“Nana,” as she was always known among her family, was a fourth generation Californian born to Lovell and Helen Hunter Hamilton and raised on the family ranch near Point Arena. She attended many schools along the Northcoast as her parents worked the logging camps.

Biologist, teacher, writer, and ranter, Martin called himself a “varmentalist.” He was an activist for nature and wildness and against war and corporate domination. Anyone meeting Martin at a demo, in a classroom, or on the wrong side of a “No Trespassing” sign found right away that his smile was to the core and his readiness to listen and argue was an open invitation. He had a confidence in folks, in the human animal, that kept him up and fighting for justice. “Because we are sociable, we work together,” he said.

Because he was a prolific writer, Martin also holed up and wrote his letters to the world, his many books, essays and reviews. He called them “rants.”

He wrote rants as openers, urging others to bring forth opposing views and join in the shared work of discussing ideas, always a great pleasure for him. He read and considered other people’s ideas, current and past, every day in hundreds of books, journals, newspapers, diaries, letters, poems and e-mails from family, friends and anyone else who shared his interest in the world. As he wrote in Seriously Insistent: “I know this much for sure, that a big share of the openings this mind of mine has undergone came from meeting other minds in more than a passive or one-way manner. That is to say, by argument, which leads me to favor an argumentative way of life, of the two-way kind: listen/ talk/ listen/ talk.”

Martin grew up in Jackson, Wyo., where both parents were conservationists and biologists. Like some other young folks in Jackson, Martin was good on skis and joined the U.S. Army’s 10th mountain division to fight fascism in Europe. When the war was over he came home to Wyoming and worked in the mountains for a time before heading off to Reed College to get his degree in literature and philosophy. It was here that he met his life partner, Alison.

After finishing a zoology PhD at UC Berkeley, Martin taught at UC Santa Barbara and then at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, from 1961-1975. He stood up for students’ rights, protesting Antioch’s decision to end financial support for the working class and black students in the New Directions program. Students, faculty and employees went on strike and closed the campus in 1973. In the end, 20 students were expelled and seven faculty fired, including Martin Murie. Antioch made some concessions and reinstatements, but by 1975 Martin was ready to head for the full-time work of writing and ranting from the northern edge of New York’s Adirondacks. He had joined the anti-war protesters in Ohio during the Vietnam War and when he and Alison got to northern New York, they stood in the town of Malone at the Veteran’s Park, with signs and leaflets opposing war. Soldiers home on leave came to argue with them and sometimes ended up joining them. Through those northern winters, Martin and Alison rarely missed a Saturday demo.

Former students remember field trips with Martin as times of shared excitement in the world, discovery of what is wild in the woods around us as well as right inside each of us. Bring him a road-killed kingfisher and see the thrill in his eye: “Look at that! Look at those feet!” His appreciation of the detail, his strength for holding the big picture, gave him the perspective of poet and philosopher. He also could draw and illustrated many of his books with a Bic pen. No special equipment needed.

Martin wrote in the cabin built onto the woodshed on their old farmhouse in Skerry, NY. Though he loved the north country and participated whole-hog in his outdoor and indoor life there, he was a son of the west, a man of the sagebrush country, and took many a road trip back. When he hit the road in his pickup he was collecting material for the current novel, but he was also keeping his connections lively and strong with the people and places, the land and the big sky that inspired and fed him as a writer and a human animal. His family members enjoyed an open invitation to come along and often did, meeting up with friends and strangers all along the way. Martin talked and listened to so many, over coffee, over a fence top, along a creek bed, in the cab of the truck. He was always pleased to meet you, also pleased to notice and note every kind of moth, spider, mammal, meadowlark, bush, cactus or big tree in a valley.

Along the way, Martin met many another western writer and traveler whose politics and perspective fired him up. One of these was Jim Stiles, editor of the Canyon Country Zephyr in Moab, Utah. The two became best comrades on that long dusty road, the one paved with clear-eyed outrage over certain current events, surprise and laughter over others. Martin’s column, “Losing Solitude,” came out in every issue of the Zephyr for years. It was one of his regular rants.

In the winters back in northern New York, Martin ran a trap-line for rabbits and he and Alison grew some vegetables. They built a composting toilet and cut grass with a scythe to keep it properly fed. A small potbelly stove thawed them out in the winter and water came in from the springhouse in a bucket, no pipes to freeze. Alison filled the living room with her looms and they both enjoyed making the rounds of craft fairs to sell the rugs and tapestries she made. These works and others can be admired on the Packrat Nest Web site Martin set up, a collection of finds.

Alison Murie lives in Xenia and their three daughters Raven Murie, Norah Byrnes and Janet Murie in Yellow Springs. The Muries’ five grandchildren are Jonas Byrnes of Yellow Springs, Alex Byrnes of Chicago, Ill., Rose and Olivia Byrnes of Carrboro, N.C., and Linnet Leuba of Vancouver, British Columbia. Martin’s sister Joanne lives in Massachusetts and his brother Donald in California. There are numerous nieces and nephews.

Martin Murie leaves behind gifts and warnings: stand up and act, do it with others. Crawl carefully through barbed wire, and don’t ever forget that smile.

This photo was taken last summer I think. He went out for a hike in the Clifton Gorge and found a flower he figured Alison would be able to identify. He brought it home for inspection and photographed it where it lay on that morning’s reading.

— Raven Murie

Heidi Knott, Leah Collins, and Tim Glidewell created a terrific 14-minute film, Defending Our Legacy: Hendy Woods about our effort. It features you, your friends and neighbors talking about why Hendy Woods is so important to Anderson Valley. You can find it on our website and our Facebook page, and we hope you will “share” it with your friends near and far.

The Cahn-Bennett family of Navarro Vineyards has been kind enough to offer their tasting room property for an Earth Day fundraiser barbeque on Sunday, April 22 from noon to 3 PM. Tickets are available now on our website.

The Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association is providing us an information table at the Pinot Fest, May 18-20, and we will have an item to auction.

Just this week, we have been provided the opportunity to create a fundraiser on the afternoon and evening of July 11 using the Mendocino Music Festival tent at Mendocino Headlands State Park. This is both exciting and challenging.

Local businesses have provided pledges of support, and generous individuals have made donations to support our activities. The Anderson Valley Community Service District agreed to act as our fiscal agent so we can accept tax-deductible donations while we are waiting for the IRS to grant us our 501c3 non-profit tax status. These contributions allow us to continue to take every necessary step to keep Hendy Woods open. There are three ways to help financially:

1. Make a formal pledge of money. We are accumulating these pledges to show the Parks Department we have the financial support we need to help them keep Hendy Woods open.

2. Make a tax-deductible contribution by writing a check made out to the Anderson Valley Community Services District (CSD) with a notation on the check that it is for Hendy Woods. Please send the checks to us, not directly to the CSD.

3. Make a non-tax-deductible contribution by writing a check made out to the Hendy Woods Community.

Mail can go to our new Post Office Box 443, Philo, CA 95466. We expect to have a Donate button on our website soon that will allow contributions to be made by credit card. Donations are needed to support the Hendy Woods Community and to fill the gap between revenues and expenses at Hendy Woods. Everything we do is being done by volunteers.

The California Secretary of State accepted the Hendy Woods Community (HWC) as a non-profit corporation. We have adopted bylaws and elected board members and officers for the organization.

In early January, we submitted a partnership operating agreement to the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) that proposes to keep some paid staff members, substitute volunteers for many of the seasonal employees, help DPR raise revenues at the park, and provide donations to underwrite operations at Hendy Woods so it can be run without subsidy from the state General Fund. We await feedback.

Volunteers keep stepping forward to help. Our webmaster Marco Heithaus created our website and keeps it current. Pearl Baseshore worked with HWC Secretary Deanna Apfel to create our promotional card, which is now available in many local businesses. Tina Walters helped with printing contacts. HWC Fifth Officer Janet Anderson, Treasurer Kate Castagnola, and Monica Landry are working on the Earth Day BBQ. Board Member Mike Rielly is working on fund-raising with John Scharffenberger and Judith Dolan. Judith, Jill Hannum, and Glynnis Jones are keeping an eye out for grants. Vice-Chair Linda MacElwee and board members Lauren Keating, Glad Donohue, Nikola Milojevich, Cyd Bernstein, Keevan Labowitz, Pam Laird, and Sophie Otis, provide valuable advice and counsel on the myriad issues we face. Board Chair Kathy Bailey makes an effort to stay proactive while trying to focus on what often feels like a moving target. So many others have also been involved.

The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors has written letters when needed. Sheriff Tom Allman recently wrote to Parks Department Director Ruth Coleman confirming his previous offer to commit law enforcement personnel to policing the parks if doing so would help keep them open. The Anderson Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association could not be more supportive. The Mendocino Area Parks Association makes every effort to keep us informed. The State Parks Foundation and its campaign arm Save our State Parks has from day one generously provided us with posters, networking, and insight into the Parks Department, the Legislature, and the Budget process. Staffers at the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife are continually alert to news and opportunities, and staffers at the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee have provided reality checks at crucial junctures. There is a lot going on at the Legislature and staffers keep the whole place running.

Assemblymember Jared Huffman introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 1589, along with Asm. Wes Chesbro and Asm. Roger Dickenson. It authorizes the Parks Department to achieve budget reductions by implementing efficiencies, and increasing revenue collection instead of closing parks, and limiting the number of full park closures to 25 between 2112-2116 unless the Legislature authorizes more. The bill also adds criteria to be used when evaluating parks for closure, including several that would benefit Hendy Woods. It also creates a fund to be used as seed money for efforts to increase revenue, creates a state parks license plate, and allows for purchase of a state park pass when filing a tax return. Other provisions are also focused on enhancing revenue.

Assemblymember Chesbro sent us the following statement on February 6: “As you are aware, Assemblyman Jared Huffman and I joint authored AB 1589, known as the California State Parks Stewardship Act of 2012 which was introduced this week. There are many important provisions of this measure including encouraging the formation of a state compact that guarantees ongoing funding for parks while requiring the Department of Parks and Recreation to enhance revenues as well. It would also modify the criteria that the Department is required to consider in determining park closures. With bills like this we have a chance to keep important parks like Hendy Woods open. It is an important resource for Anderson Valley. I have enjoyed visiting it many times and hope to continue doing so in the future.”

Senator Noreen Evans introduced two Senate Bills (SB). SB 974, requires DPR to develop and implement a park closure review process in the future that includes specified elements, including economic impacts on local communities. It also requires an annual review of the status of closed parks. On February 14, Senator Evans introduced SB 1078, a bill that would create a plan to develop long-term funding for all California state parks. The “State Parks Revenue Generation Act” would utilize money already owed to the state through the State Lands Commission (SLC) from delinquent rents and undervalued state land leases. In the press release announcing the bill, Senator Evans said: “My legislation will enable the state to collect money taxpayers are owed and reinvest those funds in parks so they are never again on the chopping block.”

All of these bills are likely to be amended in the future. If you wish, you can go to www.leginfo.ca.gov  and “subscribe” to the bills. You will receive e-mail notification when actions are taken on these bills.

How do these bills help us now? There are only two ways to get Hendy Woods off the park closure list: 1- Have an operating proposal accepted or 2- An allocation in the budget of more money for parks. These bills will be used to try to convince Governor Brown that he ought to allocate more money into the Parks budget before July 1, at least on a temporary basis pending the outcome of the tax measures the Governor and others are submitting for the November ballot. Of course many issues are competing for the Governor’s attention and revenues into the state General Fund continue to be disappointingly short of projections. On the plus side, decision-makers seem to have heard our message about the economic importance of Hendy Woods to the community. If money shows up for parks, we are well positioned for favorable consideration.

You may have heard about the situation we faced in January when DPR went to the Public Works Board (PWB) for authorization to post Requests for Proposals for private concessionaires to run bundles of parks. Hendy Woods was in a bundle that included Russian Gulch, Westport-Union Landing, Standish-Hickey, all in Mendocino County, and Austin Creek in Sonoma County. Assemblymember Huffman and Senator Evans both vigorously objected to the way the RFP was structured, which would give private concessionaires a huge advantage over non-profit proposals that were focused on a single park. Non-profits also bombarded the PWB. Fortunately, the PWB had erred by not providing notice to required reviewers, particularly Senator Evans, and the PWB staff pulled the item off their January 19 agenda. This provided time to clarify the request so when the item reappeared on the February 1 agenda, Parks committed to developing the RFPs to ensure that potential bidders will not be required to include all parks to be eligible for consideration, and a Parks spokesman stated at the hearing that if a suitable proposal from a credible non-profit had been submitted, it would be given preference over a for-profit concessionaire. As of February 18, DPR had not yet posted the Requests for Proposals.

Will the proposal submitted by the Hendy Woods Community be looked on favorably by the Parks Department? We do not know, but we are hopeful. DPR seems to have put proposal decision-making on hold for a time. In early February, it issued a Workbook for non-profits to use when creating proposals and it has scheduled a series of workshops statewide to assist non-profits in creating credible proposals. Locally, a workshop will be held on February 23 in Ft. Bragg and we will be there.

Additionally, the Save-the-Redwoods League is providing us with technical assistance to come up with long-term solutions that will allow Hendy Woods to stay open on a sustainable basis. A close review is underway. Since 1918, the League has been working to protect and restore redwood forests and to connect people with their peace and beauty. They have been responsible for adding more than 204 acres to the 845-acre Hendy Woods State Park. We thank the League for its long-term commitment, its flexibility in implementing its mission, and its willingness to assist us at this critical time.

People have really pulled together and your support has truly been sustaining. We continue to be cautiously optimistic that Hendy Woods will stay open.

Bradford is survived by his daughters Renee English and Brenda English of Ukiah, sons Cory English and Jacob Wright of Ukiah, sister Barbara Adams of Ukiah, mother Rose English of Ukiah, grandchildren Chevi English of Boonville, Hope English of Willits, Natasha English of Ukiah, Oliva English of Ukiah, Nick Fross of Ukiah, Shelbi Fross of Ukiah and Adam Lewis of Ukiah. A memorial service was held last Wednesday in Ukiah.

6pm Worst in Show (2010) – 59 min

Every summer, proud dog owners bring their canine companions to Petaluma, California, to compete for a highly coveted title. No, this isn’t your standard ‘Best in Show’ championship; this is the contest for the World’s Ugliest Dog. This fascinating documentary takes viewers behind the scenes at a contest where the competitors never fail to impress. Equally impressive is the devotion of their human counterparts, all of whom prove that love goes beyond skin deep.

7pm Intermission (15 minutes)

7.15pm Tabloid (2010) – 87 min

A former beauty queen obsessed with a Mormon mis­sionary became ferocious tabloid fodder in England in the mid-1970s–a perfect storm of sex, religion, and sheer craziness. Director Errol Morris–creator of such nonfiction films as The Thin Blue Line and The Fog of War–crafts a kind of poetry from his portraits of people whose lives have bent in one obsessive direction. Former Miss Wyoming Joyce McKinney fell in love with aspir­ing missionary Kirk Anderson, but the Mormon Church decided she wasn’t fit material and whisked Anderson away to London. McKinney and an accomplice followed and then either kidnapped or liberated Anderson, depending on whom you believe–and therein lays the crux, as McKinney, Anderson, and rival tabloids tell competing stories. Morris combines lively interviews with archival footage to prove, again and again, that the truth can be both elusive and deeply, deeply weird.

8.45pm Intermission (30 minutes)

9.15pm Troubadours: The Rise of the Singer-Song­writer (2011) – 101 min

In the wake of the turbulent 1960′s, as a new style of song and songwriter came to the fore, Troubadours tells the story of when rock `n’ roll grew up. The time was the early `70s, the place was an old beatnik folk club called The Troubadour in Los Angeles, CA, and the players were young musicians emboldened to share their most intimate thoughts backed by little more than a lone acoustic guitar or simple piano. Exploring the early careers of Carole King and James Taylor, as well as the entire California singer/songwriter scene, Troubadours includes interviews with many of the other singer/songwriters from that historical once-in-a-lifetime period – Jackson Browne, David Crosby, Kris Kristoffer­son, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt, and more.

11pm – End of program

******************************************

Saturday, January 28th. Screenings: 11am–11pm

11am Maurice (2010) – 20 min

A documentary portrait of Maurice Laroche, owner and projectionist of the ‘Beverley’, the last Porno Cinema in Paris (and possibly Europe, maybe even the world) still playing 35mm films. The film depicts a technician holding on to his dying Art, even against his own better judgment. ‘Maurice’ is an anthropological document of a man, a subculture, and a physical space that are slipping towards becoming obsolete. Winner Grand Jury Prize, Nevada Film Festival.

11.20am Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer (2010) – 117 min

This documentary feature takes an in-depth look at the rapid rise and dramatic fall of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Nicknamed “The Sheriff of Wall Street,” when he was NY’s Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer prosecuted crimes by America’s largest financial institu­tions and some of the most powerful executives in the country. After his election as Governor, with the largest margin in the state’s history, many believed Spitzer was on his way to becoming the nation’s first Jewish Presi­dent. Then, shockingly, Spitzer’s meteoric rise turned into a precipitous fall when the New York Times revealed that Spitzer–the paragon of rectitude–had been caught seeing prostitutes. As his powerful enemies gloated, his supporters questioned the timing of it all: as the Sheriff fell, so did the financial markets, in a cata­clysm that threatened to

unravel the global economy. With unique access to the escort world as well as friends, colleagues and enemies of the ex-Governor the film explores the hidden contours of this tale of hubris, sex, and power.

1.20pm Intermission (25 minutes)

1.45pm Anderson Valley Schools’ Film Class (2010-11) – 20 min

6th grade -‘Hey, Soul Sister’ – Stop Frame Anima­tion by Julia Brock

High School – ‘The A.V.H.S. Space Program’ – a camera is sent into the strratosphere aboard a vessel designed by high school students. What happens? You’ll be amazed!

2.05pm Change Over Horse Haven Ranch (2011) – 6 min

A documentary short about a time and place in Ander­son Valley. The demolition of the old Horse Haven to be replaced by vineyards of the Rhys Winery of Santa Clara is the inspiration for both the film and subsequently several paintings by the filmmaker, Valley artist Rebecca Johnson.

2.15pm Save Hendy Woods (2011) – 15 min

Faced with the prospect of closure by the State Park system, the local community rallies to save this remark­able place and local treasure for the continued enjoyment of one and all. Made by renowned environmental film­maker Heidi Knott and featuring scenes from the ‘Occupy Hendy Woods’ protest weekend and ensuing events, this uplifting short documentary shows what ‘The 99’ can achieve when acting as one.

2.30pm Guest Speakers and Discussion on the ‘Save Hendy Woods’ movement

3pm Intermission (15 minutes)

3.15pm Waiting for ‘Superman’ (2010) – 111 min

From the Academy Award-winning Director of An Inconvenient Truth comes the groundbreaking feature film that provides an engaging and inspiring look at public education in the United States. Waiting For “Superman” has helped launch a movement to achieve a real and lasting change through the compelling stories of five unforgettable students such as Emily, a Silicon Valley eighth-grader who is afraid of being labeled as unfit for college and Francisco, a Bronx first-grader whose mom will do anything to give him a shot at a better life. Waiting For “Superman” will leave a lasting and powerful impression that you will want to share with your friends and family.

5pm Guest Panel and Discussion. Moderator – Heidi Knott

6pm Intermission (30 minutes)

6.30pm Queen of the Sun – what are the bees tell­ing us? (2010) – 83 min

A profound, alternative look at the global bee crisis that takes us on a journey through the catastrophic disap­pearance of bees and the mysterious world of the bee­hive, this engaging and ultimately uplifting film weaves an unusual and dramatic story of the heartfelt struggles of beekeepers, scientists and philosophers from around the world as they reveal both the problems and the solu­tions in renewing a culture in balance with nature.

8pm Intermission (45 minutes)

8.45pm Will (2011) – 105 min

Special Market Screening of ‘Will’… A film for all the family, starring Bob Hoskins (Who Framed Roger Rabbit?), Damian Lewis (Your Highness), and Perry Eggleton. The movie follows a heartbroken 12 year old Will who, after tragically losing both his parents, jour­neys across Europe to honor his father’s wishes to wit­ness their beloved Liverpool play in Europe’s biggest soccer match of the year, against AC Milan at Istanbul’s Ataturk Stadium. En route, Will encounters Alek, a for­mer Bosnian soccer star, battling his own demons. Together this unlikely duo sets off an improbable jour­ney — hoping to restore their faith in family, friendship, and soccer… proving to themselves and the world that it’s never too late to dream. Directed By Ellen Perry. Written By Ellen Perry and Zack Anderson.

10.30pm Guest Speaker – Zack Anderson – Pro­ducer and Screenplay-writer – ‘Will’

11pm – End of Festival

Barbara Marcott

Barbara Jane Marcott was granted her angel wings on November 27th 2011; she was 89. Those who knew her were touched by her sweet, gentle nature. She loved her family first and foremost and she loved her years in the theatre with her husband of 64 years, Leo.

Born in Portland, Oregon, on May 24, 1922, Mrs. Marcott came to Anderson Valley in the early 60s and operated the Valley Inn in Boonville, then Leo’s York Villa in Yorkville for many years. She was very involved in the theatre at Mendocino State College, Ukiah, where she graduated, at age 60. She gave all who knew her such courage and hope and reminded us of the preciousness of life. In our home, we believed in living deeply, laughing often, and loving always.

Mrs. Marcott is survived by her daughters, Kris Heath and Sue Marcott, her granddaughter, Terry Vierra, and her three great-grandchildren, Anthony Houser, Nathan Vierra, and Kayla Vierra.

Barbara and Leo are a team again and, as a friend said, “They have already begun putting smiles on the faces of all those who got to Heaven before them.” We love you Mom. We have wonderful memories and you will always be in our hearts. In memory of a life so beautifully lived, a heart so deeply loved, a Celebration of Life will be held in Yorkville at a later date.

Sgt. Mendoza was with the 58th Engineer Company at Fort Irwin, California, out on the Mojave Desert by Barstow. He worked as a combat engineer, an explosives expert. This is the unit to call if the bomb absolutely, positively has to be destroyed overnight!

He deployed to Iraq April 20th of 2004, with stops in Ireland, Budapest, and Kuwait. Sgt. Mendoza had been in combat for about seven months when his armored vehicle hit a roadside bomb (Improvised Explosive Device, or IED) in Sadr City, one of the bloodiest sectors of Baghdad at that time. He says he doesn’t remember a thing about it other than talking to his mother and sister the day before on the phone.

Sgt. Mendoza was evacuated to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC where he remained for a year and a half until the Sentinels of Freedom, an injured vets support organization moved him to San Ramon in the East Bay where the amazingly resilient Mendoza still lives. He presently works for AT&T. His department builds cell phone towers for industry-wide use and high-capacity circuits, data lines for your credit cards. Last year he bought a house – a small condo, he calls it.

The Anderson Valley High School graduate plans to attend UC Berkeley for a degree in International Business. He’s not married yet, but intends to start a family eventually. He also plans to someday retire in Boonville. “It’s kind of interesting coming from a small town. Everybody knows you and you feel like family. I knew when I got hurt everybody would be there for me, and everybody’s been just great. I’m really grateful. I would like to spend more time here but you don’t get much time off when you work for a Fortune 500 company.”

Manuel Mendoza’s party was very well attended. A long buffet was set up along the wall and outside a barbeque was producing carne asada tacos. Dozens of tables were decorated in red, white and blue with flags and fancy tablecloths and chair covers that somebody had put a lot of effort into preparing. As the band got going and the party heated up, more tables had to be set up. Along with the food, a great variety of donated local wines made the rounds.

The stage was set with a huge video screen, and a very powerful sound system. Between music videos, a big brass band with a very loud tuba played martial airs and happy birthday songs in Spanish, all to the cheers of a delighted crowd. The young people danced until 10pm, and the next day the party continued at the Mendoza home on Lambert Lane.

Welcome home, Manuel! Happy birthday — and, if I may speak for Anderson Valley: Thank you for your service!

The late John Ross

John Ross, late of Mexico City and the world, was kind to me once.

There’ve been many a John Ross, from Cherokee chief to Arctic explorer.  The name has done good service.  The John Ross I briefly knew and long admired was the prolific journalist and unruly character with Beat instincts and the sad and righteous heart of a jester.

We—my family and I—had just returned to the N’Am continent after stints abroad and down under.  For various Macbethian reasons I can expand upon some other time, I was born in each of the nation-states of N’Am, and I returned to S’Am-and-N’Am, the hourglass continent, the land of moving forests, with some trepidation.

This was in the day when we believed in “wives” and “running off,” and I had one, and she had.  I gather that John had had a certain amount of experience when it came to women.  Well, he was kind.  That is all.  I tried to get him up to the Spanish dep’t at the University of Toronto, but found that—what with my own tradition of unruliness and all—I didn’t have enough cultural capital for that, even if I scraped together all the change from my back pockets.

In the end, the wife stayed away but the woman in the wife came back, and we have been the better for it.

The plan this March had been to just sort of show up at Ross’s digs in Mexico City and see what happened.  Well, I was never much of one for plans.  I was going to tell him whether I’d stolen his latest book, or paid for it outright in a bookstore.
I might go anyway.  Lurk a bit.  I’ll probably have to read some of that French philosopher Bataille (pronounce butt-eye) on how life beneath the solar anus is about spending rather than hoarding (this to bolster myself against the guilt of fuelish travel), and then in the fullness of time get down to the Monster and do a crazywalk in John’s honor.  Run some lines across the city.  Do some “investigative poetry”—isn’t that how he’d phrase it?

The last time Sebastian and I strolled in Mexico, he was three and we got in a bit of a Falstaffian scrape with several men who attacked us from behind.  “Crack!” went my neck.  “Biff” and “bang” went my arms, and—more to the point—I set about roaring with gusto, and we routed the evildoers.  That clash drew firstblood from Sebastian, but some nice ladies mopped up the blood, and I found some chiropractor guy, an old sage living on a hill, who snapped my neck back into place, and I haven’t had the slightest trouble with it since, though any other time I’ve tried chiropractic it has done nothing for me.  Sebastian still remembers the clash on the street, though he was so young.  Mexico and boisterous—bring it.

Well, now the Americans have that war going on, and like anything on drugs, you got to watch out for it.  I’ll be more circumspect than in the days of my roaring.  But the need to be born again, to be born once more by the lands of my bearing, is upon me, and soon I shall set out in mourning and joy upon the streets of the cities, perhaps of the Monster itself, perhaps in all the city streets of the world that rise to the challenge of my falling foot.

At this distance in space and time, John Ross still lives on, and the rest is rumor.

David Ker Thomson writes for Counterpunch.  John Ross’s latest book is El Monstruo: Dread and Redemption in Mexico City (Nation Books, 2009).  He can be reached at dave.thomson@utoronto.ca.

8/16 9:42am An unidentified 46-year old man piloting a white 2001 Dodge Van was arrested, cited and released for driving on a suspended license.

8/16 12:58pm A verbal dispute between a landlord and some tenants caused neighbors to think a fight was about to break out.

8/16 3:01pm Marijuana was found growing near mile­marker 7 off Highway 128 northwest of Navarro.

8/17 8:13pm Deputies stopped a pedestrian on Highway 128 in Philo for a little chat.

8/18 4:36pm A Philo resident spotted a trespasser at the Jim Ball winery in Philo.

8/19 9:32am A Boonville resident complained his medi­cal marijuana had been stolen. (Maybe the thief was in more pain. Ever think of that? Huh?)

8/19 6:36pm A passerby called from the Yorkville Mar­ket to say she thought another transient possessed a sus­piciously large amount of mari…er, medicine.

8/22 6:24pm A Boonville resident reported that his blue 1997 Volvo had been stolen, perhaps by a nostalgic hip­pie, from where he’d parked

it at the AV Market.

8/22 9:11pm A Navarro resident complained that another customer in the area of the Navarro Store was making too much noise.

8/23 12:56am Lance Konrad Fabian, 22, of Comptche, was booked into the Mendocino County Jail for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Fabian

Sporting a jaunty straw boater and pressed white shirt, his beard rivaling that of Uncle Whiskers himself, Bruce seems to have finally found his niche: while the AVA may never rival the New York Times in scope or influ­ence, it remains unquestionably the best newspaper of its kind in America if not the world. And what kind of newspaper is that? Trying to answer that question calls to mind what Bill Graham once said of the Grateful Dead: “It’s not just that they’re the best at what they do; they’re the only ones that do what they do.”

]]> http://theava.com/archives/7944/feed 0 http://theava.com/archives/7042 http://theava.com/archives/7042#comments Fri, 11 Jun 2010 16:02:44 +0000 Bruce Anderson http://theava.com/?p=7042 You can be seven feet tall and known all over town, but if you die alone and nobody pays the San Francisco newspaper for an obituary even your mother won’t know that you’re gone.

It took almost three weeks for the news of the death of Charles Davis to get back to his mother, and another week to reach Boonville where he’d spent his happiest days.

Long before he was found dead of liver failure in his spartan Ellis Street room only days after his 50th birthday, Charles had cut himself off from everyone who’d ever cared about him. For reasons known only to himself he’d given up.

Charles was always called Charles. The racially freighted alternative was “Chuck” which, for a black man, was hardly a viable alternative to the regal “Charles,” and Charles he remained, and regal he was at his great height and graceful athletic bearing.

His premature death has shocked and saddened large numbers of people from San Francisco to Marin County to the Anderson Valley. Charles came to Boonville in 1972 when he was 12. He’d just turned 12, but he was already 6’4,” growing so fast he’d be walking along and he’d suddenly collapse, like a marionette whose strings had gone slack, his long legs independent of his command and control center. He wouldn’t cry but he’d make a lot of noise. You always knew when Charles was around.

Five years later, as a senior at Boonville High School, Charles was seven feet tall and still not quite in control of his distant limbs. But he was strong and getting stronger, a small boy rattling around in a great big body, almost a basketball player.

Abandoned by her husband, Charles’ mother had done the best she could with her outsized son, but every time Charles went outside into a San Francisco neighborhood where kids grew up fighting, the little tough guys would work him over just for the sport of beating up on a child twice their size. So mom kept Charles inside except for school, but when Charles went to school he’d have different kinds of trouble. A custodian once threatened to kill him, a threat the man memorialized in a written statement to the principal. “Either you get this kid out of here or I’m going to kill him.”

He could be irritating, highly irritating. When I first knew Charles, I thought of him as a kind of giant mosquito — omnipresent and as comprehensively annoying as a child could be. And he kept getting bigger and, for a while there, more annoying. I came to understand the custodian’s frustration.

The inflexible jargon of the helping professionals had described Charles as “unsocialized.” He wasn’t exactly that. I’d seen unsocialized children. They were feral, sometimes dangerous. Nobody had taught them anything. They just got bigger and crazier. Charles wasn’t crazy. His mother had taught him to care for himself and the basics of polite behavior. It was a combination of defeating circumstances that overwhelmed her. A big kid in a small apartment in a bad neighborhood and mom at work all day was too much for mom and the kid.

Charles always had an appealing side. He was never mean and he liked people. He soon learned in Boonville that to be around people he would have to behave in a more “age appropriate” manner, as the social workers said.

I took one look at him and saw basketball, maybe football, but for sure basketball. You can be age inappropriate all your days if you’re good at sports.

“I don’t wanna play basketball. It hurts,” Charles would say.

“You’re playing basketball whether you like it or not,” I’d say.

If you’re 6’6″ as a fourteen-year-old and anatomy is destiny, your destiny is the wonderful world of competitive athletics. It was this kid’s best shot, maybe his only shot.

There were days when I would have to stand outside the gym to make sure Charles stayed inside the gym.

In 1972, when Charles came to Boonville, the authorities were still sorting out the rolling social collapse that began in the middle 1960s. The Collapse instantly produced large numbers of dependent children, many of them crippled in whole new ways.

Until the middle 1950s there were orphanages and foster homes to accommodate normal young people whose parents were unable to care for them or had abandoned them. The crazy kids went to state hospitals, the dangerous ones to the California Youth Authority. There weren’t that many of either category through the 1950s, but by the end of the 1960s there were thousands in the Bay Area alone and millions of unsupervised federal dollars were quickly made available to put them somewhere, and here came the free enterprise scramble to get that money. The disturbed and the delinquent, right up to the magic age of 18, became portable money machines.

Among the Mendocino County entrepreneurs who’d converted troubled kids to cash was Jim Jones, but most of the rest of the wild child population passed alive through Mendocino’s ramshackle array of hurry-up “children’s facilities.”

Small fortunes were made.

The walking gold mines who produced the fortunes? A few got better, but for most it was too late.

Charles did pretty well for himself.

He played basketball for Boonville. All through his high school years Charles was growing into his strength. There were moments when he was unstoppable on the basketball court. He’d briefly catch fire and be way too much for high school players. Mostly, though, he could care less about sports. They were something other people wanted from him.

In the middle 1970s there was a famously anticipated high school match-up between Charles Davis, Boonville’s seven-footer, and Mendocino’s great all-round athlete, Dan Doubiago. Doubiago would go on to play Division One football and even some pro football. He was a very good high school basketball player. Big Charles Davis was the only kid in the county who might be able to stop Big Dan Doubiago. But Big Dan out-quicked Charles and out-stronged him — schooled Charles, as they say in sports world. Mendocino won going away.

Not that Charles cared. During time-outs he would be chatting with the cheerleaders or waving to the girls in the packed stands, paying no attention whatsoever to the game. His high school coach, Gene Waggoner, wouldn’t be the first coach frustrated with the big man.

And Charles got bigger and stronger, and he could run and he was as agile as a gymnast, he was as spectacular a natural athlete as any of the big man prodigies you pay $50 to see play at the Oakland Coliseum. Put a jock’s head on that body and the guy would have gone straight to the NBA. But Charles had no interest in basketball or any other sport. If everyone else was watching a ball game on television he’d demand, “I wanna watch Love Boat. Put on Days Of Our Lives.”

He never cared at all for basketball, but Charles loved Boonville. For years he came back for holidays and went around town looking up his old classmates.

After he left high school, Charles reluctantly joined the jock circuit. A junior college coach flew out from Mississippi and took Charles back with him to play basketball. Charles didn’t like Mississippi and, he complained, “The coach yells at me all the time.”

The basketball coach from Marin JC came to see Charles.

“Come down to Marin, Charles, and you can play for me.”

Charles played at Marin and the coach yelled at him non-stop.

From Marin, still not caring in the least for the game and, at age 21, never having shot so much as a single hoop on his own or in any other way worked on his game or lifted a single weight to make that big machine of a body even stronger, the coach at Cal Poly Pomona took Charles down to Cal Poly, one league down from big time college basketball. Room, board a phony campus job, basketball four hours a day.

The basketball coaches at Cal Poly yelled at Charles for a couple of years until Charles ran out of eligibility and came back to Northern California.

Someone was always feeding and housing the young man who hated to play basketball, feeding him and housing him so he could play basketball. The Chavez family took him in. Marin County’s famous basketball family made Charles their center in the Bay Area’s thriving, hyper-competitive basketball sub-culture, so competitive that many of its players have gone directly from the streets to the pros. They got Charles basketball jobs in the Philippines and in Mexico. In Mexico Charles said he got mugged by a dwarf. “He was small but he had a knife,” Charles explained. Charles earned his way into his middle twenties playing basketball.

And then he got a real job, a very good job with Levi Straus at Straus Plaza on the Embarcadero in San Francisco where he held down the shipping department and hugely benefited from the company’s profit-sharing plan. He didn’t have to play basketball anymore.

Charles worked with Levi Straus for nearly 15 years before the city began to pull him down. Or he pulled the city down on his own head. He’d always needed an anchor and here he was without an anchor in a city where anything goes, and Charles went straight for it and it killed him.

Charles didn’t come to Boonville as often as he had; we’d hear rumors that he wasn’t well, that he’d lost his job with Levi Straus, that he’d spent all his retirement savings in a month, that he was drinking heavily, that he had AIDS, that he beat AIDS but had ignored the doctors who told him his liver could no longer handle all the alcohol Charles was flushing through it, that he would die if he didn’t get sober and stay sober.

The last three years of his life, Charles had no fixed address. He didn’t call. He’d always called. We couldn’t find him. Someone said they’d seen him “standing in line at Tony’s,” meaning he’d been seen standing in the free lunch line at St. Anthony’s on Golden Gate. Charles still had friends, he still had his Boonville people. He still had his mother, now 80 and always a church lady. No sinner got past her door. But he didn’t call her, and he didn’t call Boonville. A niece, who Charles had never met, called Mrs. Davis to tell her that her son was dead, and Mrs. Davis called Boonville to tell us that he was dead. (Bruce Anderson)

Tom Smith

Tom Smith died late Monday afternoon at Memorial Hospital in Santa Rosa from the multiple injuries he’d suffered the previous Thursday in a collision on Highway 128.

His passing has shocked the Anderson Valley. He had been expected to survive.

The popular Valley resident was headed to his home on Gschwend Road, Navarro, about 7:30 last Thursday evening when a vehicle driven by Luis Alberto Guerra-Perez, 26, of Boonville, suddenly swerved from the oncoming lane into Smith’s 1994 Toyota pick-up.

Smith’s truck was so badly damaged it took rescue workers almost fifteen minutes to extract him from the wreckage. He was then airlifted to Santa Rosa for treatment of multiple injuries which, singly, were not life threatening but, cumulatively, took his life.

Smith, 62, often laughed at having survived serial catastrophes, beginning with the chronic hepatitis he’d fought since he was a young man. That condition would lead to two liver transplants. The Smiths, vacationing in Thailand, also survived the great Asian tsunami of 2004.

Guerra was uninjured by the collision but, from all accounts, he’d clearly been drinking and, an eyewitness said, “looked like he was in a state of shock.”

Abandoning his 1996 Ford Ranger at the scene, Guerra soon departed with a woman driving a white pick-up truck. Police have not released her name. Witnesses said she seemed to have been following Guerra when the accident occurred.

Unconfirmed rumors say that friends had urged Guerra not to leave a nearby social gathering in the alcohol-addled state he appeared to be in. Guerra, after the accident, was quickly identified and, within hours, had been uneventfully taken into custody at his Boonville home on Anderson Valley Way. He was booked into the County Jail on multiple charges related to driving under the influence. Guerra remains in jail. Late Tuesday afternoon his bail was raised to $150,000 in anticipation of the much more serious charge of vehicular manslaughter. Guerra is not known to have a criminal history. He is said to be distraught about the accident, which occurred in otherwise unimpaired driving conditions.

Tom Smith was well-known and highly regarded in the Anderson Valley. He’d served on the local school board and, almost single-handedly, had begun a high school soccer program. Anderson Valley’s teams, under Smith’s direction, frequently appeared in regional playoffs. The soccer pitch at the high school is named after him.

Mrs. Val Smith is a long-time teacher at the Anderson Valley Elementary School. She was with her husband of 30 years when he died Monday afternoon. The couple’s many friends have always remarked on how devoted the Smiths were to each other. The Smiths’ two sons, Olie, 28, and Jesse, 26, had traveled from out-of-state to be with their mother at the hospital. The Smiths will soon return to their Navarro home, but the family understandably prefers not to have visitors or calls at this terrible time, but well-wishers are welcome to reach them by e-mail at tom_val_smith@yahoo.com.

The lengthy interview with Tom Smith by Steve Sparks can be viewed on-line at avalleylife.wordpress.com.

It is anticipated that a memorial gathering will be held before the end of June.

Ron Guenther

Ronald Lee Guenther passed away on January 22, 2010 at home with his family by his side.

Ron was born April 3, 1938 in Los Angeles, California to Herman and Frieda (Klemme) Guenther. He began hiking the high Sierra Nevada mountain range in his teenage years.

Following in the footsteps of his inspiration, John Muir, Ron often carried nothing more than a small backpack and a rifle. Over the years, he extended his long, solitary hikes deep into Baja, Mexico and north into Oregon. He joined the Sierra Club when he was 18 and was an active member for 53 years.

Despite his additional interests in building and racing hot rods and his East Los Angeles gang membership, Ron graduated at the top of his class from Manual Arts High School in Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1956. He was accepted with scholarships into the University of California at Los Angeles physics program in 1957. At UCLA, he was a member of the Sigma Pi Sigma Physics Honor Society and president of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. His pledges in Phi Delta Theta were the UCLA Bruins football team members. Ron, however, was a long distance runner.

With his first son, Eric Warren Guenther, on the way and short of completing a master’s degree in atomic theory, Ron was recruited by Rockwell Atomics International to work as a physicist at one of its Santa Susana nuclear reactors to make plutonium for the country’s nuclear weapons. He became deeply disturbed by the earth-annihilating implications of his work, which was determining the failure point of the reactor. His supervisors ignored his repeated warnings of an impending disaster.

Ron was 24 years old when he suffered what is now understood as a first-break schizophrenia episode. Though he recovered, Ron struggled much of his life to conceal his recurring symptoms of schizophrenia by retreating into the wild until the symptoms abated. (In the mid-1990s, information was released revealing that the reactor Ron had warned about had indeed failed in 1964 and several times thereafter, releasing radioactive material throughout the Simi Valley per Ron’s warning.) Ron was divorced and unemployed when he took up residence in Venice Beach, California in the mid-‘60s.

In the Venice “Beat” community, Ron continued to run long distances on the Santa Monica beach and hike the mountains and deserts of the Southwest. He made a good living as a garage mechanic. Ron became very active in local politics, and was one of the founders of the California Peace and Freedom Party in 1967.

In 1968, Ron was a leader in organizing community demonstrations against the LAPD Metro Squad’s arrests of Venice Beach residents contrived to purge the area of “hippies.” The illegal arrests were backed by the LA City Council as an assist to would-be developers. By harassing the residents and forcing them to move, the low-income bohemian cottages could be purchased and demolished to build “new Miami” luxury-priced condominiums. Several attempts to build some of the high-rise buildings were halted by arson. The rebellion concluded with the LA City Council backing down and officially recognizing the Venice Beach Town Council as having a say in local land-use decisions.

At the same time, Ron was strong supporter of David Brower as executive director of Sierra Club and Brower’s efforts to reshape the Club from a purely recreational organization to an additional political focus on environmental conservation. However, Ron opposed Brower’s compromise in trading off the building of the Glen Canyon Dam to preserve Dinosaur National Monument on the upper Colorado River. There were several schemes to raze the dam shortly after it was built, including blowing it up using Ron’s expertise to build a small neutron bomb. While none of the Glen Canyon Dam destruction schemes came about, many of the activities of the time and the people involved were later memorialized in Edward Abbey’s classic novel “The Monkey Wrench Gang.”

When Ron moved to the Mendocino Coast in the early 1970’s, he continued acting on his strong belief in public participation in government decisions. He was particularly distressed at improperly regulated land divisions and development which, on the Mendocino Coast, meant the closing off of public views and access to the Pacific ocean. Today, much of the open space, and ocean access along the Mendocino Coast, can be attributed to Ron’s early efforts. Back then, almost all Mendocino ocean front parcels were subject to development plans. Ron meticulously, and often single-handedly derailed many developments by objecting to planning decision irregularities, thus preserving the opportunity for future community preservation efforts.

With boundless energy (usually sleeping in his car when he traveled up and down the state), Ron was active in the macro politics of state environmental legislation and policy-making. At home, he was busy with solitary activism, for example, shooting out “big purples,” as he called the large incandescent yard lights PG&E was installing for homeowners of beachfront properties along the GP Haul Road from 10 Mile River to Fort Bragg in the 1980s. Ron would regularly run the 10 miles along the beach at night, outraged that these yard lights blotted out the stars. The yard lights are now prohibited by law in the coastal zone.

Ron strongly believed that any and all efforts to halt environmental destruction were worthy of his support and time, from Dave Foreman and Mike Roselle’s Earth First! Road Show (which first publicized monkey wrenching in Northern California in the early 1980s), to working closely with the International Woodworkers of America union members, to preventing logger’s job loss through Louisiana-Pacific’s overharvesting of its Mendocino forest land.

Ron was a strategic participant in the passage and implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970, the Z’Berg-Nejedly Forest Practices Act of 1974, and the Coastal Act of 1976, the most progressive land-use laws in the nation. Sometimes, with the support of Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, and sometimes times raising funds, and hiring and training attorneys on his own, Ron created well-crafted public input over the lack of implementation of these laws. In doing so, he formed the legal basis for successful court review. He overturned many destructive local and state governmental land-use decisions more often than not with these lawsuits and in some instances created new state environmental protection law through the Appellate Court.

Ron helped form EPIC in Garberville, the Mendocino Environmental Center, the Redwood Chapter of the Sierra Club, Friends of Fort Bragg, Rural Institute, the Ocean Sanctuary Coalition, and many, many other neighborhood groups and single issue coalitions. He introduced the concepts, and patiently taught countless people the technical legal process and the value of citizen participation in government land-use decisions. Throughout the 1980s he wrote the “Coastal Waves” environmental education column for the Coast Peddler/Commentary newspaper. He was a prolific writer of letters to the editors of the county’s newspapers and continued this practice up until his death.

Ron had an astounding amount of “firsts” and credits to his name but always attributed his work to the collective “we” with the understanding that change for the better comes from building a shared movement. For example, in the early 1980s, Ron collected input from several environmental and fishing groups and Native American tribes to author and advocate for the first “Citizen’s Plan for the Mendocino National Forest,” which was adopted in its entirety by the US Forest Service. This Plan became the model for public participation, riparian salmon stream protection, Native American artifact preservation, endangered plant and animal habitat protection and selective logging forestry, all of which conservation groups are still striving for today in their own watersheds. His name does not appear on the Plan, but the roster of groups he corralled for the effort all recognize his pivotal work.

In the early days of Ron’s activism, he paid a heavy retaliatory price for his politics, but rarely shared what had happened to him in order not to frighten others away from “the cause.” Ron’s water supply was contaminated with a crank case dumped in it and the road into his property east of Fort Bragg was regularly strewn with roofing nails. He was arrested and jailed on phony charges with a falsified warrant created by a Fort Bragg City councilmember. He was shot at, run off the road, sued, investigated, targeted for traffic tickets, banned from the offices of the “Advocate News” and “Mendocino Beacon” newspapers, and regularly received death threats. He never backed down, and as time passed more people began to speak up, organize and participate in local government decisions. The “developer thugs,” as he called them, eventually faded away.

Ron loved Fort Bragg with an undying passion, and in return, after he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991, the community embraced him as he became more and more disabled. No longer able to run and hike long distances, Ron would walk all over Fort Bragg, later riding his bicycle when his legs no longer functioned. Ron often collapsed on the street, in Purity Market and in Rossi’s hardware store where compassionate friends and strangers would make him comfortable until his medications enabled him to walk again. He often lost his hat, his wallet, his keys in town and they were always returned.

Ron’s family deeply appreciates all the care and support he received over the years of his illness from the larger community, his friends, his doctors Larry Heiss and Peter Glusker, the members of the Parkinson’s Support Group, Mendocino County Adult Protective Services staff, and the In-Home Supportive Services program.

Ronald Guenther is survived by his sons, Eric and Lieben, his brother Steven Guenther, sister-in-law Jan and their sons Scott and Jeff, and Lieben’s mother, Roanne Withers. Ron has been cremated and a ceremony to scatter his ashes will be announced in the Spring. Ron’s very last effort just a few days before he passed was to painstakingly type a letter to the “Anderson Valley Advertiser.” In keeping with his thoughts, donations are suggested for the new on-line non-profit version of the “Anderson Valley Advertiser” at http://theava.com/donate.

It is with much disappointment, sadness and regret that Carroll Pratt and I, as owners of The Boonville Lodge, have been put into the position of having to inform the many people who have supported us over the past three years, along with the community that we had hoped to serve for many years to come, of the pending demise of The Boonville Lodge. This is as the direct result of what we believe to be the unreasonable and fraudulent actions of our landlord, Mr. Dave Johnson, who is asking for a rent increase of almost 100% at the commencement of our net lease option on February 1st, 2010. With this huge financial burden facing us, the likelihood of any future success at this location is virtually zero, despite the very solid progress as a going concern we have attained to this point. We are therefore being forced to close The Boonville Lodge on January 1, 2010.

This decision is made even more painful and upsetting because we employ 13 great people who have worked hard to make the bar a success and although, like everybody else, we have struggled with the economy, we felt very positively about our future success and the future of the only liquor bar/restaurant in town until the exorbitant rent demands were made on us. Now, because of Mr. Johnson’s failure to honor his agreements or his handshake, the future is dark at 14161 Highway 128, Boonville.

We originally pursued this endeavor with the idea that we would be keeping the liquor license here in the Valley, would be creating a place that the community as a whole could enjoy, and ultimately would provide a gathering place for the community. We have worked hard to reinvigorate The Lodge and at this point in time it exists as a source of pride for us personally and hopefully is seen as a place to go for a good meal and a drink for many people both from and beyond the Valley. If we had been able to stay on, perhaps a modest profit could have been made.

When we undertook the renovation of the Bar and Grill we met with Mr. Johnson to secure a long-term lease. The current lease had less than three years on it and, before deciding to invest countless hours and money into renovating the building and a business, we needed to be assured of his support. After shaking hands and coming to binding agreements that we had no reason to believe he wouldn’t honor, in good faith we began fulfilling our part of that agreement. On top of the agreed rent, we also began to pay him an additional $300 per month. By doing so we believed we could count on his support and he agreed to put this money back into the building as necessary. It would turn out to be the furthest thing from the truth, and as a consequence we are now being put into the position of losing everything that we have worked for.

We continued down our path to the goal we had set, investing thousands of dollars in time and money, all the while patiently waiting for his lawyer to draw up the lease and to begin the work needed on repairs to the main septic line as well as the serious and damaging leaks in the roof. More importantly, from a financial standpoint, we wanted him to remove his residential tenants off our power and propane grids. We continue to pay to pump the well to all of his residents, and all of the propane that fuels his residence next door occupied by a family of five.

We continued our appeal to him with numerous letters and still received no sign of relief. To this day we continue to be plagued by all of the small leaks and clogs that have become more damaging to our business operation as well as a monetary cost that have negatively impacted our bottom line while being unlawfully charged for his tenant’s utilities. He has not put any of the extra $300 per month paid to him into the building.

Over time it became all too apparent that he never intended to honor this part of the agreement. When we informed him that we would stop the additional payment he answered with a letter from an attorney threatening to have us evicted while denying he ever made such agreements. From that point on Mr. Johnson has made it all too clear by his actions that he wanted us out, and on many occasions to various people he has stated that he wanted us out and that he wouldn’t mind being a bar owner. His continuing adversarial behavior has made the situation virtually untenable, and that was before he came in with the totally unreasonable rent increase form $1500 to $3500!

He has told people that he wanted us out and then he spread rumors through his attorney that he could justify the extra money because he hadn’t increased the rent for a long time. however, the current lease payments, which still include the extra $300 per month, are virtually the same amount that the lease would be at this point if it had been raised to the Consumer Price Index for each of the years stipulated in the lease.

Now we must focus our energies on not only closing down a business we have worked so hard to build, but which also happens to be a Valley landmark with so many memories and stories to tell, but what we need to do, and what we can do, to move forward. Ultimately we hope in the end to do what best serves the community in which we live. We are open to listening to any and all other options, and ideas so feel free to contact us at 895-3823.

We painfully realize that this will affect all of us who live here in different ways, and for many different reasons. Some might be glad to see us go, some will care more than others, and some will just care less. But in the end we want to thank you all for the good times we’ve shared and the stories that you’ve told.

We hope to see you all sooner rather than later, and we will miss what we have shared.

Thanks for the support.

Thomas Towey and Carroll Pratt
The Boonville Lodge

The AV Grange Mart is a winter farmers’ market that began last year to fill the gap when the Boonville Farmers’ Market is not in operation.  It is a combined project of the AV Grange and the AV Foodshed Group.  It is a chance for anyone to sell their product as long as it is homegrown or handmade.

Last year we had a variety of products from produce, eggs, goat cheese, fish and bakery to herbal skin care, herbal health care and crafts.  Most vendors are from the valley, but some come from inland, as well as the coast.  The stall fees of 7.5% of gross sales go to the Anderson Valley Grange for the use of the facility.

One thing that makes it difficult for some people to remember is that it is on Sundays instead of Saturdays, like Boonville market.  As a reminder, there is a round Grange Mart sign now hanging under the AV Grange sign.  The time is one hour later than last year – 1 pm to 3pm.

The Grange Mart should be bigger and better in its second year.  Hope to see you there – Sundays 1 – 3 at the Philo Grange.  For more info you can call 895-2949.

On Friday (10/23) the first of two games in a week against perennial rivals Mendocino took place here in Boonville and it turned out to be one of the poor­est games of the season. AV played two different line-ups, mixing starters with bench players, but unlike against Geyserville a couple of weeks earlier this did not work and the result was a game with little flow and even less quality, although the Pan­thers did win 6-1. Gutierrez scored four more goals to push his season total to 52, and Rigo Guerrero and Elio Gonzales added the other two.

Closing out a hectic week of soccer was the huge Monday afternoon (10/26) game against a tough Roseland Prep team whom the Panthers had nar­rowly beaten 2-1 down in Santa Rosa a month or so ago. With the final game of the regular season being the return match against Mendocino on the coast this Friday (10/30), this Roseland game was the only remaining hurdle that could realistically prevent the Panthers from attaining a never before achieved Per­fect Season.

In all sports, the battles between evenly matched teams are often decided by one or more of the fol­lowing incidents — a sublime piece of skill, an unforced yet critical error, and a slice of whatever Lady Luck is serving up — a ‘Rule of Sports’ you might say. The Panther/Knights match-up certainly added credibility to this piece of sporting philosophy with all three playing their part on Monday after­noon. In the eight games played between the sides over the previous four years, AV had won seven and there had been one tie. The Panther wins had almost all been by a one-goal margin and in virtually every game one of the three factors mentioned above had played a significant role. Anyone with Roseland con­nections would certainly say Lady Luck had worn Panther black and gold on more than one occasion, although ‘sublime skill’ would be a Panther’s explana­tion. Either way, the Knights were perhaps due for a few things to go in their favor.

A fascinating first half saw the Panthers generally on top but Roseland were dangerous on the counter. Twice the Knights’ ’keeper pulled off fine saves but at the other end Pepe Virramontez headed a shot off his own line with Christian Mendoza in the Panther goal well beaten. In the 20th minute, the Panthers took a deserved lead when for the umpteenth time this season Omar Ferreyra set up Sergio Gutierrez to drive the ball low into the far corner of the oppo­nent’s goal. On the stroke of halftime they thought they had made it 2-0 when Omar blasted the ball into the net from close range only for a controversial offside decision to go against him. It was 1-0 to AV at the break, but should it have been 2?

The first minute of the second half saw that piece of ‘sublime skill’ when from fully 30 yards from goal a Roseland striker let fly with a shot that flew into the top corner of the Panther net to make it 1-1 but a few minutes later AV had regained the lead when once again the Omar to Sergio combo saw Gutierrez crash the ball into the goal from fifteen yards out. The lead was short-lived, however, when Lady Luck came to the Knights’ rescue as an attempted pass across the Panther goal turned fortuitously into a looping shot into the far corner of the net. It was 2-2.

In the 65th minute a pass across the Panther goal was misread (the critical error) by two AV defenders who each over-committed to the ball allowing a Knight forward to go by them both before slipping the ball past the defenseless Mendoza in the AV goal. Roseland was ahead 3-2. Despite several half-chances over the next 15 minutes for the Panthers the Knights scored again with a penalty kick follow­ing a poor tackle and foul by an AV defender. AV had lost 2-4 in a very well-played, close game that they could have won but which they ultimately lost to a fine team and, I would suggest, to a ‘Rule of Sports.’

The Panthers dreams of the ‘Perfect Season’ were smashed and the loss was very hard to take after a magnificent run of 17 wins in succession. They would have to pick themselves up and go out and hammer rivals Mendocino on Friday and then look forward positively to the play-offs. These will begin with a home game in Boonville at The Fairgrounds next Wednesday (11/4) at 7pm against a team to be announced. Your support would be much appreci­ated by the players and if it is anything like previous years the chants from the fans in the stands might even be worth a goal or two for the hometown boys.

Record (Won/Lost/Drawn): League 5-0-0; Over­all 17-1-0

The Zeni Ranch’s 100-year-old dry-farmed chest­nut trees are a testament to the sustainability of tree crops. Pick your own freshly fallen chestnuts off the ground. De-burring the chestnuts on the ground is easier with good boots, and gloves also help. To take some chestnuts home with you, the price per pound is $2.50 if you gather them or $3.50 from their stockpile.

The schedule:

10:30am-3:30pm. Chestnut gathering and tasting chestnuts roasted over an open fire

12:30-2pm. Potluck, music, show and tell of local self-sufficiency

2-3pm. Doug Mosel will share his experience with growing grain locally and grain co-ops

Please bring:

• Potluck dish made with as many locally-grown ingredients as possible (re-heating oven available)

• Plate, utensils, cup, and napkin

• Homemade wines are welcome for a taste off.

• Fruit, nut, or vegetable harvests to show and tell. There will be demonstration tables set up.

• Labeled de-leafed cuttings of hard-to-root plants like mulberry, apricot, prune, European plum, cherry, or other plants/cuttings to share. This is the best sea­son to start cuttings with minimal equipment.

The Zeni Ranch is at mile marker 15.6 on Fish Rock Road (County Highway 122). From Coast Highway 1, junction of Fish Rock (5 miles north of Gualala), go 15.5 miles east. From Highway 128 and Fish Rock Road the junction is at marker 36.56, about 7.7 miles east of the Highway 256/128 junction, or 4.7 miles west of Yorkville, then drive 13 miles on Fish Rock Road to marker 15.6. Using odometer and mile markers, it’s an easy and enjoyable slow drive through a most beautiful and very remote part of the county.

For more information call: Mark Albert 462-7843, Barbara/Rob Goodell 895-3897, Jane Zeni 895-2309, or Linda Zeni 884-4208.

Mark your calendars for the 2010 Winter Abun­dance scion and seed exchange at Anderson Valley High School domes on Saturday, January 30, 2010. To be added to our mailing list, please call Mark Albert to give him your email (preferably) or your mailing address.

Mr. Riede was wid­owed and had no chil­dren. His two cousins, John Joseph Glaser of Cobourg Ontario and Felix Robert Gumbinger of Port Hope Ontario are his only living relatives.

His memorial service was held at Chapel by the Sea in Fort Bragg last Friday, October 30.

During World War II, while his father served in New Guinea, his mother shared accommodations with her sister, Anna Glaser, and her son, John. After the war, in 1946 when Mr. Riede was 16, the Riede family moved to California. Alphons’ father, although a brilliant wood sculptor, opened the Dutch Garden Restaurant with Katie in Goleta to make ends meet. In 1949, Mr. Riede graduated from high school and went on to major in music composition and piano at Santa Barbara State College (now UC Santa Barbara).

In 1952 he was drafted into the US Army and was stationed in Europe during the Korean War. Some­time after his return home he took a trip to Finland to learn all he could about his favorite composer, Sibelius. Still later, he had a small apartment in Santa Barbara and worked there as a postman. By that time he had amassed a substantial LP collection of classical music and this collection was to grow throughout his life, a life of classical music appreciation.

Mr. Riede moved to Mendocino in 1970 where he opened Alphonso’s and was a local merchant (records and tobacco) for 33 years. For a few years he operated a mail order business offering classical music LPs of exceptional quality accompanied with his incisive commentary. He also piped his classical music to the welcoming shops nearby.

He married Nancy Ann Yolles there but sadly, due to failing health, she died prematurely. They had no children. In 2003 Alphons retired comfortably with his dog Bailey and cat Fred in Fort Bragg surrounded in the warmth of his enormous collection of classical music recordings, his collection of paintings and with a number of his father’s carvings.

Alphons died after a long period of declining health. He will be missed dearly by his many friends and by his devoted caregiver, Patricia Darland. ¥¥

VOTE on Tuesday, November 3, at the Fair­grounds in Boonville. Many of us, who formerly voted with an Absentee Ballot, now will be voting at the Fairgrounds. Check your Sample Ballot for your pre­sent Polling Place, as many have been changed.

The Community Library is OPEN and accepting book donations. The hours are still Tuesday 1:30 to 4:30 and Saturday 2 to 4. Come in and browse the shelves, and maybe pick up some gems from the sale table. There will be a Library Booth at the upcoming Holiday Bazaar, featuring some outstanding hard bound books, children’s books, and sets.

This year’s Unity Club Holiday Bazaar will be held on Saturday, December 5, 2009 in the Apple Hall, at the Fairgrounds, from 10 to 4. Many crafts, jewelry, baked goods and Holiday presents will be available at reasonable prices. Santa Claus will be there for photo­graphs with the children. As always, the greatest Raf­fle in the Valley will be held, awarding many lucky people with gifts from our local merchants. So, mark your calendar, and come to Boonville on November 3rd to VOTE, November 5th for the Unity Club meeting, and December 5th for the Holiday Bazaar.

— Miriam Martinez

The Library is located in the Home Arts Building at the Fairgrounds. The hours are Tuesday 1:30 to 4:30 and Saturday 2 to 4. Membership is open to all residents of Anderson Valley. Membership is $3 per year per family.

Late charges on books due by 10/6 will be waived through 10/27.

Books purchased while the Library was closed are:

Alex Cross’s Trial by James Patterson, “The Last Song” by Nicholas Sparks, “The Golden City” by John Twelve Hawks, “That Old Cape Magic” by Richard Russo, “Strength In What Remains” by Tracy Kidder, “The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown, “An Echo In The Bone” by Diana Gabaldon, “In Cheap We Trust” by Lauren Weber, “Where Our Food Comes From” by Gary Paul Naghan, “Spartan Gold” by Clive Cussler, “The White Queen” by Philippa Gregory, “Homer & Langley” by E. L. Doctorow, “Half The Sky” by Nicholas E. Kristof, “Have A Little Faith” by Mitch Albom, “Nine Dragons” by Michael Connelly, “Her Fearful Symmetry” by Audrey Niffenegger, “The Pro­fessional” by Robert B. Parker, “Half Broke Horses” by Jeanette Walls.

For the children: “The Magician’s Elephant” by Kate DeCamillo and “All The World” by Liz Garton Scanlon.

We have a Reserved signup sheet, if the book you would like has been checked out. Also, if there is a book you would like the Library to consider buying, please write the Author and Title on the Purchase List.

For additional information, call Liz at 2847.

— Lois Howard