tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259650071875106920.post7047082251433308063..comments2023-07-24T05:21:36.080-05:00Comments on Confluence City: On the desecration of Hunter's shrinePoetry Scoreshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15624640062686409332noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259650071875106920.post-70093488879246851612010-06-23T16:24:42.544-05:002010-06-23T16:24:42.544-05:00Hi Chris,
Funny I should be seeing you tonight a...Hi Chris, <br /><br />Funny I should be seeing you tonight and just now read this--I would love to see a tree of all those Hunter touched.<br /><br />I heard of a recent suicide, which made me google his name, hoping for a fix. He was indeed one of the most "thrillingly alive" people I have ever met, and, although I've never felt literally haunted by him, I sense his absence. Our friendship taught me a lot and made me feel more alive. <br /><br />The last time I saw him was at my college graduation. I hadn't planned on attending, but he convinced me to go with the incentive that he would be there. I heard of his suicide while out of the country weeks later. <br /><br />Thank you for sharing your story.<br /><br />Amy<br /><br />My candle burns at both ends<br />It will not last the night;<br />But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends -<br />It gives a lovely light.<br />--Edna St. Vincent MillayBroadwayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16692585162253302536noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259650071875106920.post-71543000742835878122009-11-18T13:54:59.792-06:002009-11-18T13:54:59.792-06:00For some reason, today, Hunter came to mind, and I...For some reason, today, Hunter came to mind, and I realized that not having commented on your original post, was on my list of unfinished business, and that it needed to be done as soon as I was able. I did not know Hunter well, but my passing impression of him was that he was brilliant, gifted, large-hearted, truly original, and troubled. I split the bill with him once at Fred's, and endured his heckles there also. The song I wrote to his memory, just came out wrong. It was too soon-- I should have counted to ten before I wrote it, and counted to ten again, before Lindy was invited into the studio, where she read the lyrics for the first time, already seated at the microphone. Suicide, is the tragedy of tragedies, but hardest most of all, for those of us left among the living. That should have been the song's focus; the weight of the words, and it's compassion, should have, most of all, served the living. I have since rewritten it, and there's no saw and no blame, just a boy and a girl, a song and a guitar, and, the loss. More in the vein of a simple fairy tale (as you once observed of it, Chris, I think); abstract, implying no real persons and no real events. I like it better this way, and feel okay about playing it out for folks. I greatly regret the words of the initial version, and all that they might have implied, unintentionally, in their ambiguity. I certainly regret Hunter's last, final decision (I have, only come close, to it). And I think that Hunter would have regretted it, too, were he able.Chris Johnsonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4259650071875106920.post-48037494053803485152008-11-28T10:06:00.000-06:002008-11-28T10:06:00.000-06:00This message was left on MySpace by a musician who...This message was left on MySpace by a musician who met Hunter on the gig we did two days before he killed himself:<BR/><BR/>I had a chance to talk to Hunter after the Jacobsmeyer's gig.<BR/>I had never met him but in the short conversation about music he seemed really genuine and spoke from the heart.<BR/>The conversation ended very abrubtly with an interuption from<BR/>a drunken aquaintence of mine who felt his attention was more important than Hunters. Hunter wrote down my phone number. That was the last and only time I would speak to him.<BR/>I was really excited that another musician showed interest in my music and went home and told my wife. A few days later Bob Kirksey told me of his death. Needless to say I was saddened. I still have the Riverfront Times article on his passing in the bottom drawer of my dresser with a stack of Bottle Rockets t-shirts that I've outgrown or have worn out but will never throw away.<BR/>Sincerely,<BR/>Steve ChosichPoetry Scoreshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15624640062686409332noreply@blogger.com