Walt had an incredibly itchy foot. He really earned his knick name, "The Wanderer." Somewhere in the mid 80's, he spent a year living on the beach in Tonga. While there, we wrote constantly. Those letters are a real treasure today. I didn't know until he arrived there, that he didn't expect to return ... he had some serious health issues. While there, he sent the following note to me:

"SING RAUCOUS, SING JOYFUL, SING SAD AND LONELY, SING WORK AND PLAY AND SWEAT AND LOVE. SING RAUNCHY, SING SWEET, SING HARD, SING GENTLY, SING SEA AND SKY AND BUCKING BRONCS. SING QUIET NIGHTS, SING RIVERS AND DAMS, SING CHILDREN ASLEEP AND LOVERS AWAKE, SING BATTLES AND HEROS, BETRAYALS AND FAITH. SING MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS AND MULES AND SHIPS, SING WARS AND REUNIONS AND FAERY QUEENS, SING BOSSES AND FLEAS AND IMPERTINENT CATS. SING LIFE, MY FRIENDS, SING LIFE. DON'T MOURN FOR ME, SING! AND JOIN IN ON THE CHORUSES.

The first day of Spring following Walt's death, we had a memorial hoot. Bride Judy is a calligrapher, so she lettered this on parchment for everyone and I suspect they are hanging on many walls now. Cheers, Bob Nelson