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Subject: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: Amos Date: 27 Mar 19 - 10:21 AM I'm typing this for Amos, who died on March 14, 2019. I'm his wife/widow, He asked me to post this after he died, So what follows is his own words written on October 19, 2019. It appears I may have checked out, bid adieu to the mortal form, shuffled off and dropped off the edge for awhile Let me not depart without telling all of you how deeply I appreciate this harrum-scarum forum with all its wits, wisdom, profanity, occasional inanity, and above all its love of ordinary music. I have been an ordinary musician all my life, and finding Mudcat back in 1999 was like finding the home of the Lost Boys in Neverland. It was homecoming. I have reveled in the good companionship of those I met here ever since. So let me thank you, one and all, Mudcatters present and past, for the many, many hours of cheer, wisdom, and song I have found here, I may be back soon enough under a different persona altogether, if that is how things work. I suspect it is, and I suspect I will, because of all the things I have tacked onto my existence in this lifetime, the love and knowledge of folk music is one of the new things I would be loath to leave behind in migrating to my next lifetime. God knows what the future me will think when he/she finds all the frippery I have posted here! :D Thank you, blessings upon you all, and may we meet again soon. Thanks for the wonderful voyage. Amos (originally written October 19, 2018) |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: Rapparee Date: 27 Mar 19 - 11:09 AM Again I'm in mourning, and again am filled with joy because I knew him. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: Bonnie Shaljean Date: 27 Mar 19 - 11:11 AM How wonderful to hear your voice, even from beyond the grave. Go in peace, good friend. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: Bonnie Shaljean Date: 27 Mar 19 - 11:19 AM I have just now opened my email and found this in my inbox. It's from the Library of America newsletter, in honour of the poet W. S. Merwin, who died earlier this month: For the Anniversary of My Death Every year without knowing it I have passed the day When the last fires will wave to me And the silence will set out Tireless traveler Like the beam of a lightless star Then I will no longer Find myself in life as in a strange garment Surprised at the earth And the love of one woman And the shamelessness of men As today writing after three days of rain Hearing the wren sing and the falling cease And bowing not knowing to what - W. S. Merwin |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: Helen Date: 27 Mar 19 - 11:57 AM Indeed Bonnie, a voice from the grave. I had to stop to dry my tears a couple of times as I read this farewell from Amos. And from musicians past, a tribute: O'Carolan's Farewell to Music - Derek Bell One of my favourite pieces of O'Carolan's music which I believe that he composed and played near the time of his death on 25th March 1738, and reinterpreted here by another late great musician, Derek Bell who passed 17 October 2002. A more traditional interpretation by Patrick Ball which is closer to the version I have on CD by Derek Bell. Amos arrived here at Mudcat two years after I did. As I said in a previous thread, he has been one of my favourite Mudcatters almost from the moment he arrived. He and Mudcatters like him is the reason that Mudcat is more than just a place to type and post words on a virtual page. Mudcat is and always was a loving, caring international community focused on the love of folk and blues music. Mudcat transcends the distance across continents and forms a powerful bond which is difficult to fully describe. I never met Amos in real life as I have never left Australia but it doesn't mean that I never knew him and his wit and humour, his love of people and his love of folk songs and singing. That Mudcat music tavern session in the sky is growing year by year, and I think that Amos is up there having a great time. When my time comes - hopefully not for a while yet - I know that I will be looking for that session and that next phase after this life on earth and I will be meeting Amos and all the other Mudcatters who have gone before. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: John MacKenzie Date: 27 Mar 19 - 12:31 PM Aye Amos, it's a journey, and you're on the next lap. May you find friends as good as have here, in your next manifestation. Bon voyage old chap. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: C-flat Date: 27 Mar 19 - 12:55 PM What a lovely way to say goodbye. But then he always was a lovely fella.... Such a miss on here.. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: GUEST,Joe Offer Date: 27 Mar 19 - 01:04 PM I'll miss you, Amos. Goodbye, old friend. Joe |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: Little Hawk Date: 27 Mar 19 - 01:14 PM That is perfect. It is Amos to a T. I do not consider you "dead", Amos, I just think you've exited this particular stage for a little while, and I hope to see you again on the next one. Bon voyage! |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: maeve Date: 27 Mar 19 - 02:08 PM Daly, thank you for your loving courage in living this shared life, in going on, and in posting these words from Amos to his friends. Maeve |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: wysiwyg Date: 27 Mar 19 - 05:52 PM :-) |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: meself Date: 27 Mar 19 - 06:45 PM Beautiful words. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: Sandra in Sydney Date: 28 Mar 19 - 01:23 AM farewell, Amos & best wishes to Daley & his other family members & friends |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: skarpi Date: 29 Mar 19 - 08:21 PM Like it said in the song " I see you again when it´s my time to go .." I med Amos 2005 and he have teach me one or two thing ´s on the guitar .. A good man has been called away on a mission in space between the spaces ... God bless to you all , Skarpi Iceland . |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: olddude Date: 29 Mar 19 - 10:51 PM My buddy Amos is playing music in heaven with one great bunch of musicians right now |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: Elmore Date: 30 Mar 19 - 02:53 PM Well written as always. Makes me sad though. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: Janie Date: 30 Mar 19 - 03:53 PM What Rap said. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: olddude Date: 31 Mar 19 - 08:40 PM All of our dear friends are passing please stop. Enough already we all need you around |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: Ebbie Date: 01 Apr 19 - 02:57 AM Perhaps he is just in the next room, having closed the door between us. And maybe sometimes he will open that door just a tiny bit and smile. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: Helen Date: 01 Apr 19 - 03:39 AM Death is nothing at all. Henry Scott Holland A Canon of St Paul's Cathedral Death is nothing at all. I have slipped away into the next room... I am I, and you are you, Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by my old familiar name, Speak to me in the easy way you always used. Put no difference into your tone, Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow, Laugh as we always laughed At the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word That it always was. Let it be spoken without effect, Without the ghost of a shadow on it. Life means all that it ever meant - It is the same as it ever was; There is absolute unbroken continuity. What is death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of mind Because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you. For an interval, somewhere very near Just around the corner... All is well. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: GUEST,Ex-member. Date: 01 Apr 19 - 07:50 AM RIP old friend. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: Stilly River Sage Date: 01 Apr 19 - 01:50 PM Thanks for stopping in, Ex-member. I'm sure Amos missed your contributions over the last few years. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: rumanci Date: 01 Apr 19 - 05:02 PM precious friendships - rest in delightful peace, Amos - love and huge hugs to Daly xxrumxx |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: beardedbruce Date: 01 Apr 19 - 09:50 PM Sonnet 03/11/07 On Mudcat MLXV To absent friends and lost loves let us drink, Recalling smiles and times that all once shared. On those no longer near let us now think, To bring back reasons that for them we cared. Some are not here, yet still remain, within The songs and words they left behind. And some Are in our souls, when hopes or dreams begin: A part of what each of us have become. To those apart let us now raise a glass And take a moment to give thanks for all That we from others have ourselves received. The world’s a school, and our lives just a class In playing well with others. Can we call It more? Are we by our egos deceived? |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: olddude Date: 01 Apr 19 - 11:53 PM I never could do the blues but Amos made me better at it. Like my brother Bruce Murdoch he also made me a better song writer |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: Janie Date: 15 Apr 19 - 01:55 PM It was a perfect gathering to remember and celebrate Amos. Many people shared a song or a poem chosen to commemorate their experience of Amos. There were a few Mudcatters and Getaway folks who were able to be physically present, and that, of course was a special delight to me. All of them shared songs that had the whole crowd singing along on the chorus. Chance (Fortunato) and Susette Shiver had me in tears, and everyone in full throat on the chorus, doing Tom Paxton's "Ramblin' Boy." What a perfect song selection, eh? And Chance read a poem Micca had written to honor Amos. Lucy Goldberg sang "Back Home Again," again a song that everyone joined in on the chorus. Abby Sale also chose a song that not only had he and Amos sung together, but with a chorus familiar so that all joined in, "I Ride an Old Paint." Dani wrote some new verses and sang "Will the Circle Be Unbroken". Again, the place filled with the sound of voices joining in on the chorus. Derek Lane, who West River Getaway folks will know, did a powerful rendition of "We'll Camp A Little While In The Wilderness." These all stood out to me, not only because of our common ties to Amos that began with either Mudcat or the Getaway, but because all those folks chose songs with choruses that everyone could join, which is the musical context in which I first met Amos in 3D, a Getaway at Ramblewood. So, for me, it was not just celebrating Amos, but celebrating this community. That is not typically the music scene here, which is more geared to open mics and jam sessions instead of song circles. Amos was comfortable and sought out all kinds of music and gatherings of musicians and/or poets, and his many newer friends made after he moved to Hillsborough also offered lovely songs and poems. As all of those of us who knew him either through this virtual community or in 3D know, Amos had a real gift for connecting quickly with people in an authentic manner. That was abundantly apparent at this large, diverse gathering of people. |
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Subject: RE: Obit: Amos Jessup farewell From: Dorothy Parshall Date: 17 Apr 19 - 06:52 PM Thank you, Janie, for the report. A special guy... |
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