Okay Jaredt. Here is a little glimpse of a happy side of Kurt. A
measure of the kind of Man he was, even when he was about 15 years old:
Old Man Reeves was this kind of eccentric guy who lived on Sylvia Street
in Montesano. He was a loner and kids used to really give him a bad
time, and do cruel things to him. He would come out on his porch and
shake his fist at his tormentors and scream profanities. We (myself
included, when I was younger) just loved it. Sometimes kids would throw
rocks and break his windows or pull up his flowers (myself not included,
thank goodness). He was know for a couple of generations of kids as a
real weird and mean guy, even though in actuality he was not. The
tormentg went on through quite a few years, and a new group of kids
would take over for the old. Kurt, however, changed the tradition.
When he was running around with Matt Lukin (I think now of Mudhoney??),
Kurt saw the usual group of guys giving Old Man Reeves a hassle. He
literally screamed at these guys to leave Old Man Reeves alone. He was
so emotional about it (as only Kurt could be) that he stopped these kids
in their tracks. They just dropped their jaws as Kurt walked up to Mr.
Reeves, put his arm around him, and led him into the house. From that
point on, Kurt had tea with Old Man Reeves quite often. The fact that
someone was becoming a friend with Old Man Reeves sort of took the "fun"
out of tormenting the elderly man, and there was never quite as much
hassle for the guy. A simple story, but it shows Kurt's sense of
humility, compassion, and individuality...(I am describing this as I
remember it. It was related to me by my friend Greg Moore of
Montesano). If this stuff is interesting to you folks, please know that
I have a bunch of memories of Kurt from those years I knew him. I was
NOT his greatest buddy or anything, but we had some fun together.
Although I was in my 30's at the time (1978 to about 1984), I can tell
you that he was an unbelievable kid. Absolute compassion. I miss
him. Please let me know if you would like to hear some more about Kurt
from my perspective.
"Gramps" (my grandfather) and I used to take a lot of hikes up the
Wynoochee River headwaters into the Olympic National Park. He was a
great naturalist and it was a joy to be able to accompany him into the
mountain meadows.
When Kurt was about 13 or 14, Gramps and I were driving through
Montesano on our way to the Wynoochee Valley uto drive up to the valley
head. Well, here it was, early in the morning, and Kurt was out
walking up Third Street. Gramps stopped the pickup and yelled Hello to
Kurt. Kurt was lost in thought, so Gramp had to say something like "Hey
Kurt! Wake Up!" (I think that is exactly what he yelled at Kurt). I
cannot forget that huge grin when Kurt looked at Gramps. He yelled back
words to the effect of: "Hey Amos! Wake up yourself!" (Amos was my
grandfather's middle name, and almost nobody got away with calling him
that). Kurt told Gramps that he was out taking a hike up to Lake Sylvia
State Park. Gramps told Kurt that he and I were on our way up the
Wynoochee for a little hiking ourselves. Gramps turned to me in the
truck and asked if we ought to ask Kurt, and we agreed that we sure
should. But Kurt said no, he was just taking a short stroll, and "thanks
anyway". So, we headed down the street towards the highway. However,
when Gramps looked in his rear view mirror, he just started howling with
laughter... when I looked back, there was Kurt, doing these sort of
jumping jacks and spinning around like a madman. He noticed that we
slowed, so he motioned Gramps to come back. Typical of Kurt, he just
hopped in and said: "Let's go, Gramps!" "Hello Larry!" Gramps went back
to his house and got another pack out of the garage. I drove us up to
the Wynoochee with Gramps in the middle and Kurt on the passenger side
of the truck. I didn't really talk much to Kurt, but he just jabbered
all the way up the long, dusty drive up logging roads. I wish I could
remember more of the things he said. I do know he talked about the cows
and how "slow" they were. Also, I remember him asking Gramps why the
Hell he didn't have a radio in the truck!
So, anyway, we drove up the logging roads up into the start of alpine
meadows on the National Park border. We put our packs on, and Kurt
immediately started bitching about his heavy pack. Hell, his pack was
the lightest! I don't think he had more than my extra stocking hat and
Gramps extra coat in it. Also, a plastic water bottle and some candy
bars. I think he ate 3 of the candy bars before we even got going. We
started up through the timberu up this very steep creek bed, with Kurt
sliding and stumbling all over the place. He just groaned and complained
the whole way up through the timberline. I do remember that when we
broke out into the alpine meadows, Kurt was just stunned by the beauty.
I distinctly remember his yelling something like: "Holy Shit!" I do
remember Gramps saying "Not bad, huh Kurt?" And, it sure was "not bad",
with the alpine flowers blooming, beautiful meadows, and little
waterfalls. I went over to some trees to go to the bathroom, and when I
came back to where Kurt and Gramps were, Kurt was sort of "grazing" down
on the ground, looking at all these little flow>
Transfer interrupted!
ramps just winked at me and had this huge smile, and did
one of those gestures where you take your index finger and spin it
around your ear to say: "He's nuts!" I don't remember too much more
about the hike, at least in the perspective of what Kurt did. We did go
on up to Mt. Hoquiam, and I remember we had to do a lot of waiting for
Kurt; sometimes he would be a few hundred yards behind! You just weren't
going to hurry Kurt, and that was all there was to it!
You know, the most vivid memory of this hike was on the way down through
the steep trees after we dropped off the edge of the meadows: we were
sort of crashing and sliding down the very steep terrain. Kurt was off
to my right side and I could see he was just sort of looking up into the
treetops as he was walking. I just cringed when he really hit hard into
a big mountain hemlock. I mean, he really smashed into it. He sort of
staggered over to me with this stupid grin on his face and said: "Boy,
that kind of hurt. Got any more candy bars?"
I hope this story makes sense. As I said, these little memories are not
earth-shattering, but at least give a glimpse into the essence of Kurt.
I wish I would have kept contact with him for the past ten years, and
not just because he became famous. He was hard to track down, and I
tried a few times. I always wanted to sort of just sit down and talk
about Gramps to him. I did write him a letter when Gramps died, but I
don't think he ever got it. I miss the guy. He was so mellow and so
comfortable, and so unpredictabl A fun teenager and a brilliant mind.
This little slice of time in Kurt's life is an elaboration of the memory
I had when my grandfather took Kurt and myself on one of his steelhead
fishing trips to the Wynoochee River. I first related this at the
memorial at the Seattle Center. I would like to be so bold as to add to
what I remember here.
I had related at the memorial that Kurt had been howling and screaming
and generally making a lot of noise. Gramps had told me to go upstream
to find Kurt because he must have hooked into a big fish..and, of
course, you all know that he didn't even have his line in the water! He
was just kicking back against a good sized rock in the sunshine,
practicing his screaming so, as he put it: "I can strengthen my vocal
cords"...
Well, I need to relate that, driving up the Wynoochee Road to the
fishing spot, Kurt was really just "talking up" about how he was going
to really try to catch one of those big lunkers. I mean, he was nearly
bragging about how he just knew he could cast his line probably even
better than Gramps. Of course he knew damn well that Gramps had been
fishing for the difficult-to-catch steelheads for probably 40-plus
years. He was just smiling and "getting Gramps' goat" with his comments.
I wish I could remember the exact comments, but I don't...sorry.
Anyway, we went down the Anderson Creek road, which is gravel, and
deadends about 100 yards from the river. From there, you have to walk
through fairly thick brush to the gravel bar. Gramps got out of the
truck on his side, and Kurt and I got out on the passenger side. Gramps
told Kurt to "close the truck door solid, so it would close all the
way." Of course, this was a cue for Kurt to overdo it..he gave me that
wild-eyed grin, took both hands, and just "cranked" on that door!
Gramps jumped about a mile! Kurt just cracked up, and was bent over
laughing at this stupid little trick! I mean, I didn't think it was so
funny, but Kurt sure thought HE was funny!
Gramps told Kurt and I to hold our fishing poles backward, with the tip
behind us, so we could get through the brush easier, explaining that if
you hold it forward, it is hard to twist and turn through the heavy
stuff. Gramps led the way, I followed him, and Kurt was behind me. No
sooner had we gone about 50 feet, and Kurt was somewhere behind us,
squawking and bitching..Gramps looked at me and said something like:
"Christsakes, what's he got screwed up now?" We went back there, and
Kurt was just tugging like a maniac on his fishing pole, which was
caught in the weeds and the branches. Gramps said something like, "Well,
I thought you were going to be the BEST fisherman here today, Kurt. You
know, yhou have to make it to the river before you can even think about
catching anything!" Of course, now Kurt is a little pissed. He just
looked away while Gramps cut away the absolute birds-nest of entangled
nylon that Kurt had created with his impatient tugging and pulling...
We got to the river, and Gramps pointed out to us to sort of start at
the top end of the "hole" where the rapids hit the deep water, and work
our way down the hole with repeated casts, so as to "sweep" the whole
area where a fish might lie. But, NO, NOT KURT! He said that he was
going to search upstream to the next "hole" and do it on his own.
Gramps just grinned, shook his head, and said for Kurt to just go ahead
and do his own thing. So, the last picture I had in my head was Kurt,
stumbling up the gravel bar, fishing pole jerking around spasmodically
every time he falf-slipped on rocks, heading for that "big fish">
Now, I am back to where I was in the eulogy, with Kurt kicking back and
"strengthening his vocal cords". I noticed that his lure was just sort
of displayed on top of a rock, liked he had carefully placed it there so
he could just sort of stare at it!
I am not sure, but I think that Kurt never did get his lure in thewater
that day. Whenever I saw him, he was just screwing off, looking at log
jams, skipping rocks, and turning boulders over to look at the various
creatures. I do remember thinking, "what a weirdo -- came to do some
fishing, bragged about his fishing ability ahead of time, then goes off
to do something completely different!"
The only other thing that I remember with clarity is Gramps telling
Kurt: "No, you can't ride in the back of the truck. You might fall
out." I assume Kurt must have asked to ride back there. I know Kurt
talked on the way back to Montesano, but I just don't remember what he
said...
Well, that's it. Kind of mundane, but, when I think back on it, a smile
HAS to come to my face.
(Please be aware that I have tried to be as accurate as possible, and
that some of my quotes are only approximations of what I remember Kurt
or Gramps saying - after all, this was 15 or 16 years ago). I hope that
my descriptions will at least give you a "picture" of the the essence of
Kurt's actions, and tha{ they show his very typical human nature...well,
SORT of typical... :-)
for those wondering if this really is Kurt's uncle or not, a HSMB member had talked to an detective in Aberdeen to see if he really was Kurt's uncle, he was verified as real and telling the truth.
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