BS: Exceptional People in our Lives

Subject: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Ebbie
Date: 02 Sep 04 - 02:29 AM

We all have them. I'm thinking of people who when they die or disappear will leave a lasting imprint on their world.

Tell us about some of yours!

For instance, Belle Mickelson is all this: "Belle Mickelson first visited the Copper River Delta in 1974 and has been a local resident for almost 20 years. She has a biology teaching certificate and a masters in environmental education from the University of Michigan. Belle is an assistant professor who currently works for the Cordova Schools. She is the primary author of the Alaska Sea Week Curriculum, Alaska Oil Spill Curriculum, and Alaska Fisheries Curriculum. She loves to take students to marshes and mudflats." but so very much more.

She is a musician. She teaches it, she plays it, she's always up for it. She lives and breathes it- one time we were playing at an all-nighter at my home and along about 3 AM she said, Don't stop! But you know, I just have to close my eyes for a few minutes.

Wth her fiddle on her chest she lay down on my couch and closed her eyes and didn't miss a stroke. After 15 minutes she got up, much refreshed.

The last few years she's been the mover and shaker of a young bluegrass group, 'Bearfoot Bluegrass'. She hosts a music camp in Cordova where these youngsters honed their skills and now she travels with them around the country, promotes them, sets up bluegrass camps.

Tomorrow night she's flying in to Juneau on her way home to Cordova and since she has about 4 hours between planes she has made a phone call or two so we _ and you!- are all urged to come to St. Brendan's church hall and make music until she has to head for the airport.

Oh, I forgot to mention: She is on the second year of seminary.

Anybody else have an exceptional person in their lives?

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Teresa
Date: 02 Sep 04 - 03:34 AM

There are so many. :)

The one I think of now is someone I could only hope to emulate in some small way, even though he didn't have a large impact on a lot of people.

About a year ago, I was looking for a place to live. Due to some pretty odd circumstances which I won't go into, I was basically homeless, and I was looking for a good old slum hotel.

I was walking with my white cane and I heard a familiar voice. It was my friend Matt, whom I hadn't seen in several months. we were not especially close friends.

He is hearing impaired and has a fairly severe learning disability.

He asked me where I was going, and I told him the name of a hotel. He said "Oh, you can just stay with me till you find an apartment."

Just like that.

Which I did, and he also let me install speech on his computer so I could read the screen and look online for an apartment. I found one within two weeks. I've since moved several hundred miles away from him, but we keep in touch online, and we'll probably visit eacht other somewhat frequently. Those are the kind of friends to have. If ever I believed in angels, he was an angel at that point in my life. He'll most likely do similar things for others. I have no doubt of that.
T

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: freda underhill
Date: 02 Sep 04 - 05:29 AM

One of the greatest people i have ever met is a man called Aldo Gennaro. Aldo trained to be an Augustinian priest in a seminary in Chile before leaving the priesthood and coming to live in Sydney (australia). He was a very handsome man, a dancer, and a drama therapist, working as a theatre director with intellectually disabled children. In November 1979, Aldo put on an opera at the Sydney Opera House with intellectually impaired people. They gave a performance that held audiences spellbound. A film by Chris Noonan called "Stepping Out" tells the story of that event. Aldo was one of the first people to speak publicly about dying of AIDS.

Aldo said that working with intellectually impaired people was the first time that he experienced real love in his life, unconditional love. He felt in doing so they helped heal him.

I was lucky enough to work as Aldo's assistant for 6 months or so before he became too sick and stopped working with people. He was an incredible person, and while he has been viewed in retrospect as some sort of "saint", and yes, he was a very "spiritual" person, he was radical for his time. He advocated that intellectually impaired people were being drugged unnecessarily for reasons of control in institutions, and not because they actually needed it.

Because he had trained as a priest, he understood institutions and hierarchies very well, and had a clever way of challenging boundaries without being aggressive about it. He challenged my own perceptions and fears when I worked with him, but in a humourous, very clever way.

when I went to aldo's funeral, I was greeted at the door of the church by a person who gave me a "programme" that also had drawn and designed himself. On the front was a drawing of aldo, naked, except for a discreet puff of cloud, emerging from his coffin and winking at us. Inside was a beautiful poem of thanks .. thanks to life for all its gifts of natural beauty, life, positive experiences and beauty.

aldo like everyone had some very painful experiences, including coming to terms with his homosexuality in a country which was not accepting of this. he suffered with his illness over years. but he had a fantastic personality and great humanity, and changed many people's lives, including mine.

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: greg stephens
Date: 02 Sep 04 - 06:07 AM

Well this will probably embarass him but I will nominate Sir JOhn from Hull. A year or two ago I started posting stuff about musical work I do with refugees, because I thought people who lived near me might be interested in coming to hear(and make) 100% hardcore folk music from many countries. And I also wanted to find out what other people might be up to round the world. Well, various people expressed interest in various ways. But JOhn from Hull started sending me a stream of useful information, refugee events in Hull, contacts for Kurdish msuicians he had met, contacts for people working with asylum seekers, alerting me to radio programmes.The things you can use a forum like this for, Sir JOhnn understands, and puts in the time to make it work. Fantastic, he makes my life easier and more fun A gent. So for those who think he is dribbling drunken illiterate moron, I say "Think again". Well, actually he is all those things, but a little bit more besides!

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Rapparee
Date: 02 Sep 04 - 09:04 AM

So many....

My wife, who's stayed with me for what will soon be 31 years. She's a lawyer, a librarian, a mathematician, and even knows how to talk to accountants. She survived thyroid cancer when she was 17 and since she's still around she's even survived me.

Jovian Lang, Martha Ward, and Dorothy Marquard, three librarians whose examples showed the what and why of my chosen profession and whose examples I want to pass on.

My mother, who raised four kids on damned little money after their father was killed in a construction accident -- I was the oldest and I was five when that happened. She saw her three sons through the military (two served in 'Nam and I served in Korea), saw all four get Bachelor's degrees, one get a Master's, another get all but his Master's (didn't do the final essay, the twit!), and then took some college courses herself "to see if she could do it."

My friend Bob Slocum, who worked CAP in 'Nam supplying medical treatment to kids. He taught me about smoking, steel drums, bawdy songs, excellent riflemanship, and other things. Eventually cigarettes killed him. Friendship meant something to him, even if we didn't see or talk for years between.

...and the others, of course, "too numerous to mention."

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Rapparee
Date: 03 Sep 04 - 07:31 AM

Refresh.

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: alanabit
Date: 04 Sep 04 - 04:05 AM

The sort of thread I like to see. I'll be back later.

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Bobert
Date: 04 Sep 04 - 08:47 AM

Oh geeze!

Where to start? I have been blessed with so many fine people in my life that it's impossible to know where to start.

Well, I'm with Rap, my wife, P-Vine... As some of you know I lost my wife, Judy, to breast cancer in 1997 which was devastating and thought I would never again find a woman with whom I could share the depth of feelings I had with Judy. P-Vine is probably the only woman in the world was up to the task and I was blessed to have found her...

The greatest positive influence on me as a child was my mother, who still going strong at 84, exposed me to the arts. There wasn't a month that would go by that she wouldn't take me into Washington, D.C. on the trolley cars for a play or to walk around a musuem or gallery. She purchased two nice prints for my room. One a Gaughan and the other a Klee and I still own and cherish them as well as the art eductation she provided me so very long ago.

Then there was Will Anderson, a local painter, who was my first art teacher and taught me to draw when I was about 5 years old. He was such a positive influence on me because he motivated me. I am proud to have known him and proud to have two of his greese pencil originals hanging in my house that he did while in Africa.

But probably the biggest and most positive influence in my life are two men who I nver met in the flesh but who together have shaped my values and the manner in which I conduct myself: Jesus Christ and Martin Luther King.. Both of these men carried the same consistant message of love, of tolerance, and of forgiveness. And thru each of them I better understood (and understand) the other even better.

Lastly, and I hope I'm not drifting too far from the shore here but there are folks here and at my other wedsite, Tweedsblues, who continue to be good friends and, better yet, exceptional influences. I don't need to name them since that's not what this thread is about but I would hate to have not brought them up. They know who they are. I'll leave it at that.

Great thread, Ebbie. Very refreshing to have an opportunity to brag on some folks... Thanks for starting it...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: alanabit
Date: 04 Sep 04 - 10:08 AM

As regular Mudcatters know, I am a busker and have been for many years. The first people who spring to mind when I write to a music site are those who influenced me there.
I first met Klaus der Geiger over twenty five years ago and I have only got to know him more closely over the past ten years. I knew already that he had previously played the concert music halls with great orchestras before his street career began. When I first saw him on the street, I saw a ragged looking, thin man who leapt about as he played his protest songs, spitting out the words with a passionate intensity, which was unmistakably sincere. There was often cruel humour and wicked parodies. I found him quite intimidating, because of the sheer ferocity of his commitment. Over the years, I got the chance to play with him a little and to realise that he wasn't really as good a musician as I had thought. He was much, much better than that! I got to know the other side of Klaus too. Behind the ferocity, there was a gentle, generous idealist, with standards of honesty and decency which most of us cannot hope to get near. Yet Klaus was genuinely tolerant and non judgemental to those who could not be as he was. He never tried to tell you he was right. He was a listener rather than a talker. As long as he was being honest with himself, he did not need to convert the world.
Phil Free is no virtuoso musician and no great shakes as a singer. Yet this charming, little old man can attract and hold crowds spellbound for hours with his beautiful, soft humour. What makes him so unique is that his humour is so without malice. Nobody goes away from a Phil Free show feeling insulted. Phil has made a little money at times on the street, but mainly he has given, given and given. He is happy. I got to spend a little time in the company of this comic genius. It moved me. Those of you who know either Don Partridge or Glynn Nicholas should ask them about him.
Great idea for a thread Ebbie. This is one of the things I like about Mudcat.

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Amos
Date: 04 Sep 04 - 03:46 PM

Peter Timmerman. And Rick, Gawd save his soul


A

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Ebbie
Date: 04 Sep 04 - 04:04 PM

I agree, Amos. But as you yourself would be the first to say, Don't tell us. Show us. Please?

This thread brings me close to tears. it is another means of learning to know exceptional people. Tell me who inspires you and why, and you reveal yourself.

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 04 Sep 04 - 05:47 PM

Mademoiselle Soubile...a French teacher...I was so turned on by her...my first taste of sexual awareness....mmmmmmmmm
Best wishes.

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: GUEST,GROK
Date: 04 Sep 04 - 05:48 PM

The most exceptional person I have ever met is my daughter. She has various challenges, but whenever another child is crying or hurt she is the first one there to offer comfort. She shares willingly and helps without being asked. I love and admire her for her spirit. I have seen her in martial arts classes just blocking kicks and punches because she has absolutely no desire to hit her opponents. I doubt she'll ever win medals for fighting. Yet she knows what to do, because she always wins medals for patterns. I have seen wild birds land within arm's reach of her to eat seeds. Something about her I guess that allows creatures to sense peace in her presence. It is amazing what a fellow can learn from a ten-year-old.

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Bill Hahn//\\
Date: 04 Sep 04 - 06:02 PM

Great thread!!!!   Gives me a chance to remember and write about a dear departed aunt who was the greatest influence on my life. She was a doctor, an immigrant from Trieste (WW2), friend of James Joyce, abd surrounded in the U S by a coterie of intellectual and wonderful friends including the columnists Max Lerner, Frank Kingdon among others.

Her influence on me was to introduce me to theater, music (she loved folk music and Paul Robeson), politics (with her invitations when I was older to her house when the above people were there), loyalty, and last but not least to let me know it is alway a great thing to move outside of your own circle for advice if you need it in a given situation.

Being the chief of anesthesia at a now gone NYC hospital she worked many times for the indigent and did not expect renumeration.   

At least the hospital was in a great Italian neighborhood in NY so we met at some wonderful Italian bakeries for some great cake and conversation over the years in addition to all the other benefits of being her nephew.

Sadly missed.

Thanks for a thread that let me recall this greatest influence in my life.

Bill Hahn

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: SINSULL
Date: 04 Sep 04 - 07:57 PM

Aunts Jen, May, and Pat who filled my childhood with music. Weddings, funerals, whatever - the sisters sang.

Emily Goldthwaite who at 103 still hosted formal teas in her home, glowed with happiness when little children demonstrated chopsticks on her piano, always had the best candy at Halloween, always had the latest biographies from a mailing library, painted watercolors, and shared an afternoon glass of sherry with me every day. I miss her terribly.

Kendall Morse who for all his crankiness is a gentleman quick to make me laugh, slow to offer advice, but always ready to listen. He is the one person who understands why I choose to laugh out loud instead of cry when the rest of the world thinks laughing is inapprpriate.

Bobbie Turner, Martha Maxin, Sheila Lieberman, and Sylvia Quailer - the women who stood by me through the worst of my son's addiction, never criticized, and rarely offered advice. I am sane today because they took care of me. These are women who have shared their good and bad times with me. I am very proud to call each of them my friend.

And there are at least a hundred more - I have been very fortunate.

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Bill Hahn//\\
Date: 04 Sep 04 - 08:06 PM

Sinsull: Just wonderful. This is truly an interesting and wonderful thread that has evolved.   

So--that said---I have to add that my late wife surely made me a better person than I ever was. Her values live with me till this day.

I wish the world loved me as much as her---but, hell, the world is smarter than me.   Our circle sure knew who had value.


Bill Hahn

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: CarolC
Date: 04 Sep 04 - 10:01 PM

My husband and my son are the two most exceptional people in my life, a life full of exceptional people (at least in my opinion). But I want to talk about the Durkees right now because I don't get to talk about them very often, and they are special.

Steve and Nancy Durkee were like an aunt and uncle to me, although we weren't actually related. Steve was the person who introduced my parents to each other. My father knew him from grade school, and my mother knew him from art teacher's college.

For me, as a child, Steve, Nancy, and their kids (who were like cousins to me) were a source of a lot of amazement in my life. When I was about seven years old, Steve (an abstract artist) offered to paint our garage door. He did paint it, and he enlisted some of the kids to help. He showed us how to paint, not in a nice even coat, but with whatever idea popped into our heads. I was intimidated because I was a "color in between the lines" kind of kid. But I did contribute a few abstract images to the masterpiece. When it was done, it looked like something that could have hung in a museum of modern art.

When my father saw it, he made us all paint it over the normal way. But for a little while, it was glorious.

Most summers throughout my childhood, we spent a week or two visiting the Durkees at their summer cottage on a big sand bluff overlooking Wellfleet harbor on Cape Cod (Massachussettes, USA). They had a loft instead of a second story, and that's where all the kids slept in our sleeping bags. It was called "the crow's nest", and we had to climb a ladder to get to it. Early every morning, while we were still all asleep, Steve would climb up the ladder, pop his head up over the edge and say, with his broad, musical, Framingham accent, "Goo-ud mo-aahning", always ending on an up note. His warm, golden voice washed over us like liquid sunshine, and it made the world a very friendly place to wake up to.

Nancy was a very special lady in her own way. She was from one of the Carolina states, and her genteel, lilting, slightly aristocratic southern accent blended beautifully with her acquired Massachusettes accent. She was a true lady; warm, kind and loving, but with a core of solid humanity. She passed away a few months ago. I regret that she was unable to be present at our wedding (me and Jts). Nancy kept Steve's feet almost on the ground, and Steve kept Nancy's life very interesting. They were a very good match.

It's been years since I was last on Cape Cod. It's with a little ache that I remember tumbling down the big sand bluff with my sister and the Durkee boys, tumbling down to the beach and walking the half mile or so along the shore and over the little foot bridge into the (then) little village of Wellfleet for ice cream cones. Maybe it's better if I don't try to go back. At least not to that same place. It's probably all changed now, and Nancy's not there any more. Ah well.

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: khandu
Date: 04 Sep 04 - 11:24 PM

"I'm thinking of people who when they die or disappear will leave a lasting imprint on their world."

The "forty-something" Robert Deerman saw a grand opportunity in a 10 year old, shy, naive khandu. He took him under his wing, made him feel important for the first time in his life, & used him sexually for the next year, leaving "a lasting imprint on khandu's world".

A negative, destructive act. But, by God, it did not destroy khandu!!

I had to work through a lot of stuff, including whether I was gay or straight (or both). It took years to find some solid footing for myself.

Over the years, I finally gained self-respect. I like the person I have become. And, I am aware that Deerman's evil selfish deeds are part of the reason I am who I am.

Incidentally, Deerman was shot to death during his attempt at bank robbery in 1966.

Rev. A. Eugene Dyess was the flip side of Deerman's coin. He was an integral part of my becoming balanced. Through him, I saw the Love that was more than love. Through him I learned that no one has the power to decide who I am but me.

Dyess did not erase Deerman's deeds. He was the counter-balance, which put me in position to be responsible for my own actions.

Each man left his imprint.

We all shall leave an imprint of some importance upon someone. We can decide if it be positive or negative!

Thanks Ebbie for the thread & thank you Alan for the heads up!

ken

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Ebbie
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 12:34 AM

Wow. khandu. Love you.

Ebbie

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: alanabit
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 03:08 AM

Thanks khandu. Do you know just the night before last I had a weird dream, which did not make much sense at the time. It is falling into place now.
First I have to go back forty years to a small, shoddy, private boarding school in Plymouth. I and my brother were eight and seven and were taken downstairs to the headmaster's study for the heinous crime of running naked through the dormitory after lights out. Either fearing a homosexual scandal - or because he just liked that sort of thing - the headmaster caned us both in pyjama trousers in the middle of the night shouting out, "Dirty, Filthy Boy!" with each stroke. Our offence was entered into the book as, "Being dirty in the dormitory".
In this day and age that vicious pederast would not be able to escape a prison sentence. He got away with it. I think the worst thing for me would have been to become as he was.
   Back to the dream: I was in my twenties or early thirties at a smart party (most unlikely - because I rarely dress smartly!) I was greeted cheerfully by several attractive women and I realised that we were in that boarding school. (It has, in fact, long since been demolished). I said to someone, "You know, if I see him, I am going to be naughty." I did see him and I knocked him straight down. When he got up, I said, "It hurts doesn't it?" Then I knocked him down again. Then the dream was over.
   In real life, I do karate training five times a week and I never fight, threaten or raise my voice to anyone. I have no desire thump a helpless old man. I am not like him, so I have won. I came down a different route, Ken, but I guess we ended up at the same station. Now let's hear some more cheerful stories!

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 08:17 AM

Khandu/alanabit.I guess I was much more fortunate than yourself..I too went to boarding school at Totnes around the same time...I did get the slipper for some transgressions but nothing serious. The male staff were great and no signs of abuse etc...but one of the "Matrons" was having a "relationship" with one of the lads...a sixth former so it was casually overlooked. If it had been a male member of staff then he would have been sacked on the spot whether the so called "victim" was male or female....Strange world eh?. I have recently taken retirement from a 30yr career in Child Care and have seen the damage that can be done by adults(including parents) sexually/emotionally/physically abusing children. Some will have lasting damage for the rest of their lives...sad to say. But life has to go on and it is good to see people triumphing over the abuse.
Best wishes.

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Bobert
Date: 05 Sep 04 - 11:32 PM

Come on Catters... Don't let this thread die...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 04:16 PM

My Mum

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Deckman
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 04:53 PM

I met the late Keve Bray when I was 16 and in High school. He was an english teacher at the junior high school I'd just left. We met at a hoot, in Seattle. There was this instant connection. It's rare, but quite wonderful and magical when it happens.

He was black, I was white ... still am actually. He was a trained Shakesperian actor with a degree from Oberlin, in Ohio. He loved theater. He and I connected because of a mutual respect, and love, of folk music.

We started writing plays together. He started an ameture theater group in Seattle called "The Contemparary Players." He talked me into joining the group as an actor. We used to laugh about how I become the "token white" in an all black theater group.

He had/has a profound impact on my life. As a naive teenager, in the late 50's in racially separated Seattle, I had NO CLUE about black issues. He accepted me, white and warts and all.

I soon put my foot in my mouth, several times, with other members of the group. He would calm them down, and carefully explain "things" to me. We ALL grew from the experience.

I left the group after a couple of years, went into the Army, returned intact, married and moved on to a new life in California. I last spoke with Keve the night mis wife passed away of cancer. He was devestated.

Shortly after that, his life changed horribly. He died in Denver not two years later. He was murdered.

There is NOT ONE SINGLE DAY goes by, but what I don't remember certain things about Keve, including some songs we shared.

He was quite a wonderful person. Would that we all could have an influencial person like this in out lives. And I'll add, as others have, Keve was just one of many great souls that took the time to teach me things. CHEERS, Bob(deckman)Nelson

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Bill Hahn//\\
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 06:19 PM

Deckman: what a wonderful and moving recollection. It is always such a powerful thing in our lives when we can recall people, incidents,and things that have molded us into what we are. As I wrote of my aunt in the same way.

I would add one other thing that effected me greatly---and probably molded me more than anything else I can recall---and my aunt was instrumental in it. She got me into the Ethical Culture School Camp for some 7 summers. Now--you may say---oh, summer camp. big deal.

Not so. This camp--now sadly gone--was truly formative. Way ahead of its time (1940s---and started in the 1920s)---they made sure that there was a mix of black/white/jew/christian and a mix of econimic strata by offering no/partial/and full charge summers.   They offered a free choice of what activities you wanted to do and also arranged dining so that everyone changed tables every week---and had a mix of ages. Everyone took turns at waiting---no being served.   No religious and/or proselytizing the Ethical Culture culture.

I was back in the area last year ---after some 50 years and found what remained of the place---took a picture of the Main House---abandoned and looking like a ghost from the past with the vines engulfing it. But the memories remained. I found out that it finally closed in the 1960s when the Ethical Culture people could no longer instill the values they had years earlier because the kids had become more affluent and pretty well started wrecking the place. Parents got involved on behalf of the little darlings. Drugs and alcohol and the State Police visits finally did it in.

Too bad, since in my time there---no movies, just Park Ranger slide shows, no catering---cook-outs, no bus trips---hikes to Cooperstown, NY, I could go on. Suffice it to see that place effected me more than any other experience I can think of.

As a PS what a coterie of alumni it turned out---the first Black Asst. Sec of the Army under LBJ, Broadway producers, etc; Well, one miss----me---but, what the hell they got the majority right.


Bill Hahn

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Deckman
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 07:28 PM

Bill, I enjoyed your post. It got me to thinking. What we as a country, and as individuals, went through in the thirties and fourties and fifites shaped us forever. Those were very harsh times, as we've all mentioned. And yet, there seemed to be an energy present then that I no longer see. I doubt I'll express it well, but it was an energy that came from a desire to get to know "ourselves" better. And also to get to know ourselves well. By "ourselves", I mean us new americans. We were still a country of new immegrants.

By contrast, just look at the angst in our nation today: inglish should be the only language, anger at the growing mexican population, asian, etc.

What have we lost! Bob

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Bill Hahn//\\
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 07:39 PM

Great point, Deckman.    I think my daughter expressed it well recently when, after a nice day with her and her kids they were wanting more "fun". I told her of my parents making it a big deal when once or twice a year we took the train to Coney Island---she, my daughter, said that she also sees that things meant more then because we had less and appreciated more.

Hate to sound like an "old fogey" but I do agree.

I have found, recently, in some "pick-up" tennis games that when people of varying ethnicities and backgrounds allow themselves to interact it really works out so well. We have Philipinos, Blacks, various religions and once we got to know each other things really went well---admittedly politics is something I found best not to confront because 1 or 2 are quite bigoted---and they are Americans.

Well, sorry for the thread drift but I really empathized with your post---now back to who and what influenced us most.   Either that or watching the fellow on Jeopardy win more money than Donald Trump has. I wish.

Bill Hahn

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Janie
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 08:21 PM

My paternal grandparents, Henry and Cavanaugh Williams, because they lived their lives absolutely true to their beliefs and values. My parents, because they too "practiced what they preached" to us, and also because of the absolutely unconditional love they have repeatedly demonstrated to their children and grandchildren. Meryl Shank, who was my high school math and physics teacher, and Phyllis Hauptfeuher, with whom I worked, both of whom mentored and fostered me intellectually, and gave me strong encouragement to follow my vocation and my conscience.

Actually, I am truly blessed in my life to nearly always have one or more persons near who inspire me in one way or another.

This is a lovely topic.

Janie

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Bill Hahn//\\
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 08:28 PM

A light note---no influence at all--just fun. I heard, recently, a story about someone who influeced the commentator on a radio program--then realized we had the same Chemistry teacher in High School. The reason he mentioned the name---Mr. Mayforth. Well, his full name was Valentine J. Mayforth---so---what I recall was his comment in class. He had, he said, 4 Birthdays (always stuck with me) Valentines Day, May Day, The Day His Mother brought him forth, and May 4th. Who knows about J.   Could be another event in his life.

No influence whatsoever---other than humor---and he looked like a caricature of a banker in a cartoon. Pince Nez glasses and all.


Bill Hahn

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 08:31 PM

Two or three people come to mind. My Mother, who at 97 has a mind as quick as anyone I've ever met, and who is optomistic about the future. She has seen more radical changes over her lifetime than I can even fully comprehend, going from gaslight to wanting to go on the internet.

My wife Ruth, who is perhaps the only person I've ever met who truly forgives AND forgets. Each new day is a clean slate with her.

But, I mostly want to talk about a Mudcatter here. Not to slight all my wonderful friends in here, who I value so highly, but Art Thieme will always hold a very special place in my heart. I've known Art now for a good (and I mean GOOD) thirty years or more. I first came to know him when he sent me a Folk Songs Of Wisconsin book in the mail. At that time, Art was close to a total stranger. We met once at a Folk Legacy Festival, but it was a very fleeting moment in the rush of a festival. I was very touched that someone who barely new me would buy a book and send it to me, just because he thought I would enjoy it.

As the years passed, Art and I became the closest of friends and had a wonderful stretch of years when we did an Annual concert together at the Cafe Carpe in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. One year, we split an evening at Hogeye Music in Chicago, which I will never forget. Art and I saw each other through my divorce, which was devastating, and I did what I could to support him through many serious medical problems, finally diagnosed as MS. Art and I were an unlikely pair to be such close friends. Art is an Agnostic/Atheist and I am a very committed Christian. Art is a strong traditionalist, and I am one a them danged singer-slash songwriters.   Art hates rock and roll, and I still fondly remember my pair of blue suede shoes. But, I don't ever remember respecting anyone as much as I do Art. Respect isn't about shared interests, or even a common faith which is so important to me. It is having complete trust in another person. That happens very rarely in life, and I feel very blessed to have had Art as a friend all of these years.

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Ebbie
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 10:44 PM

Is he the one who got you to the Mudcat? Hey, that would be a good topic! Who or what brought you here.

(You realize, no doubt, Jerry, that this thread is an outgrowth of your threads of the last few months. The fact that we were not able to turn our whole attention to what is good and true and full of hope was due to no shortcoming of yours. Thank you for coming here.)

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Amos
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 10:51 PM

Peter T has always represented to me a certain kind of ruthless intellectual courage and aesthetic integrity made manifest.

Rick has always acted as the embodiment of the best of the folk-spirit -- the combination of aesthetics and compassion which makes our kind of music happen, makes it reach others in their centers, and keeps it alive on merit.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Peace
Date: 06 Sep 04 - 11:05 PM

Pearl Fink will always hold a special place in my heart. While living in NYC, she opened her home to me--she and her husband Vic, and their children Janis and Eric. I worked at a summer camp they managed for kids who needed a summer away from the city. The camp was interracial, interreligious, co-ed. Pearl took the time to introduce me to Judaism and its customs. She talked me through some difficult times and was always encouraging to me. She achieved a Master's Degree when she was in her late 50s. Wonderful, egalitarian woman with a heart of gold. She died a few years back, and if there is a heaven, I hope she knows that she taught me about courage and perseverance.

Due to a misunderstanding that was caused by the Daily News in NYC, that summer camp for kids was branded as being communist. The threatening calls that family received late at night were terrible and very ugly. I know how to use bad language, but I won't repeat any of what was said on the telephone here. She taught me to hang up and also insisted I forgive the people who called. I was to work at that camp for four summers, and I was always in awe of Pearl. I still am. She weighed 100 pounds soaking wet and stood about 5' in heels. She will always be a giant to me. Love you Pearl, and I still think about you and the example you set by your actions. I wish I could be more like you.

Bruce Murdoch

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: alanabit
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 02:39 AM

I am not at all surprised that so many of my favourite Mudcatters have turned up here, telling us such heart warming stories.

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: GUEST,Sooz (at work)
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 11:39 AM

Mr Sooz - even though he can't spell it! No-one else would have put up with me for nearly forty years...and counting.

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 07:51 PM

Hey, Ebbie:

That would be a good thread... What, or Who brought you to Mudcat? I kinda came here in stages. Art had talked alot about Mudcat, so when I got on the internet, I came in here. I scrolled down the threads and didn't see a single one that interested me. Perhaps I wasn't mature enough yet. After all, that was a couple of years ago. After that, I heard people talk about Mudcat at the NOMAD festival here in Connecticut, so one day I wandered back here and checked out the threads. Something caught my eye and I read it, but didn't post, or think about becoming a member. But, I stopped back again, and by then, I was getting involved in a couple of other websites with chat rooms and threads, and decided to join Mudcat.

If the threads that I've started have had any positive effect in here, I'm glad for that. There are so many fine people in here and i really enujoy the conversations and friendships I've made here in the last couple of years. Most of the conversations.

And here I thought that this thread came from the Reader's Digest..

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Amos
Date: 07 Sep 04 - 08:21 PM

Jerry:

As far as I can remember ALL your threads have been distinct positive additions to the environment around here.

Keep them coming!!

A

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: freda underhill
Date: 11 Sep 04 - 06:32 AM

when i was young i went to North Ainslie Primary school in Canberra, australia. It was at the bottom of Mount Ainslie, and every morning i walked to school along Majura avenue with my big brothers, looking at the mountain.

The school had a great headmaster, Terry O'Connell, and the deputy, Mr Blythe. Together they ran a school that really cared about kids. Mr Blythe took four or five of us for poetry classes. We used to sit in his office playing word games, and i started writing poetry at age 10. My art teacher(Miss Leonard) gave us lots of creative experiences including oil painting, making mosaics, and still life painting. I still remember a class teacher, Mr Ellison, dramatically reciting "The Highwayman" to the class, with his head held high and curly hair combed back.

That school was a very happy, creative place, and there as a young child I develeoped a love of reading, writing, artwork and singing. I remeber Mr Blythe, the man who gave us the poetry classes, as having an old, wrinkled face (missing a few teeth) and a warmth and wonderful sense of humour. By helping me develop at that age he influenced my life hugely.

freda

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: freda underhill
Date: 11 Sep 04 - 06:39 AM

ps
"I develeoped a love of reading, writing, artwork and singing"... but not of spellchecking!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Justa Picker
Date: 11 Sep 04 - 12:57 PM

What Amos said.

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: karen k
Date: 12 Sep 04 - 09:51 AM

While I think about what to say about Sandy Paton I thought I'd throw out another idea for a thread. Everyone has talked here about people who have meant a lot to them. How about a thread where we could talk about people we know a little bit but wish we knew a lot better or someone who we never knew that has passed and we wish we could have known. Hope that's not too much of a run-on sentence. Perhaps I'll start that one in a bit. But I'll be back here first to write about what Sandy Paton means to me.

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: Ebbie
Date: 12 Sep 04 - 01:09 PM

Thanks, karen k. Getting to know Mudcatters is an appealing process for me. I hope to be at the Getaway this year and am looking forward to meeting and getting to know a good many more.

Subject: RE: BS: Exceptional People in our Lives
From: alanabit
Date: 13 Sep 04 - 09:07 AM

Refresh.