tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283005317456814429.post1535677155094597635..comments2024-02-21T04:41:15.485-05:00Comments on Birding with Kenn and Kimberly: So long, RichKenn Kaufmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04770640232654807723noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283005317456814429.post-29081926642277808722015-11-13T16:16:12.200-05:002015-11-13T16:16:12.200-05:00Thank you for your poetic and spiritual tribute to...Thank you for your poetic and spiritual tribute to Rich Stallcup. I think you captured his gifts perfectly. I was thinking of him just now as I choked up watching a magnificent little slate colored junco making a happy mess in a bird feeder captured by a Cornell birdcam in Ontario, Canada. Rich would have totally understood the sacred relationship I feel to birds. Once when trudging around Abbott's Lagoon and finally making it over the dunes, upon the first sighting of the Pacific Ocean (it was a rare, clear, blue-sky day at Pt. Reyes) I threw up my hands, fell on my knees (in the sand of course) and said, "thank you God." In a fit of embarrassment I looked at Rich who was standing right next to me. Instead of smirking he smiled and nodded his head very slowly....Yes he said.<br /><br />Another memory: standing under an owl roost tree on one of his legendary Wednesday Pt. Reyes Bird Walks, Rich picked apart a bunch of owl pellets and completely reconstructed the skeleton of a vole. It sat in his outstretched palm for all of us to see.<br /><br />Francis of Assisi and Rich Stallcup understood the way nature connects us to the Divine and all life, with love, compassion and awe.<br /><br />I miss him so much.dulcimer45https://www.blogger.com/profile/02475554604895364483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283005317456814429.post-25324909207785368922013-01-16T16:47:15.935-05:002013-01-16T16:47:15.935-05:00Great tribute and I have to say I do like his pers...Great tribute and I have to say I do like his perspective on the bird counting game.Larryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15173127478266831293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283005317456814429.post-24788172368343742332013-01-11T18:13:38.517-05:002013-01-11T18:13:38.517-05:00My sympathies for the loss of your friend. Like ma...My sympathies for the loss of your friend. Like many, I 'met' Rich in your book Kingbird Highway, and felt like he was somehow a friend of mine, too. You've introduced many kindred spirits to each other, whether they know it or not. Or should I say, "Kenndred"? :)<br /><br />Marcheta *kindred spiritMarchetahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18423058265941734231noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283005317456814429.post-79786078036593005732012-12-24T10:17:07.817-05:002012-12-24T10:17:07.817-05:00Kenn, thank you for sharing your experiences with ...Kenn, thank you for sharing your experiences with Rich in your book and this blog. Many of us were not lucky enough to meet Rich in real life, but were able to experience his wisdom, in part, through you.<br /><br />I was personally touched by his "list quote" in Kingbird Highway and have since "re-quoted" it to several others. Like you, I have found it inspirational and profoundly truthful - not only in birding but in life as well. Although I have never met Rich, he has made my life better... via Kenn Kaufman's writings!<br /><br />I know it doesn't really need to be said, but I just wanted to point out what a wonderful service you've done for Rich Stallcup, and for birders in general, to be the bridge between us and a truly great man. Thank you, Kenn.<br /><br />-Kirk Roth<br />IndianapolisAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283005317456814429.post-82416666800207942902012-12-23T01:29:18.493-05:002012-12-23T01:29:18.493-05:00I live in Novato and was lucky enough to know Rich...I live in Novato and was lucky enough to know Rich in his last 5 years. As soon as I heard of his passing, I dedicated the CBC that I'm the compiler for, Cheep Thrills, to Rich. The circle includes Novato, where Rich lived. Last year he helped us restart it and served as an area leader (in his neighborhood and surrounding areas) and master of ceremonies at the compilation dinner. You can imagine what a master he was! <br /><br />We held it on Thursday, 12/20. I've posted a report about this on the North Bay Birds Yahoo group and if you'd like me to forward a copy please send me an email at this address: cbc@marinaudubon.org. <br /><br />To help all of you who are missing him so much, Rich left us some poetry. We read two of them at the compilation dinner Thursday night. This one, written in 1977 with a co-author, is about a butterfly, and liberation. It appeared in the journal "Raven, Poems from Naturalists in support of Mono Lake." I hope it comforts you, and everyone who reads it. <br />___________<br /><br />Mariposa, mariposa how I love you<br />Your wings reflect the rainbows of the sun<br />I'll be with you mariposa in the high sky<br />When the flowers of the foothills<br />have turned brown<br /><br />The breeze that brought you to my eyes<br />Is breath of both our mother<br />For you sweet dainty butterfly<br />are oh so sure my brother<br /><br />I remember we were children of the lupine<br />I remember hearing rain on our cocoon<br />We spread new wings<br />For spring and April sunshine<br />We'll fly together<br />brightly always soon<br /><br />The stars that guide you home to breed<br />light the path of our first cousins<br />Between the shadows narrowly<br />Mariposa de los noches<br /><br />Mariposa, mariposa how I love you<br />Your wings reflect the rainbows of the sun<br />I'll be with mariposa in the high sky<br />When the flowers of the foothills have turned brown<br /><br />Mariposa de los noches...... comin' home.<br />____________<br /><br />We mourn for ourselves, desperately wanting him back. Rich is free. <br /><br />Susan Kelly<br />Compiler, Rich Stallcup's Cheep Thrills CBC<br />Novato<br /><br /><br />(Kenn and Kimberly, we met at that wonderful week at Hog Island two years ago, when I attended the Field Ornithologist week with my friend Anne, and again at the Winter Wings festival earlier this year.)<br /><br /> Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09526690489549348075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283005317456814429.post-41229557566651787612012-12-20T16:06:42.445-05:002012-12-20T16:06:42.445-05:00Thank you for this insightful, cheering tribute. I...Thank you for this insightful, cheering tribute. I am relatively new in the birding community, and only spent time with Rich on three occasions, yet I have felt deeply moved over and over since Sunday evening when I learned about his death.J.C. Chamberlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10036849288825784784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283005317456814429.post-46005011915480927832012-12-18T20:42:56.207-05:002012-12-18T20:42:56.207-05:00Thank you for writing so beautifully about Rich. ...Thank you for writing so beautifully about Rich. I will miss running into him here in Marin County, leading a line of people loaded with binocs and scopes and field guides. I will miss his elfin humor. He taught me to keep watching the bird until it flies off. I see so much more when I look longer.<br /><br />Nancy HansonNancy Hansonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283005317456814429.post-21378584417677427442012-12-18T13:00:56.994-05:002012-12-18T13:00:56.994-05:00A wonderful tribute, Kenn. Thank you for sharing h...A wonderful tribute, Kenn. Thank you for sharing him with us.<br />I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. <br /><br />Kelly Kelly McKinnenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283005317456814429.post-22404993148536309732012-12-18T12:50:17.658-05:002012-12-18T12:50:17.658-05:00Beautifully written. Your sketching of his words ...Beautifully written. Your sketching of his words and personality make me feel the loss of someone I never met.Jason Kesslerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09078079559796728394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7283005317456814429.post-46091821983086422142012-12-18T07:40:54.144-05:002012-12-18T07:40:54.144-05:00Kenn, So sorry to hear that you have lost a good f...Kenn, So sorry to hear that you have lost a good friend. He sounded like a wonderful guy and I would have loved to have met him.<br /><br />RandyRandy Kreagernoreply@blogger.com