Hail and farewell to a longtime D/K poster (and a friend), after-the-jump ….
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As was noted by i saw an old tree today this past Sunday: the frequent D/K poster Elwood Dowd has died. I discovered it earlier that morning, when I wondered why he hadn’t responded to my e-mails in a bit (and wanted to see when he last posted on D/K). When I looked at his profile and saw the R.I.P. headstone … as John Mayall once sang, ♫♫ “Night came early in my day” ♫♫
And while his name was listed at a local funeral parlor (with a date-of-death on Monday, April 7th) with the words, “complete obituary to follow” … ten days later, this has not yet happened. When I mentioned that I was going to write about him later in the week … it was partly stalling on my part; just not having many facts to go on.
It was only when I contacted the former host of the Drinking Liberally chapter here (which went dormant upon his relocation ... before I relocated here due to a job change and re-started it) that he pointed me to his daughter’s social media account which told the tale. First, a bit about his life.
Mike Ladam adopted his pen name Elwood Dowd from the 1950 Jimmy Stewart film Harvey (as seen in the photo above). He was born in 1952 here in Keene, New Hampshire and living (most of) his life here. GrumpyOldGeek located his National Merit award photo.
He was a Dartmouth College grad and while I am unsure what his job titles involved: he did some IT work for the state Public Utilities Commission in his later years before retirement. He was a folk music devotee (Tom Paxton and David Bromberg for starters), a contract bridge enthusiast and he and his wife donated to causes: from our local theater company to the Carter Center in Atlanta.
We first met when I had that job change in 2013 that brought me to Keene. I had previously been the chapter host of the meet-up group Drinking Liberally in Hanover, New Hampshire (where Dartmouth College is situated) and as noted, helped revive the dormant chapter here. Re-starting such a group takes time, yet he was almost always there (on 1-2 nights, the only attendee) before we began to grow. He was also active on the (long-since defunct) Blue Hampshire political blog (with veteran D/K writer Laura Clawson another major contributor).
Those of you who’ve ever attended a D/L session know (especially if the Usual Suspects are in attendance) that politics is not our sole topic of discussion: family, work, travel, books, films and concerts are often discussed. Mike would always regale newcomers by mentioning his contacting John Sebastian’s website, asking about the time John spent two summers here at a local youth camp (and the music store he frequented). They had quite a conversation (one reply came in five minutes). Plus, as a native: Mike could resolve discussion issues of local/regional concern (politics and otherwise) with historical background.
We had a sort of middle-aged/senior relationship: we met 2x/month at our gatherings, exchanged e-mails and he might give me a ride home if I needed to undergo anesthesia for a hospital procedure … yet we did not socialize otherwise, go to each other’s homes, etc. Hence, I was not aware of his predicament.
He was involved politically: losing a 1972 campaign for public office (finishing third in a top-two race to two Republicans) and for years worked the local polls as an official. He was a frequent letter-to-the-editor writer for our local newspaper. Some examples: Election integrity (Nov, 2016), and allowing shopping without a mask in a restricted time period (May, 2020).
Unquestionably, his most compelling story was learning that he lived (practically) next door to Christopher Cantwell— who became known as the Crying Nazi, due to his involvement in the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Awkwardly, I have several commonalities with Cantwell (being ¾ Irish-American, growing up on Long Island, NY and relocating to this city of 23k population). Mike told attendees of the morning when numerous law enforcement vehicles (of all political levels) swarmed his street to arrest Cantwell. (As an aside: after serving his time, Cantwell was recently arrested elsewhere).
Mike and I last saw each other mid-January, then he e-mailed me to say he was having edema mobility issues. He updated me later (having Home Health Care visits, occupational therapy and physical therapy) … then radio silence. I noted in my post on Sunday that I lacked any details.
It turns out that his wife is ill (perhaps part of the lack of a posted obituary), then to discover that he was stricken with a colon tumor that spread to his liver, causing his death at age seventy-two. Three of his last few diaries were on the subject of Aging in Place— Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. Looking at the last one (from January) it seems … almost a premonition.
After racking-my-brains to think of a parting song: I recall his telling us of his piling into a station wagon to attend a 1980(?) Carnegie Hall reunion concert of the 1950’s folk ensemble The Weavers— Pete Seeger its most well-known member — that suffered under the McCarthy blacklisting. I cannot locate a setlist from that night, but in their repertoire was this Woody Guthrie tune originally titled Dusty Old Dust… but much better known today by its chorus, So Long, It’s Been Good to Know Ya (written forty years earlier).
I’d like to think …… that this would be his parting message to us all.
So long, it's been good to know ya So long, it's been good to know ya So long, it's been good to know ya This dusty old dust is a-getting my home And I've got to be drifting along
Now, on to Top Comments (and some Top Photos):
From Chillier:
From Perlinator:
And from Ed Tracey, your faithful correspondent this evening ........
In the front-page story about the WH religious advisor who suggested you-know-who became interested in Christianity by watching prosperity-gospel advocate Paula White— patrickmarch wonders if the donation gifts she is hawking were pre-or-post tariff?
And lastly: yesterday's Top Mojo - mega-mojo to the intrepid mik ...... who rescued this feature from oblivion:
14) Thanks, anything that works, right? by blueoregon +8014) SCOTUS by Denise Oliver Velez +8025) Vance … by Denise Oliver Velez +6528) Vampires don’t have a reflection by Carmeninvermont +62