I found out today that my old landlord, Donald Keyes, passed away in May. He was hiking in the Grand Canyon with his wife and a few friends and had a heart attack. I guess if you’re going to go, it’s good to do it while you’re having fun with the people you love. He was a great guy, more like a good friend than a landlord. And you gotta respect when a guy with a degree from Yale does all of the maintenance and repairs on his properties.
Athens misses you already, Donald.
Donald Keyes Remembered
Former Museum Curator Dies While Hiking in Grand Canyon
I wish I could have said goodbye.
I just got this letter from my friend Maria. We worked together in Oregon at Al’s Garden Center. Isn’t this one of the sweetest things you’ve ever read?
Hey Ben !
Do you remember me?… It’s me Maria. It has been three months since you left and I’m realy missing you. You didn’t know but you were a friend to me. You are a realy cool guy. Do you remenber the times when we sang together? And also when you scarred me? Do you remenber my food that I bake for you.?. those gorditas and tostadas. Do you know that you were the fist men that I cook for? It was good. I’ll never forget those days that you work with us.
Where are you now? I know that you are traveling around the world but I don’t know where? Please if you have time write me. I’ll be happy if I know somethin about you.
Your friend
Maria Ortiz
[Her english is better than my spanish!]
She’s the one in the middle, with the camera.
This is Frank James. I met him in Fayetteville, NC as I was waiting on a bus transfer at the Greyhound station. He showed me where to find some food at the local Subway, because there wasn’t anything open near the bus. We walked a mile together and he told me a short version of his life story.
Frank was in town at the time to go get treatment at the VA hospital for some type of throat cancer. He’s convinced that it’s from exposure to Agent Orange from when he was in Vietnam. The military won’t admit it. He told me that his son is in the Army right now fighting in Iraq. Crazy.
He was a funny, upbeat guy though. I gave him $3 for lunch because he had been robbed the day before, and I know how that feels.
Yeah, I sleep in my tent sometimes. It’s cheap.
Some days I work here:
Other times, I go out to CEFS to collect data:
Or, you might find me in the strawberries in the greenhouse:
For more detailed info…
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