When you have accomplished an extraordinary record in your life and you have a memorable personality to go along with it, you only need a first name to be known by all. Everybody knows who Oprah, Shaq and Kobe are. Well, for the better part of the last half century along the New England waterfront, everybody knew who Howard was.
When someone would say, as they so often did, "I wonder what Howard thinks about this," or "We need to get Howard involved in this," there was never any doubt whom they were talking about. It could only be Howard Nickerson.
Some people are giants for a day; they get their 15 minutes of attention and fade away. Many others labor long and hard but are good followers more than great leaders. Then there is Howard, who provided effective leadership for decades to those who earn their living by the sea and in so doing bettered the seaport of New Bedford itself.