Copyright 1998 Christine Smith.
All Rights Reserved.
By Christine Smith
Photos by Mary Ledford and Charles
& Barbara White
“When John supported something, he did it because he wanted to. Not because it was politically correct or whatever,” says Poberezny. “John was one of the most articulate persons I’ve ever met; sincere and dedicated to what he believed in. Because he was a talented person, he could use that to gain a platform for his messages, and he wasn’t afraid to do that.”
John worked to end world hunger, promoted world peace and cultural exchanges, helped ill and handicapped children, supported aviation and the space program, and was devoted to protecting the wilderness.
He received numerous honors including being the only nonclassical artist to receive the prestigious Albert Schweitzer Music Award for a “life’s work dedicated to music and devoted to humanity.” As the first recipient of the World Ecology Medal given by the International Center for Tropical Ecology (ICTE) at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Director Bette Loiselle says “he gave inspiration to everyone.”
Jeanne Fair, graduate ICTE student (former Music Major; Masters in Wildlife) grew up in Aspen and occasionally babysat Zachary (John’s son), whom she says was his joy. “Total enthusiasm,” is how she describes John, “He definitely influenced my life for both music and the environment. I got a chance to tell him that three years ago when he was filming the Mardy Murie movie … he really looked after Mardy, treated her just like his own mother.”
Mardy Murie (the noted Alaskan environmentalist, considered the mother of this country’s conservation movement) was visited by John whenever he was near her home in Wyoming’s Grand Tetons. Although Mardy (age 96) is now unable to give interviews, here sister, Louise Macleod, says Mardy “almost looked on John like another son.”
Caretaker Marykay Feezer remembers when John performed at Jackson Hoe in September 1996, “It was a lovely wilderness type concert, with a special part to honor Mardy. They had set her chair right in front about 15-18 feet from where John would be performing. We got settled, and then a gentleman asked us to come to the dressing room. A young friend wheeled her wheelchair in. John came in and knelt down on his knee, took Mardy’s hand, gave her a kiss on her cheek, and just smiled. They were both smiling.”
John lived the life he sang of: time with family and friends, camping, fishing, flying, skiing, horseback riding, and riding his Harley motorcycle were just a few of his passions.
Friends recall times of happiness and humor. “Going fishing. Watching him light up when he’d catch a fish and nobody else had caught one yet,” says O’Connor. “We were in Lake Taupo (in New Zealand) and had bets with the other boat … and John, being so competitive, he didn’t like to lose at anything. So, we found a 28-30 inch dead rainbow trout on the bottom of about 15 feet of water. We snagged it (rigor mortis had set in), so it looked sort of like a half-moon. We tied it on to the line and as we were trolling in we made it jump out of the water … thought we had the guys … we laughed and laughed and laughed.”
Licensed to fly jets, private planes, experimental aircraft, and gliders, John particularly loved aerobatics. “Within the aviation spectrum, that was his real passion,” says Poberezny. “He loved his Christen Eagle. He loved the Waco. He just enjoyed aerobatics for the love of doing loops and rolls … enjoying the exhilaration and feeling it brought.”
“There were so many facets to the man,” comments Barbara White who, with her husband Charles, attended many events. “There was the intellectual … and the fun,” as at the golf course where John “would make jokes and be sociable. He was just amazing.”
Everyone describes John as happy during 1997. “He was at a point in his life where things were really beginning to come together,” says friend Carole Kroeger, “He was in a very good place.”
O'Connor agrees, “Everything was seeming to turn around. Certainly the last tour we did of England and Europe. He was absolutely a Prince Charming. I hadnt seen him that happy since the early days of the late 60s and early 70s. Just incredible.”
John often said he was singing his best in the last few years. Concerts were selling out. He was, as always, writing and singing ballads of the heart and spirit.
On October 12, 1997 we lost this beautiful soul, when his Long-EZ experimental plane crashed into Monterey Bay (California).
Mary Ledford, President of Rhymes & Reasons, expresses her feelings which represent how many others also feel, “I dont think I would be the person I am today if it wasn't for John. He taught me to think about things I probably wouldn't have thought about ... that my voice counts and if I see or hear something that concerns me, I need to act on that concern. He always said you dont have to do it all, but if each of us does something, whatever it is, it will make a difference.”
His voice, music, and poetic verse were his nature expressed. John celebrated life. He had the gift of being able to share with us the contemplative questioning and longings of the wandering soul ... joy and sorrow ... happiness and despair ... the promise of faith and hope.
His spirit is finally home, but his dream of love can live within each of us.
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See: "A Wild Heart Looking For Home – Part 1"
Return to: FourteenerNet : John Denver Remembered
Rev. 5/20/05 jmb