[IRCA] Remembering John B.
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

[IRCA] Remembering John B.



Jim Renfrew, Holley NY

I first had opportunity to interact with John when he was editing Proceedings, and he cajoled me into writing an article about Medium Wave DX TA, Central and South American targets. Later, he would submit his reports to International DX Digest of the NRC when I edited that column. Over the years I've had much correspondence with him, one on one and through the different threads on the lists. He was a Newfoundland DX vet, though I never crossed beverages with him there. I was very sorry to hear the news of his untimely death - good friends are never easy to come by, and he had so much more to offer. Others have given eloquent testimonies about John, and I endorse everything I've read during the last day.

However, I can't resist sharing something I wrote three years ago, my imagined PBS documentary on John's Easter Island DXadventure. Here it is, RIP John!

Morgan Freeman: After months of prepartion [video collage of John B throwing red-faced tantrums as he begs his family to let him go, final meeting with bank loan officer in which veiled reference to "a pound of flesh" is made, large steamer trunks sitting on the pier, tearful send-off by friends and family (including an awkward moment in which a Graylander is found stowed away in one of the trunks), small plane bouncing through thunder and lightening], John B faces some unanticipated obstacles when he reaches Easter Island ...

[Video shot shows a big walrus sidling up to the beverage]

John B: Hey! Leggo that wire!

[Video shot shows John B with firm grip on wire in desperate tug-of-war with walrus, as both teeter on cliff edge]

Morgan Freeman: But it's all in a day's work for the serious DXer ...

[Collage of video shots showing John B being strip-searched at airport, John B passing through check point manned by hooded members of the Pascua Liberation Front, John B being attacked by rabid penguins after unwittingly stumbling into their mating area, John B (wearing ninja suit) hunting down the offensive dimmer light in the bowels of the hotel while the security guard is dozing, John B eating the local staple (raw squid with seaweed garnish)

Morgan Freeman: And trying to explain it all to the skeptical local citizenry ...

[video shot of John B in local pub]

John B: And then the big signal from Nibi-Nibi came blasting in just as my batteries failed

Morgan Freeman: Next week, John B develops an ingenius antenna system making use of the bars of his jail cell, using his prosthetic knee as a balun. Check your local PBS listing for the scheduled broadcast of Part 2, "DXing at the End of the World"
_______________________________________________
IRCA mailing list
IRCA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/irca

Opinions expressed in messages on this mailing list are those of the original contributors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the IRCA, its editors, publishing staff, or officers

For more information: http://www.ircaonline.org

To Post a message: irca@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx