Re: Guy and John

Posted Fri, 04/25/2003 - 15:56 by ardarvin
 Category:

Guy and Lena Lena and John

Tragically, fellow builderers Guy Edwards and John Millar disappeared April 14th 2003, while attempting a first ascent of Devil's Thumb peak in Alaska. They have yet to be found.

The following letter is from American Alpine Journal editor Kelly Cordes, to Jeremy Frimer, regarding his hearing of the news. Although Kelly didn't know Guy or John personally, his words precisely portray their spirit, and the spirit of those who were closest to them. Thank you Kelly for your caring and inspirational words, and for helping us through this time of mourning.

>From: "Kelly Cordes, AAJ"
>To: Jeremy Frimer
>Subject: Re: FW: bad news from Dieter Klose
>Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2003 17:38:01 -0700 (PDT)

i'm so sorry. don't know what else to say, i guess there's not much to say. this is such terrible news, and though i never met them it's weird - i feel like i kinda knew them, just through the small world of climbing, our many mutual friends and mutual climbing partners, the AAJ contacts, all that. it's a small and tight world, this community, i think. I'd been inspired by (still am), and marvelled at, those 2 also, while working on the AAJ - totally inspirational, i think, how they got after it so much but, best of all in a sense, they weren't "famous" climbers or whatever (though certainly known among the hardcore, serious crowd). seemed like they didn't give a shit about the hype, but were *truly* loving what they did, all the time. the fluff around the edges, things like loads of recognition and hype, didn't seem to concern those guys. refreshing. from the little bit that i can gather, they lived beautifully. and nothing in life, no matter how short, is more precious than living beautifully.

surfed around on the buildering.net site, and in some odd way it really made me smile thinking about them, and the whole crew you guys have up there. here's this entire site dedicated to the brilliant art of goofing around in some abstract climber-esque manner...i love it. and it was so obvious how well-loved john and guy are in your community - i had such a grin on my face while reading through the "results from previous polls" page. not only is the whole site great, but on that page, things like everyone voting for john as the first person to scale the world trade center, having him as the correct answer for the one thing (defeating spiderman in arm wrestling, perhaps?), even though he wasn't one of the choices. and guy "lookalikeaspider" or something like that. loved reading the profile on guy, too.

cherished fellows, guy and john. seems they enriched you all, and i'm so truly sorry for your loss - yours personally, as i know you were so close; the others close to them, like lena, their families, etc; your entire community; and all of us, really - people like that, i believe, enrich us all, even those of us who never met them. but the enrichment stays with us, even though the heart hurts so bad knowing that they're physically gone, knowing that the only connection you'll now have with them is in your heart, mind, and soul. but maybe that's more important than anything. it's hard now, terribly hard, and it always will be in many ways, but moving on and living life to the fullest, as they did while they were here, is the best - maybe the only - way to truly honor them, and to honor them every minute of your life.

sincere best wishes in your mourning and healing.

kelly
(printed with permission)