RI Sen. Pell Dead at age 90

RI Sen. Pell, creator of Pell Grants, dies at 90. Claiborne Pell, the quirky blueblood who represented blue-collar Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate for 36 years. Pell, a Democrat, died at his Newport home just after midnight, according to his former assistant, Jan Demers. RI Sen.Pell was the force behind a grant program that has helped tens of millions of Americans attend college, died Thursday after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.

RI Sen.Pell Dead at age 90. Pell spoke with an aristocratic tone but was an unabashed liberal who spent his political career championing causes to help the less Fortunate. Pell was first elected to the Senate in 1960.

"Senator Pell was a remarkable statesman and legislator who worked tirelessly to promote peace and expand opportunity through education." The awards were renamed "Pell Grants" in 1980. He disclosed he had Parkinson's in 1995 and left office in January 1997 after his sixth term. Pell sponsored legislation creating the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant program, which passed in 1972 and provided direct aid to college students. By the time Pell retired, they had aided more than 54 million low-and middle-income Americans.

pell was Born in 1918. "Pell always had this view that the federal government should help young people be able to have an education beyond high school." Though criticized by some for his fascination with UFOS and extra sensory perception. Pell also shared a strong interest in the arts. Pell came from a political family and was a downward of early New York landowners who lived among the old-money families in Newport. Pell was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in December 1994 and disclosed the condition the following spring. Their daughter Julia died of lung cancer in 2006 at age 52.
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