Fwd: [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  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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