business leaders the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham is honoring for shaping the Magic City’s economy and contributing to Birmingham’s growth. Stewart has been selected for the 2020-21 class of inductees into the Birmingham Business Hall of Fame. “I am blessed and thankful,” Lewis said. “I am a business person.” The other honorees are Grayson Hall Jr., Regions Financial Corp.; John A. Hand, First National Bank of Birmingham; Elmer B. Harris, Alabama Power Co.; Dr. Basil I. Hirschowitz, UAB gastroenterology; Thomas E. Jernigan, Marathon Corp.; Billy Charles Martin, Martin Advertising; William R. Pettiford, Alabama Penny Savings Bank; and W. Edgar Welden Sr, WeldenField. The Birmingham Business Hall of Fame Committee annually selects business leaders to induct into the hall of fame who have shown strong leadership and made extraordinary contributions to the Greater Birmingham area. Inductees can be living or deceased. The 550-plus members of the downtown Kiwanis invite the community to join them as they recognize the business leaders in a ceremony to be held at the Harbert Center on Aug. 26 at 5:30 p.m. Since 1997, the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham, the world’s largest Kiwanis, has inducted Birmingham’s leaders into the hall of fame. It’s part of the more than 100-year-old club’s mission of building a stronger community. Stewart, who grew up in Rosedale and is often referred to as a living legend, dedicated himself to education and entrepreneurialism to overcome homelessness, abuse and discrimination. He graduated from Parker High School and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, where he served from 1952 to
Shelley Stewart, 87, co-founder of o2ideas, a 54-year-old advertising agency in Birmingham, will be among the business leaders (see others below) the Kiwanis Club of Birmingham is honoring for shaping the Magic City’s economy and contributing to Birmingham’s growth. The event will is to be held at the Harbert Center on Aug. 26 at 5:30 p.m.
Business Is Great Stewart Thankful for Hall of Fame Recognition
1953. After his military service, Stewart returned to Birmingham and was hired by WEDR-AM as a radio personality known as “Shelley The Playboy.” He enjoyed immense popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, becoming a vocal champion for civil rights and a friend of such musical up-and-comers as Otis Redding, Gladys Knight and Isaac Hayes. He also became owner of Birmingham radio station WATV. Stewart was on air for 55 years, becoming the longest-running radio talent in the nation and appealing to black and white audiences. All the while, he made sure to maintain the business connections he started when he was working at a grocery store as a young teenager. “When I was 13, I got a job at Yeilding grocery store on Second Avenue and 22nd Street, stocking merchandise,” Stewart said. “I became interested in the business side and when I would make deliveries to all the other stores, I would talk to owners and managers, asking them how to do this and that.
“Even after I started in radio, I continued my relationships with business people.”
Silent Partner
In 1967, Stewart co-founded o2ideas with a white, Jewish radio salesman, Cy Steiner. The agency was originally called Steiner Advertising, with Stewart as a silent partner because of his race. “Cy and I formed the agency on a handshake,” Stewart said. “Cy could sell openly. I couldn’t. We decided to call the agency Steiner Advertising from the beginning to not publicly acknowledge the black and white relationship because we wanted to establish a business to serve America. Our clients knew we were partners, but they hid it for us, and we hid it within the agency itself. “If advertising is done right, it will cross over. It’s not all black and it’s not all white.” After Steiner died, Stewart publicly took over in 1992. He eventually amassed a majority stake in what become known as o2 Ideas, which is
one of the country’s largest privately held corporate communication companies. He sold the business to his partners in 2015. The independent agency is part of Worldwide Partners and is now run by Bill Todd, a former public relations practitioner who joined o2ideas in 2001. Its clients include world-class health care, pharmaceutical, insurance, manufacturing, construction and retail companies, including BBVA bank, Honda, UAB and Verizon. Stewart also co-authored two books, “The Road South: A Memoir,” co-written with Nathan Hale Turner, and “Mattie C.’s Boy: The Shelley Stewart Story,” with Don Keith. He continues to impact the community through his Mattie C. Stewart Foundation, named after his mother. It helps young people prepare for adulthood. He works from his home in Vandiver in Shelby County. “I am thankful to be alive and do this,” Stewart said. “I hope to continue to tell many young people about education and business.”
BIRMINGHAM BUSINESS HALL OF FAME 2020-2021 INDUCTEES
Grayson Hall Jr., Regions Financial Corp.
John A. Hand, First National Bank of Birmingham
Elmer Harris, Alabama Power Company
Dr. Basil Hirschowitz, UAB Gastroenterology
Thomas E. Jernigan, Marathon Corp.
Billy Charles Martin, Martin Advertising
William R. Pettiford, Alabama Penny Savings Bank
W. Edgar Welden Sr., WeldenField
It’s more infectious than smallpox and Ebola. Over the past few weeks, as COVID-19 cases rose with the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant, the forecast of infections and deaths offered by public health officials has been grim. Medical experts at the University of Alabama at Birmingham have been releasing videos, hosting panel discussions and conducting social media Q&A sessions to help inform the public about how to protect themselves.
Transmission
According to Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of UAB’s Division of Infectious Diseases, “The Delta variant is much more infectious than any virus we have had to deal with as a routine respiratory virus in the population, ever, in our lifetime.” The COVID-19 strain is more transmissible than well-known and feared diseases such as Ebola, smallpox and the original SARS strain. “If that doesn’t sort of scare you, I’m really not sure how you can frame this in a way that gets people’s attention,” she said. Marrazzo noted that, while the Delta variant can overcome vaccine protection, people who are vaccinated generally get less sick and die less often than those who are not vaccinated. “Cases are high in the South right now in direct proportion to our lack of vaccine coverage,” Marrazzo said. Marrazzo noted that the places in the country that have the best vaccine coverage – for example, 70% to 75% of the population vaccinated – also have the lowest COVID-19 case levels. “You can see this most dramatically largely in New England states, particularly Vermont,” she said. “They got to about 85% vaccination coverage very early and they literally have had almost no COVID cases during this latest wave.” According to data from the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control, Alabama has maintained the lowest vaccination rate in the country, with just more than 34% of the population vaccinated as of last week. See DELTA, page 7
