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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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May 15, 2011 - 01:36pm PT
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Absolutely indelible characters!
Gotta love climbing for that...
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BooDawg
Social climber
Butterfly Town
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May 26, 2011 - 03:57pm PT
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Here is an email that Midori sent to me on 4/30/11.
Hi, Ken
Thank you very much for your mail.
I am very glad to know many people love Sheridan and I want to let them know how great he was.
It is hard for me to write in English but I will try.
I first met him in 1979 or 80.
The year before that my former husband Toshio visited him.
His book was published in Japan. We lived in L.A. USA at that time.
He gave me a letter when Toshio visited him.
He said he liked me very much and wanted see me.
I was very surprised because it was the first time somebody likes me even though we have never seen.
Then Toshio and I visited Chiloquin to see him.
And we became very close and Toshio and I moved to Chiloquin in 1981.
We had a great time but Toshio passed away from the bubonic plague 5 months after we moved.
Then I came back Japan alone.
When I have time I will write stories I spent with Sheridan.
Midori Sasaya
5/20/11
Hi Ken
Thank you for your reply.
The CD I sent is Sheridan's letters.
I would like to share with Supertopo or someone who likes him if you think it is O.K. with Sheridan.
Please let me know after you read his letters.
You don't need to send it back to me.
I want to let people know how great he was. That is my goal.
I am writing the story about the days I spent with him but it will take time.
Another man Steve (Grossman?) gave me a mail and he said I can write it in Japanese because it is too hard for me writing in English.
I will let you know when I finish it.
Thanks you, Midori
5/25/11
Hi Midori,
Today the CD that you sent to me arrived at my home in Hawaii, and I was very excited to see it. I have looked at all the letters and the drawings that he created and sent to you. If he wrote you more than a hundred letters, he must have liked you very much. I am sorry that you have lost so many of them; it would be wonderful if we could add more of his words and drawings to his legacy. But what you have sent me gives to his friends in the climbing community another side of his drawings that his climbing cartoons don’t display. And his own, personal written words are not generally available or known at all, outside of his cartoon books on fly-fishing or back-packing.
Knowing Sheridan as I did, I am sure that he would have been proud, both of the drawings that he did and the words that he wrote to you. He could find both humor and Truth in nearly everything around him, especially himself.
I think Sheridan’s memory & legacy is best served by letting the climbing community see for themselves what you have offered as his own drawings and written words. I may be able to clarify some questions that others may have, and certainly others will have their own insights into his complex personality and life.
In your email to me on April 30th of this year, you said that when you had time, you would write stories about the experiences that you had with Sheridan. I know that I, and many others who knew him, would very much like to hear your stories. I understand that writing in English may seem difficult, but what you have written to the me and the climbing community so far tells me that your English writing is fine for telling your personal stories about the times that you spent with Sheridan. So please make the time if you can, and share your memories of our friend with us.
With much gratitude, Ken Boche (BooDawg)
Here is the first of the letters that are on the CD. I am in the midst of moving out of my house here in Hawaii and will be in the Yosemite area within a week, so as you imagine my life is in some disarray, so the letters will have to dribble out to The Taco as I can make the time for posting them. So sorry!
The CD was accompanied by a personal note to me which reads:
Dear Ken
Very happy to know you.
This is CD of Sheridan’s letters I still have.
I am so sorry I have lost a hundred of his letters. But I still memorize what he said.
You can share this CD on the Super Topo Forum, if you think it is O.K. with Sheridan.
Midori
(If there is anyone who knew Sheridan and who thinks he might object to these postings, please post your objections here or P.M. me.)
Also on the CD is a photo of Sheridan with some good-sized trout!
This first one is labeled “Airmail01” so I’m just going to take the letters in order and hope Midori put them in chronological order.
The Body of the letter starts here. Looks like he did the drawing, then typed over/around it. I suppose the drawing is a fantasy portrait of Midori.
I made a copy of the outside of the letter then cropped and inverted the bottom portion of the original, so that it’s easier for all here on the Taco to read.
There are several gems in the letter; my favorite is, “Got a phone… Helps me hang on to whatever sanity is left.”
The letter also reveals that the book of Sheridan's that Midori refers to in her letter to me as being published in Japan was his Backpacking book.
Truly, Sheridan's letters are works of art!
Any comments or insights?
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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May 26, 2011 - 10:47pm PT
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BooDawg!
Wow!
Many thanks to you and,
many more thanks to Midori.
More please.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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May 26, 2011 - 11:01pm PT
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Indeed!
We'll be looking forward to seeing the rest when you get settled down again, Boo Dawg.
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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May 27, 2011 - 08:11am PT
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Bubonic plague is as close as the friendly chipmunk and its fleas in the campground.
From Center For Disease Control Website: human plague in the United States has occurred as mostly scattered cases in rural areas (an average of 10 to 15 persons each year). Globally, the World Health Organization reports 1,000 to 3,000 cases of plague every year. In North America, plague is found in certain animals and their fleas from the Pacific Coast to the Great Plains, and from southwestern Canada to Mexico. Most human cases in the United States occur in two regions: 1) northern New Mexico, northern Arizona, and southern Colorado; and 2) California, southern Oregon, and far western Nevada.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/plague/
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guido
Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
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May 27, 2011 - 12:54pm PT
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Boo
Can't wait to see the rest of the letters.
see yah soon.
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BooDawg
Social climber
Butterfly Town
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May 27, 2011 - 01:34pm PT
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These next two appear together on the CD in their own separate folder, so I'm assuming that they are flip-sides of the same letter. However the postmark on the letter says May 27, 1982 while the date that Sheridan begins his letter with is May 26, '81, like he'd lost track of what year it was...
I like the way he personalized the address.
Here's the letter:
I'm projecting here when I think that the wolf that he drew as the background for the letter is really a self-portrait who was drooling over Midori. Look at that sparkle in the wolf's eyes and the tongue!
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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May 27, 2011 - 03:22pm PT
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Nice posts - thanks!
Tami, you may want to read "Plagues and Peoples" (W.H. McNeill) or "Rats, Lice and History" (Hans Zinsser). They're full of interesting stuff about the importance of disease in human history, including how the plague bacillus came to be endemic in western North America. Essentially, there are several reservoirs of plague in Eurasia and Africa, including Mongolia. Largely confined to rodents, but occasionally erupting into humans. There was an outbreak in Mongolia and Manchura - essentially, northern China - in the late 19th century. By then, there was regular maritime contact between China and San Francisco. One theory is that it was transmitted by passengers on those vessels, either human or rodents.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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May 27, 2011 - 04:00pm PT
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Mighty,
You do Tami a disservice by not mentioning the proven prophylaxis practiced
by the Flagellants during the Black Death. It got to be pretty popular so
she might wanna try it ifn she goes camping in an infected area.
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midori
climber
fujisawa japan
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May 28, 2011 - 03:56am PT
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In the case of Toshio, the plague was transmitted by a flea. A flea jumped to a squirrel or a mouse from a wild animal.It is guessed. He is infected with the plague in Chiloquin Oregon. There is a latency period between one week from 3rd.
He visited LA during a latency period.
He became sick there with high heat continues.
He was admitted to the UCLA hospital in LA, but a name of disease was not discovered. The plague was found by an autopsy after he died.
He should have recovered with an antibiotic if they knew it was the plague.
They gave several kinds of antibiotics but it didnot work.
Only a specific antibiotic works for the plague. It is medicine called Chloromycetin in the Japanese name.
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BooDawg
Social climber
Butterfly Town
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May 28, 2011 - 06:05am PT
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Greetings, Midori,
It’s so kind of you to join us here and to help us understand the full meanings of these letters and his artwork in the context of Sheridan’s personal life. I have a few of questions for you, but I’ll ask them in the context of another letter.
The next four scans are all in the same folder on the CD, so again, I’m assuming that they are all parts of the same letter, but as one can see, they all hold together as a unit. It is interesting that neither the envelope nor the letter have dates on them although it does appear that the stamps were cancelled (very lightly!).
Since it is addressed to you, Midori, alone in Chiloquin, would it be correct that this letter was written and sent after your husband died? What would you guess is the date this letter was written?
Midori, can you tell us anything about the picture that is pasted onto the outside of the envelope? Is there a story to tell about it?
I have two favorite parts: “the men in and around the Chiloquin area, most are shiftless louts who couldn’t tell love from indigestion.”
The other is the Lord Byron Poem at the end.
Midori, do you think his drawings of the woman in these letters are supposed to represent you?
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midori
climber
fujisawa japan
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May 28, 2011 - 07:36am PT
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Toshio died Nov.22 '81
At that time Sheridan was in Vegas.
Because the winter climate in Ore.is not good for his asthma
sO he moved to Las Vegas before winter.
And I came back Japan the end of December.
I lived alone by the Sprague river in Chiloquin about a month.
He worried about me very much.
The picture is Spurague river raft race.
Yes,the woman he drew is me.
He often wrote about Tono,that was name of my dog.
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BooDawg
Social climber
Butterfly Town
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May 28, 2011 - 05:29pm PT
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Midori, thank you for clarifying that the woman in these drawings is you. In the CD package that you sent me, and on the CD, is a picture that I believe was taken of you in Oregon during the time you lived there. However it is a very dark picture, so I am going to wait to brighten it up in the Photoshop program when I get back to California. However, I wonder if you would be so kind as to post one or more pictures of you taken recently?
The following letter is postmarked May 25, 1981.
Midori, did you and Toshio eventually buy the house for sale that is mentioned in the letter?
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midori
climber
fujisawa japan
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May 28, 2011 - 07:39pm PT
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Toshio and I did not buy the house.
Though it was good to be very near to Sheridan's house in a town
Large-scale repair was necessary.
Thus I rent a house of the bank of the river in the mountain.
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BooDawg
Social climber
Butterfly Town
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May 29, 2011 - 04:31am PT
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This scan, like the previous two, has a Japanese label which I cannot read. There is no envelope, nor any letter or date associated with it. There is only this lovely drawing.
On the CD, the following 2 scans are labeled air-mail02. The "airmail"
series were sent to Midori after her return to Japan following the passing of her husband Toshio. The envelope is dated March 11, 1982.
Midori, do you think that this drawing is a self-portrait of Sheridan, a picture of himself?
With the Top-hat, the character takes on an Abe Lincoln - like personna.
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midori
climber
fujisawa japan
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May 29, 2011 - 06:14am PT
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I think this man doesn't look like him.
But I recieved 2 or 3 times the picture of the man like this.
And the picture of an animal in an envelope painted yellow is Tono.
I beieve.
Because he drew it after I sent him a picture of Tono.
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Fritz
Trad climber
Choss Creek, ID
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May 29, 2011 - 01:56pm PT
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Midori: Thank you again for sharing your letters and memories.
In the early 1980's I remember reading about a Boy Scout in Utah that died of Bubonic Plague. The doctors failed to diagnose the disease, until it was too late to save the boy.
It turned out that his troop had caught and skinned some rodent as part of a "Wilderness Survival" course. That was the best guess on how he caught the flea that bit and infected him.
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Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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May 29, 2011 - 02:47pm PT
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Midori and Ken,
Wonderful collection of illustrated letters!
Thanks for sharing these gems with us.
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BooDawg
Social climber
Butterfly Town
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May 29, 2011 - 04:31pm PT
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This next one I could not make out the date on the postmark, and he didn't put much of his artistic talent into the address on the letter, But I LOVE his drawing of the crocodile/alligator going off to find some fish, possibly breakfast.
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BooDawg
Social climber
Butterfly Town
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May 30, 2011 - 04:49pm PT
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Here is the last of the letters that Midori sent me. There is a folder on the CD for a 5th aerogram but there are no photos in there. So except for the two photos that require Photoshop which I will do in CA, I have no more content to post here at this time. One of those photos does show Sheridan carrying more weight than I ever saw on him in life, so the reference to fasting in this last letter is not surprising, except that, perhaps, he attained a level of self-discipline that I never knew him to possess.
Thank you, Midori, for sharing these letters with us. We are really looking forward to hearing your stories about the times that you spent with Sheridan. It is clear from these letters that he liked you very much! Do you have any of them completed yet?
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