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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Apr 30, 2013 - 05:58pm PT
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Thank you, Pat, for such wonderful writing. I never met Kor, but greatly admired, perhaps really idolized, Pratt. I don't think any climber affected the way I climbed -- or how I wanted to climb -- more than he.
Thanks again.
John
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Wick
Trad climber
NY
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Apr 30, 2013 - 06:11pm PT
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Thanks Pat, wonderfully written, brought me to tears.
Your friend,
Wick Dilliams
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the albatross
Gym climber
Flagstaff
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Apr 30, 2013 - 06:43pm PT
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Wow, what an incredible, insightful piece of writing.
I didn't get to know Layton until just a few years ago, when he was already quite overtaken by illness. The handful of times we did get to climb together I could see that light, that driving force that must have astounded you all half a century ago.
Thank you for sharing this treasure.
Albert
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Apr 30, 2013 - 11:35pm PT
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I wanted to post something else too, but I have been down and
out. Between the almost immobilizing sadness of losing Layton
and the difficulty I'm having right now with my insulin, blood
glucose level tonight approaching 400, I am a heap of useless
flesh and bone....
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Jennie
Trad climber
Elk Creek, Idaho
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Apr 30, 2013 - 11:54pm PT
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Earnest prayers for your well-being, Pat...
Are you able to procure adequate insulin to control your blood sugar? I hate to preach...but four hundred level blood sugar levels over time can destroy your kidneys and affect your eyesight
God bless you...
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Big Mike
Trad climber
BC
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Both in large part ignored those forces in society that compelled them to conform.
Wow pat.. Wow. I know someone like that! ^^^^^^^^^^^ ;)
Sounds like Layton took quite a few factor 2's over his years? ;)
Very nice piece. Thank you. This is why i'm here... Layton sounds a lot like me in my youth, but 100 times harder!!
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - May 1, 2013 - 05:34pm PT
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Thanks, Jennie, for your concern. I have been working
with my doctor. She has me on a certain dose of insulin,
and it just isn't doing anything. She says I can up the dose
every so many days, which I have been doing, but still no
luck in stabilizing the glucose levels.... I'm five times
higher now than where we started. I wanted to post
another piece but get totally trashed and weak when the
level goes over about 160.... Bedtime last night was 320,
and you feel like a truck hit you.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Had I the power I would make them young again, so that other new generations might discover and love them.
Oh you have surely accomplished this my friend. And our thanks extend far beyond words for this magic rite which you have so eloquently performed.
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - May 3, 2013 - 12:16pm PT
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Thank you so much, Roy. It was great to finally meet
you, there in Canyonlands....
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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How lucky you are to have gotten so close to both Layton and Chuck that you can offer this insight to their similarities and differences.
And how lucky are we to be allowed to read this brilliant essay in its present form.
My thanks.
I never met Kor, but greatly admired, perhaps really idolized, Pratt.
Me, too.
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jabbas
Trad climber
New River, AZ
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Great writing to paint the past into the present.
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - May 3, 2013 - 06:04pm PT
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Thank you, my friends, Pat
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Dave Davis
Social climber
Seattle, WA
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You were very fortunate to know both these men, and we are fortunate to be able to read such an eloquent and insightful piece about them.Thanks.
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GBear
Social climber
Loveland, CO United States
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I met Layton Kor just once, briefly, and consider it an honor. Chuck was a friend and I loved him. His death affected me deeply and I miss him still. Thank you, Pat, for your magical words. Your insights and beautiful descriptions are a treasure to me.
Sincere wishes for better health for you.
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - May 6, 2013 - 12:34pm PT
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I think the tendency is to grieve quickly and move on. I, personally,
never want to stop grieving -- or rather, have no desire to
cease celebrating -- the life of
my departed friends. It is a rare day I don't think of Chuck Pratt
or Don Whillans... or many others I loved and still love. Let's not
let Layton's threads fall away, as so many threads do.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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May 11, 2013 - 10:22pm PT
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'Just had to read this again ... you know; one more squeeze of the lemon to see if I could get some more juice. Can't believe (of course I can) just how well this piece reads. Probably gonnah have to come back for more after the buzz from the second reading wears off ...
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deuce4
climber
Hobart, Australia
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May 11, 2013 - 10:28pm PT
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I also find Kor's "after-climbing life" fascinating. I only met Kor once, after a day at one of the Vegas trade shows. We sat and talked in Denny's for hours and hours (eventually kicked out by the waitress in the wee hours of the night)--talking about climbing, life, scuba diving--the common theme being all about finding oneself in pursuits that require one to push one's own boundaries.
That to me is what Kor was really all about. Pat's piece really brings that out in a poetic way.
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - May 13, 2013 - 01:08pm PT
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Thank you so much, Roy, and everyone. My book "Everything That
Matters" was in large part a kind of journal writing, lots of
rough scribblings. I did get serious and revise and craft several
of the chapters of that book, but this one about Layton and Chuck
came fast and easy. Yet it needed some trim down. I was working with
poet Edward Dorn, prior to his passing, and he kept insisting that I
stop revising and simply write in journal fashion and let the inner
depths come out as they might, in a more spontaneous way. I found
I could produce some good stuff but always a bit lengthy and with
unneeded stuff. In later life now, in terms of prose writings, I
try to keep that journal aspect but always add the important
editing later and trim down. Poetry is a whole other world of
techniques and approaches....
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Patrick Oliver
Boulder climber
Fruita, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - May 17, 2013 - 10:11pm PT
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I am surprised there are no other posts of writings about
Layton. There are a few good ones in Beyond the Vertical,
including Royal's intro (although he makes a couple minor
mistakes with dates..., such as that his first trip to
Colorado was summer 1963, not '64).... Doug Robinson, did
you climb with Layton? I would love to hear your thoughts or
if you ever wrote something about an adventure.
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Yeah, BBST, all you gun nuts and conservative and liberal blowhards!
Hey, somebody get that Science Thread!
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