[AGL] Clark rides off into the sunset, Happy Trails to you...

[kathy doyle]

Francis,
I would like to remind you that Clark did not die of colon cancer, he 
died of pneumonia.  So maybe if he just washed his hands more, or used 
a better soap he would be alive? True, he did not have the diet you 
subscribe too, and it may have contributed to his tumor; however  many 
people,  my father and grandfather, among them,  are big meat and 
potatoes and fat eaters, and live  healthy lives into their '80's, and 
never develop cancer.   And then there's Adelle Davis who ate all 
healthy and died of cancer fairly young any way.  Clark lived life big, 
with joy and enthusiasm,  and generosity of spirit and I find that 
supremely healthy.
To me, the tendency to be self  righteous and "blame the victim" when 
someone dies, is a childish way of trying to ward off the boogey man, 
to put a safety shield between us and our own death, our own fear and 
maybe even our own grief. To prove WE can outsmart death.  It is futile 
to blame the victim as way to insure ourselves against death and 
insensitive and unkind to the deceased, and the survivors. Even if you 
are right and can exactly pinpoint the steak that started it all, or 
the piece of broccoli left on his plate in "93 that spelled his doom in 
'06, I still think it is  best left unsaid and unwritten. Because the 
bottom line is,  he's still dead and it sucks.

Kathy,
( who is sick of hearing people  giving her ridiculous reasons for why 
her (ex) husband is dead- the worst being "he thought negative")

On Jan 17, 2006, at 9:00 PM, Frances Morey wrote:

> Travis,
> I saw it coming. Clark was an unreconstructed carnivore, eating mostly 
> meat, most of of the time, and typically more than enough all the 
> time. All-you-can-eat bar-be-cue was his favorite venue. I tried to 
> talk him out of it and he wouldn't hear of it. John Wayne, another 
> colon cancer victim, also acted as though meat was the sine qua non of 
> food.
>  
> One Thanksgiving in Real de Catorce, I think it was '03, Clark and I 
> walked back to our hotels after one of a half dozen parties. There is 
> no level ground and our path was upgrade all the way. He had to stop 
> and catch his breath about every ten steps. I was barely breathing 
> hard, compared to his panting. 
>  
> I estimate that he was at least 60 pounds overweight 
> then--transporting that much excess, like having a 60 pound bag of 
> corn strapped to his back, 24-7. The stress of that ought to make the 
> pleasure of overeating pale, yet some are not able to make 
> the connection.
>  
> The first time I met Clark was at a party in my neighborhood when I 
> lived at the corner of W. 22 1/2 and Pearl, newly married. The party 
> over on 23rd Street was so over-the-top-wild that it could be heard a 
> block away and becconed our attendance. 
>  
> Unlike the typical ghetto party of the times there were lots of kegs, 
> bottles of booze, highly amplified live rock music and motorcycles 
> roaring through the house. I had to know who was behind this shadow 
> precurssor of Animal House, and lo and behold, Clark was host.
>  
> I wondered who had put up the moolah to throw  ;such a high 
> dollar shindig. It turned out that Clark had been given $1,500, quite 
> a chunk of change in the '60s, by developers who were consolidating 
> land for Tri Towers North. The money was intended to finance 
> throwing the wildest party ever imagined in all of West Campus. 
>  
> The dies ex machina was that it would persuade Dr. Moore to sell out. 
> He was none other than the extremely biggoted math professor for whom 
> the Robert Lee Moore hall on campus is named. The gambit didn't work 
> and the development domino effect stopped in it's tracks, at Dr. 
> Moore's house.
>  
> Nevermind the results--these kinds of bold brash highjinks were the 
> embodyment of Clark. He was master of machinations for setting up 
> memorable good times, perhaps second only to the highjinks of Travis 
> Rivers. I found tha  t Austin boys always had special accumen in the 
> business of trumping fun. Over the ages and stages we went through, 
> Clark gave me a thousand smiles.
>  
> Best,
> Frances Morey
>  
>  
>  
> Note to Harry: You may forward this to the ghetto2, if you like. Since 
> I got the new ISP, NetZero, I can't figure out how to send outgoing 
> mail.
>  
>  
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