Autumn Aspirations and a New Beerchaser Notable

Posted on October 14, 2025 by Thebeerchaser

Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title at the top to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened.(External photo attribution at the end of the post) (#1)

Fall is my favorite season. The crisp air and sunny days in Oregon before we have six months of daily rainfall make it a great place to live. Tailgating at football games is a hallowed tradition and the leaves fall at the same rapid pace as Bill Belichick’s college coaching career at the University of North Carolina, althugh the leaves have better interpersonal skills.(#2 – #3)

College football is now not one of Thebeerchaser’s favored topics – a sentiment reinforced today when the Oregon State Beavers lost to the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest and moved “forward” with a no-win and seven-loss season. Second-year Head Coach Trent Bray was fired the next day.

This cannot be pinned entirely on Coach Bray although he hasn’t done a good job solidifying his position by decisions and media interviews. The disintegration of the former PAC12, the transfer portal and NIL have essentially left OSU in a no-win position — literally.

For example, see below just a few recent headlines greeting Beaver fans in The Oregonian:

You get the gist…..

Not to belabor, but the first two paragraph of the third headlined article reads: (Oregon Live)

“What does rock bottom look like? It can’t look much worse than a cloudy October day in Reser Stadium where Oregon State fans booed, then bailed on the Beavers in a 39-14 loss to Wake Forest.

The Beavers (0-7) withered in every crucial moment and some players appeared to have given up on this OSU coaching staff under head coach Trent Bray.”

Although you might accuse me of living in the past, it’s especially painful since I was there during the Giant Killer era. The memorable highlight was in 1967 when the Beavs beat the OJ Simpson led #1-ranked USC Trojans 3 to 0 following an earlier season win over #2 Purdue and tied then #2 rated UCLA. Coach Dee Andros celebrates the USC win with his players in the photo below. (#4)

Tough to Watch but Fodder for my Introduction

Now my wife and I laugh because she is an Oregon Duck and our older daughter graduated from the University of Washington and married a third-generation, Husky. We love our respective alma maters because of the great educations we received, but football has been a fun topic of banter for years.

I currently serve as Vice President of the Abbey Foundation of Oregon and my responsibilities included helping to organize our recent Board retreat including introducing all of the speakers during that day and one-half gathering at the beautiful Mount Angel Abbey Hilltop. (#5)

One of the speakers was the President Rector of the Seminary, which is now doing very well after downturns and hardship during the pandemic. The backgrounds of Fr. Jeff Eirvin and his predecessor, Monsignor Joseph Betschart – both OSU grads – gave me a perfect opportunity to tap into the current football season in my intro. (see the excerpt below)

“After reflecting on the opening three weeks of the college football season, my wonderful wife of 45 years – by the way, she’s an Oregon Duck – exclaimed:

‘Don, it must be tough for you and other Beavers to watch OSU football this year.’

I responded:

‘Well Janet, while we won’t match U of O Football results in the near future – or ever – our mission at OSU is to continue to build an academic program our football team can be proud of.”

Today’s speaker is an example, and I pointed out to Janet that the last two President Rectors of the Seminary have both been Beavers. Msgr. Betschart, who served in that role for twelve years, graduated from OSU with degrees in nuclear engineering and general science and served five years in the U.S. Navy’s nuclear power program.

Fr. Jeff Eirvin received a BFA from Oregon State and worked in the field of advertising as a graphic designer prior to entering Mount Angel Seminary in 2005. After completing two years at Mount Angel, he completed his Bachelor of Sacred Theology in Rome.” (#6 – #7)

There’s Nothing Artificial About This Guy – the Newest Beerchaser Notable

Moving from football to more intellectual and weighty topics, let’s for a bit, cover artificial intelligence. Some synonyms for “artificial” include “pseudo,” “fake” and “phony” but reading just a few of the articles on this phenomenon would not incline you to use one of these labels to describe this technology.

If one uses a common search engine to inquire, “Is AI a trend?” 6,050,000 potential hits will appear. I haven’t used ChatGPT or any other AI model to help me write; however, a few of my recent blog posts have AI generated images (check the one with the football above). Long term, I’ll admit to more trepidation than optimism on this concept.

That’s why I’m glad that I know an incredibly talented young man named Kevin Frazier. We met in 2022 when he was in his third year at UC Berkley Law and edited a politically oriented on-line newsletter. He can now list on his incredible resume, the designation of “Beerchaser Notable.”

He asked me to submit a few articles recommending the perfect bar or brewery for each of the major Oregon Gubernatorial candidates to hypothetically chat with constituents to discern what was on their minds. I republished them in my blog. (#8) https://thebeerchaser.com/2022/04/29/beer-and-politics-part-1/

A Bright Future

Kevin graduated summa cum laude from the University of Oregon in 2015. He then earned his M.P.A. at the Harvard Kennedy School and subsequently received his JD at Berkley Law where he was Order of the Coif and passed the California Bar in 2022.

The title of this blog post is about aspirations and I had aspired to recruit Kevin to Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt, my former law firm, but after a six-month fellowship at the Miller Institute for Global Challenges and the Law, he received a prestigious one-year clerkship for the Montana Supreme Court.

Now, I received my M.P.A. at Portland State rather than Harvard, but I still had some great conversations with Kevin (he used a less erudite vocabulary) and that’s when I realized that rather than billing clients $500+ an hour, he should use his education to better serve humanity.

He is a true “policy wonk” in the most positive sense of the term. (#9 – #10)

I was therefore very pleased when he accepted a teaching position at the St. Thomas University Benjamin Crump School of Law in Miami, Florida, which welcomed him with an article entitled, “Incoming STU Law Professor Kevin Frazier Selected for Auschwitz Professional Ethics Fellowship Program.”

Concurrently, he was working as a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Law and AI and they persuaded him to leave teaching to join them in a full-time position. It’s an independent think tank that researches and advises on the legal challenges posed by artificial intelligence.

I haven’t figured out (and Kevin’s partner probably hasn’t either) how he has enough time to also serve as a fellow for the Lawfare Institue:

“(The) mission is to produce scientific content on lawfare and the analysis of emblematic cases of the phenomenon. Lawfare is the misuse and abuse of law for political and military ends. It is the injunction of the words law and warfare for it is a legal war.”

Kevin Can Enlighten You Too!

Kevin authors a Substack publication entitled Appleseed AI. It offers essays, videos, and community chats about how to spread AI literacy and make the ingredients for AI innovation more generally available. This is a neglected topic that warrants far more attention. (#11)

An edifying publication

Subscribing to it has given me an education, of sorts, on AI – most notably the policy issues surrounding its implementation and future development. Kevin is an optimist and while I think, at times, he may be just a bit naive about society’s cooperative ability to harness and control this technology, I will leave you with why he has become a sought-after expert.

In his 9/22 article entitled “Mr. Frazier Goes to Washington,” he relates his testimony and that of three other experts before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet. (#12)

I’m biased because of my high regard for him, but the full testimony is shown in a video and I think the Subcommittee directed most of the questions to him. Unlike the disgraceful appearance of Attorney General, Pam Bondi last week before a very partisan Senate Judiciary Committee, this hearing was very bipartisan and informative – in large part because of the cogent expert testimony.

I urge you to check it out and subscribe to Kevin’s publication.

And on a Final Note….

Happy Halloween and be kind to Trick-or-Treaters. In Portland, however, we will unfortunately be cautious about answering the door for a masked person — unless we have our passports handy…(#13)

External Photo Attribution

#1. Wikimedia Commons (File:Acer saccharum Equinox Mountain Vermont.jpg – Wikimedia Commons). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Famartin – 17 October 2020.

#2. Wikimedia Commons (File:Bill Belichick 2019.jpg – Wikimedia Commons). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Author:
AlexanderJonesi – 6 October 2019.

#3. ChatGPT (https://chatgpt.com/c/68ec46d1-bcf8-8328-b304-bf43c5b37d93).

#4. Oregon State Athletic Dept. (https://osubeavers.com/honors/hall-of-fame/dee-andros/43).

#5. Mount Angel Abbey (https://www.mountangelabbey.org/).

#6. Facebook Fr. Jeff Eirvin (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1876536385944106&set=a.1448964055368010).

#7. Mount Angel Abbey ((https://www.mountangelabbey.org/wp-content/uploads/MAL-Summer-2024.pdf).

#8. The Federalist Society (https://fedsoc.org/bio/kevin-frazier).

#9. Linked in – Kevin Frazier ((5) Kevin Frazier | LinkedIn).

#10. Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=kevin%20frazier%20attorney).

#11. (https://appleseedai.substack.com/).

#12. Appleseed A1(https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#search/appleseed/FMfcgzQcpnVJtwBJKfpKPgTpdprgMVbZ).

#13. (https://chatgpt.com/c/68ec46d1-bcf8-8328-b304-bf43c5b37d93)

Beerchaser Notables – Captain Don Wilburn, US Army Air Corps – Part II

Posted on July 24, 2025 by Thebeerchaser

Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title at the top to see all of the photos and the narrative is not clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution at the end of the post) (#1)

In my first post on Don Wilburn, I related a bit about his heroic aerial missions during World War II and the long overdue award of the Distinguished Flying Cross, his time at George Washington University including his friendship with my dad at the SAE house and a bit about his beautiful wife, Jeannette. https://thebeerchaser.com/2025/06/29/beerchaser-notable-captain-don-wilburn-us-army-air-corps-part-i/

In this post, you will learn more about the top-secret mission known as Operation Rusty, the other participants in this undertaking including Elliott Roosevelt (son of FDR) who was the chief navigator on their B-17 named the “Blue Goose.” The background on this mission is compelling and it will convey why I’m honored that my dad – FDW – named me – his first son, after his best friend and fraternity brother. (#2)

Don Wilburn met his future wife, Jeannette Stehman, when he was an SAE at George Washington University. She graduated from Washington–Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia. Jeannette attended SAE house dances at the Washington City Rho chapter such as the one shown from her photo album in the attached picture dated 1939. Don and Jeannette are in the middle of the picture.

You can see that these were more formal affairs than the equivalent SAE functions I attended at Oregon State University such as the one shown below from a house dance in 1967. (We didn’t have a combo playing Big Band music.) (#3)

Don’s goal had always been to be a military pilot, and he applied for Flying Cadet Training in June, 1938 and then had both initial and advanced pilot training in Texas in 1939-40. He was commissioned as a 2^nd Lieutenant and received his pilot rating in November 1939.

His primary duties were Intelligence and Operations and Don trained in aerial mapping photography and flew mapping missions in Alaska and across Canada. Even with his rigorous training and duties as an officer, he took correspondence courses at the University of Texas and his regular letters to Jeannette chronicle his service.

They began dating exclusively, when he returned to Bolling Field in DC in November 1941. With the strong presumption that Don would be undertaking mission overseas, they decided to get married. (#4 – #6)

Duane Williams, Don’s fraternity brother, who had moved to New York and gone to work for American Airlines, made the flight arrangements and traveled to the wedding site with them in Bristol, Tennessee on Feb. 25, 1942. (#7)

The timing was fortuitous because Don was assigned to a top-secret mission named “Operation Rusty” on March 3, 1942 – less than two weeks later. It was an aerial photo mapping mission based in Accra, Gold Coast and the objective was to map North Africa along the Mediterranean and as far as China. He, as co-pilot, assisted in flying one of two B-17 Flying Fortresses equipped for extended long range operation, at high altitudes.

And were those two planes modified! “Two Boeing B‑17B ‘special flights’ were heavily modified by United Airlines at Cheyenne to carry six Fairchild K-17 cameras in a trimetrogon layout and extra long-range fuel tanks. They were painted haze-blue with identification marks removed.” A complete itemization of the alterations can be found at https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Operation_Rusty#About_the_Aircraft

Interviewed after the War, one of the crew members, Lt. William Teague (23) said:

“Our Flying Fortress had to be equipped with cameras and plenty of gas tanks. Each plane had a 3,900-gallon capacity. It was impossible to carry guns of any sort on the bombers. Weight was so carefully allotted that we weren’t even allowed to carry coins in our pockets. In case of enemy attack, our only weapon was altitude, but that was enough.” (#8) (#9 – #12)

He met Captain Elliott Roosevelt, son of the President, who was his chief navigator for the missions shortly after that point. Don’s letters indicate that he and Elliott visited the White House a few times to discuss the mission with FDR. Roosevelt ultimately became a general in the Army Air Force.

The excerpt below from pages 51 – 56 of Roosevelt’s book (As he saw it by Elliott Roosevelt | Goodreads) provides fascinating insight on Operation Rusty.

“….unexpectedly, secret orders came through directing that I report to the commander of the First Mapping Group at Bolling Field, in Washington. There was so much secrecy attending my orders, and the nature of my future assignment, that my hopes were really soaring. Must be something big and important. Surely some sort of overseas assignment.

Well, it was an overseas assignment, all right, but when I found out what it was,
I was a little disgusted. It had code name: RUSTY PROJECT, and it seemed so tame to me that it was more than rusty, it was broken. I was one of two navigators to be assigned to do aerial intelligence and mapping photography of large parts of northern Africa. Africa!

Just before we left, I had a talk with Father, one of our after-breakfast-before-the-day’s-work chats, during which I told him with some disappointment about my supposedly ‘super’ assignment.

To be sure, it was top-secret, but I figured it was possible the Commander-in-Chief knew about it already. He did, and he quickly undertook to explain to me why my job was in fact more important than I had thereto-fore believed. Like all of his explanations, it also served to give me more perspective on the problems and strategies of global warfare, too. He began by glowing with pleasure when I told him what my job was to be.” (#13) (#14)

After the completion of one part of the mission, Don’s letter indicated that he was the last out of the B-17. The crew was standing around and Elliott Roosevelt pinned his own captain’s bars on Don. Roosevelt had just been promoted to major and also wanted to immediately recognize Don’s new rank. (#15)

Promoted to Captain.

This description of Don Wilburn’s role on the final flight of Operation Rusty in April 1942 is solid evidence of why the DFC was eventually awarded. Jason Garver, friend of the Wilburn family has done extensive research and documentation and his description for WikiTree is below:

“40,000 miles, of which nearly half were flown while taking 18,000 photographs in direct preparation for the invasion, were a success. All that was left was for the B-17 to return to its remote base in Accra and transfer the film back to the US to make maps. Less than 1000 miles from this goal, disaster struck in the form of a runaway propeller that threatened to tear the aircraft apart.

To make matters worse this put the aircraft into an uncontrolled plummet that lost 17,000 feet in minutes. If any bailout had been attempted, Elliott and the cameraman would have been left hopelessly trapped in the cramped nose. With a crash a minute or so away, this is where Don Wilburn’s piloting skills came to the rescue. As if righting a plummeting, damaged aircraft was not enough, 800 miles still lie between them and the airfield. Don’s skillful actions made it successful, with everyone and all the film plates safe.

Don Wilburn’s ability to recover from the catastrophic failure and his safe landing of the severely damaged aircraft was critical in getting photographs and intelligence immediately back to The Pentagon. Don Wilburn’s plane was the only aircraft that could get the photographs needed, and crashing would have killed Elliott Roosevelt, causing a huge blow to America’s morale as a whole.” (#16) (#17 – #18)

By the time they got back to Accra the aircraft was so damaged by vibration that it could not be repaired. Don removed the clock from the instrument panel and gave it to younger brother Gene when he returned to the States.

Another excerpt from Roosevelt’s book affirms the close call:

“Almost had to come down in the desert the last day. One engine nearly dropped off 850 miles from base over the desert but it froze and hung by hair & and after landing…the plane practically fell apart.”

Don’s aerial skills were also evident when they encountered German Messerschmidt 109’s and he eluded them by climbing and then ducking into clouds – remember there was no armament and no weaponry on the Blue Goose. (#19)

Eluded the Luftwaffe by evasion

Why did it take so long for Don Wilburn to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross – eighty-three years? Tragically, after arriving back in Washington DC in 1942, he was assigned to duty at MacDill Field in Florida and on a solo flight to the base, he was killed when his plane went down in bad weather on June 1, 1942.

The recommendation for the DFC was first made in 1942 by Colonel Paul Cullen – the commanding officer on the flight where Don’s piloting saved his crew and the plane. Cullen ultimately rose to the rank of Brigadier General.

He was lost on March 23, 1951, along with four senior Strategic Air Command staffers and fifty fliers who mysteriously disappeared with their C-124 transport over the Atlantic Ocean. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1951_Atlantic_C-124_disappearance (#20) (#21)

Cullen and the senior staffers were enroute to England to set up the 7th Air Division, which would spearhead any air assault against the Soviet Union, during a time of increasing tensions with the Communist bloc as the Korean War intensified.

So, the only ones to pursue the DFC were brother, Gene and friends, Jason and Laura Garver and Sue Froehlich (Jeanette Wilburn Froelich’s daughter). With the help of Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, it was finally presented to Gene Wilburn in May 2025. They also collaborated on a submission to the Library of Congress which is now in the archives. Donald Ernest Wilburn Collection | Library of Congress

Captain Wilburn was also honored by the establishment of the Wilburn Area at Bolling Field on July 11, 1942. Don’s parents and Gene were at the dedication of the plaque marking the Area. (#22 – #23)

Mission Success but Tragedy to Accomplish

Any account of Operation Rusty would be incomplete without including details of the flight crew lost on the second B-17 involved in the project:

“In the first days of April 1942, the mission began. The second B-17 went missing, no wreckage was ever found…Now, the entire mission depended on one aircraft and one crew. B-17B tail number 38-223, under the command of Captain Lovell S. Stuber, departed from Borinquen Field (modern-day Ramey Air Force Base), Puerto Rico, for Trinidad on 9 April 1942.

Contact was lost at 1242 Greenwich Civil Time…with the last coordinates being 16°01′12″N 64°12′00″W, with the assumed loss of all on board.”

Lovell “Stube” Stuber and his wife, Ginger socialized with Don and Jeannette and were friends before the mission. There are photos in Jeannette’s album of the couples. Tragically, Captain Stuber left a widow and baby boy when his plane was lost. (#24) (#25)

In Closing

The story of Operation Rusty and those who participated in the successful mission is one of patriotism, extraordinary service and exemplary performance. The crew of the second Flying Fortress gave the last full measure of devotion for their country and were a critical part of the Allied war strategy.

The brotherly love of Gene Wilburn along with the perseverance of Jason and Laura Garver and Sue Froelich in pursuing the Distinguished Flying Cross for Don Wilburn is a remarkable story in itself.

I’m also thankful to Sue Froelich for reaching out with the comment on this blog almost three years ago. While I knew that my namesake, Don Williams, was a wonderful friend of my dad and served as a pilot in the War, only to be killed in a tragic plane crash in the States, I never knew about Operation Rusty and his critical role in it. This makes the legacy of the gesture by my parents even more meaningful.

External Photo Attribution

#1 – #7, #15, #25. Photo Album of Jeannette Wilburn Stehman.

#8. Wikimedia Commons (File:Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress “Sally B” – geograph.org.uk – 4649104.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Author: Evelyn Simak – 6 September 2015.

#9 – #12. Wikietree.com (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Operation_Rusty).

#13. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Lt Col Elliott Roosevelt (cropped).jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Author: US Army – 27 December.

#14. Amazon.com (As He Saw It: The Story of the World Conferences of F.D.R.: Elliott Roosevelt: Amazon.com: Books).

#15. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Dfc-usa.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) The graphic is a representation of an award or decoration of the United States military. It is in the public domain because it contains materials that originally came from a U.S. military award.

#17. – #19. Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122107407968856600&set=a.122098683860856600).

#19. Wikimedia Commons (File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-662-6659-37, Flugzeug Messerschmitt Me 109.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license. Attribution: Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-662-6659-37 / Hebenstreit / CC-BY-SA 3.0. This image was provided to Wikimedia Commons by the German Federal Archive (Deutsches Bundesarchiv) as part of a cooperation project.

#20. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Brigadier General Paul T. Cullen.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Author: US Air Force – circa 1949.

#21. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (22d TCS Douglas C-124A-DL Globemaster II 51-118 – 1951 Atlantic C-124 disappearance – Wikipedia) This image or file is a work of a U.S. Air Force Airman or employee, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. Author: US Air Force – 1952.

#22 – #23 Facebook Page of Jason Garver ((3) Fans of the B-17 Flying Fortress | Facebook).

#24. Captain Lovell Stuber – Wikitree (Captain Lovell Stuber (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Stuber-182).

Beerchaser Notable – Captain Don Wilburn-US Army Air Corps – Part I

Posted on June 29, 2025 by Thebeerchaser

Captain Don Wilburn

(External Photo Attribution at the end of the Post #1)

An Honor Long Overdue

As followers of Thebeerchaser blog are aware, besides conveying the merits (or otherwise) of bars and breweries throughout Oregon and the rest of the US, I periodically identify an individual or group, who may or may not have anything to do with bars or beers.

This feature is titled “Beerchaser Notable,” and the narrative features the stories of these “honorees”, who in my humble opinion, have made a contribution to society and have led fascinating lives. They include academicians, athletes, clerics, media personalities and, of course, lawyers – even my graduate school professor of public finance and my retirement oboe instructor. I’ve known the great majority personally.

And there are a few distinguished military veterans who are combat heroes – more specifically, my SAE fraternity brother Jud Blakely USMC; Doug Bomarito, USN and Steve Lawrence US Army for their service in Viet Nam.

All three were awarded the Bronze Star with Combat V and Blakely and Bomarito received the Purple Heart after being wounded in action. Lawrence also received a Silver Star for action in combat. (#2 – #7)

Who was Captain Don Wilburn?

But this post is to honor a World War II hero – the late Captain Don Wilburn.

The Distinguished Flying Cross:

“Is awarded to any officer or enlisted person of the armed forces of the United States for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight. The heroism or achievement must be entirely distinctive, involving operations that are not routine. The DFC is the fourth highest award for heroism and the highest award for extraordinary aerial achievement.”

Don Wilburn, as did my friends mentioned above, received his medal – the DFC – for heroic wartime action. It was for his remarkable achievement as a pilot in the Army Air Corps during World War II and the posthumous award was not received until eighty-three years later. (#8)

The Distinguished Flying Cross

Wilburn was a pilot on a B-17B Flying Fortress on a Top-Secret reconnaissance mission commenced in the spring of 1942. This mission was named Project (or Operation) Rusty. During the course of this mission, Don flew 40,000 miles in his plane named “The Blue Goose” – 18,000 of which were over enemy territory.

“It was an early—but pivotal—stealth reconnaissance effort that shaped the Allied North African campaign by mapping terrain and assessing enemy logistics, all under the cloak of secrecy, directly involving the President Roosevelt’s son, Elliot. who was a navigator on the plane.” (#9)

On the Blue Goose’s last mission while Don was piloting, engine damage resulting in a runaway prop caused the plane to drop from 25,000 to 8,000 ft in three minutes, 800 miles from base in Accra, Ghana.

His skill as a pilot getting the aircraft back to base saved the crew. An excerpt from the citation recommending the medal by Colonel Paul Cullen, the commanding officer and co-pilot of the B-17 is shown below.

August 5, 1942

SUBJECT: Award of Distinguished Flying Cross (Posthumous)

TO: Commanding General, Army Air Forces, Washington, D. C.

It is recommended that Captain Donald E. Wilburn, Army serial number O38544, be awarded, posthumously, the Distinguished Flying Cross for extraordinary achievement while participating in the highly difficult and strategically important Rusty Project.

Captain Wilburn served as co-pilot of the B-17 airplane used on this mission and showed great skill in operating the aircraft for great distances. In addition, he aided the pilot in averting a fatal crash and bringing the badly damaged airplane safely back to its frontier base.

Note the date of the recommendation above which begs the question why it took so long – until 2025 – for the medal to be awarded. Don suffered fatal injuries shortly after he returned to the US in a June 1, 1942, solo plane crash after taking off on a routine military flight from Boling Field in Washington DC. (#10)

Brother Gene, with Don’s award

You will learn more about the fascinating story of Operation Rusty in this and my next post, but suffice to say, the story encompasses tragedy, perseverance, intrigue, heroism and brotherly love. This mission was a fascinating part of the North African strategy during the War. It was never widely publicized and the recommendation setting forth Don’s performance lay dormant for decades.

There are also additional details on the heroic action Don took while piloting the B17 to land it safely and save his crew – including President Roosevelt’s son, Elliot, the navigator. I also want to share what a wonderful young officer and gentleman Don was during his short life and the connection with my family – a bond that as a result of Thebeerchaser blog, was renewed three years ago. (#11)

A College Friendship

Another Beerchaser Notable was my dad, F. Duane Williams (affectionally known in his later years as “FDW” by our family as related in the 2021 post https://thebeerchaser.com/2021/11/09/fdw-beerchaser-of-the-quarter-part-ii/.

FDW and my mom, Frannie, were happily married for many years after they met in New York City and married in 1943. They were wonderful parents to their four kids.

Dad and Don Wilburn both attended George Washington University in DC in the late 1930’s and met after they joined the SAE Fraternity. Their friendship strengthened and the bond continued after Don joined the Army Air Corps and FDW went to work for American Airlines in New York City. Don met his beautiful future wife, Jeannette while he was in college. (#12 – #13)

Namesake

You’ll have to wait until the next post for more details, but flash forward to 1967 at Oregon State University when Dad was there for the SAE initiation of his first son Donald Wilburn Williams (that’s me!). My youngest brother, Rick, became a member several years later.

Yes, I was named after my Dad’s best friend and have always been proud of that fact.

I still remember my excited call to Dad in the summer of 1968, when I taught at the SAE Leadership School held at the Levere Memorial Temple just off the campus of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

The Sigma Alpha Epsilon Foundation owns this impressive gothic style building – built in 1929-1930 to serve as a war memorial and administrative facility. I was wandering through the museum in the building and saw the picture of Don in his uniform and a brief bio about his military service. (#14 – #15)

Although I knew about their friendship, I didn’t know many of the details about Don Wilburn’s service until the connection with Sue Froelich in late 2022.

I received this comment after I did the post on Thebeerchaser about FDW including his friendship with Don.

“Hi Don. You don’t know me but….my mom, Jeannette Stehman (Wilburn) Froehlich, was a friend of your dad’s in 1941. In fact, they dated some! She married your namesake Don Wilburn in the months before he was killed. (FDW was instrumental in the wedding.) It would be great to be in touch with you, given Duane’s close friendship with Don.” (#16)

Sue – served in the engineering department at Smith College in Massachusetts

Sue Froehlich graduated in mechanical engineering from UMass-Amherst. Her career in engineering and education culminated with her tenure as a lab supervisor in the Picker Engineering Program at Smith College – notably, the first all-women’s engineering program in the country. She retired in 2024.

She has worked tirelessly with Gene Wilburn (eleven years younger than brother, Don) and two of his friends, Jason and Laura McGinness Garver, to get Don the recognition he deserved – a project that came to fruition in 2025 culminating with the DFC award.

The Power of Social Media

My blog has been a wonderful retirement hobby. I, like many, have reservations about the pervasiveness of social media in our society. That said, I’ve gained friendships throughout the globe and reconnections with colleagues in the fourteen years since I commenced what has become an avocation.

And the comment on August 1, 2022, by Sue was a highlight. Of course, I contacted her after receiving this observation and we’ve had multiple phone calls and texts exchanged.

Sue and I will meet in person in late July when she is in Portland after rafting Oregon’s Rogue River. We, of course, will tell tales while Beerchasing.

She sent a wonderful Google file with her mom’s extensive collection of photos, letters and other details about Don Wilburn and my dad. (And yes, Jeannette and FDW did date at one time!)

It’s helped me learn the complete story of Don as a person and military hero and obtain much of the information and photos you’ve seen on this post and the next. (#17)

A Closing Note

I had to laugh when reflecting on this post about the nicknames I’ve had during my life. These have ranged from “Feet“ – actually a compliment initiated by my high school basketball teammates to “Waisted Willie, – not a compliment and bestowed by my high school calculus teacher, to “Dirt” – originated at the SAE house in college and one that has stuck through the years as you can see by the logo for Thebeerchaser. (Created by the aforementioned Jud Blakely.)

But the moniker I liked the most was first uttered by some of my classmates during my senior year at Oregon City High School. They discovered that my middle name was “Wilburn” and wondered about the origin. When I told them, my friends then greeted me with “Hi Wilburn,” and this prevailed, to my great satisfaction, until graduation.

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1. Photo collection of Mrs. Jeanette Wilburn.

#2- #7 Courtesy of Jud Blakely, Doug Bomarito and Steve Lawrence.

#8. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Dfc-usa.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) The graphic is a representation of an award or decoration of the United States military. It is in the public domainbecause it contains materials that originally came from a U.S. military award. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain in the United States.

#9. Photo collection of Mrs. Jeanette Wilburn.

#10. Sue Froelich Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=122107407968856600&set=a.122098683860856600).

#11. Wikietree.com (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Operation_Rusty).

#12 – #13. Photo collection of Mrs. Jeanette Wilburn.

# 14. Wikiepedia (File:NU Levere Memorial Temple.JPG – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license. Author: Paradoxsociety – 23 April 2008.

#15. EnjoyIllinois.com (https://www.enjoyillinois.com/explore/listing/levere-memorial-temple/).

#16. Sue Froelich Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=5653778274679527&set=a.119862131404530).

#17. Photo collection of Mrs. Jeanette Wilburn.

Author Warren Easley – Beerchaser Notable – Part II

Posted on November 21, 2024 by Thebeerchaser

Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please click on the title to bring up the post so the narrative isn’t clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution at the end of the post #1)

In my first post about this interesting Northwest author – he just published his tenth mystery novel in the Cal Claxton series, entitled Deadly Redemption – you learned about his educational background, culminating with a PhD in Physical Chemistry from Cal Berkley.

His goal was to be a university professor, but there were no jobs, so two years of post-doctoral work in chemistry followed at the University of Florida.

Below, you’ll learn about his dual career as a research scientist and international business executive and his writing journey started in 2002 with short stories and then publication of his first novel Matters of Doubt in 2013.

On a business trip for DuPont where he worked for thirty years starting in 1969, he fortuitously left the book Heaven’s Prisoners by his favorite author, James Lee Burke, in his motel room. On the long non-stop flight home from Atlanta, he had nothing to do and arrived at his destination with twenty-three pages of what eventually became his fifth book – Blood for Wine in 2017. (“I laid it aside and came back to it after I knew what I was doing.”)

I was first drawn to Warren’s books after reading a 2023 Willamette Week review by my friend, Richard Meeker, the former publisher of the paper. Easley’s five novels I’ve read to date have lived up to this description:

“The Cal Claxton mysteries are well plotted with believable, multidimensional characters. They are so good and compelling I plowed through all nine in the past three or four months, in the order in which they were written.” (#2)

And if one reads multiple other reviews, the above praise is not colored by the reviewer’s parochial Pacific Northwest bias. Take this one from Publishers Weekly on No Way to Die:

“In Easley’s satisfying seventh mystery featuring genial Oregon attorney Cal Claxton, he creates authentic characters and relationships, and his eloquent descriptions of the Oregon wilderness are sublime. This well-plotted, character-driven series just keeps getting better.” (#3)

“Well Plotted” – Publishers’ Weekly

Deadly Redemption (#4)

Now before telling you more about his fascinating background, let me give you the scoop on his latest book. In a recent telephone chat, Warren described it as “kind of a miracle book.”

“We were moving after 28 years, so it came in short bursts – five to ten pages at a time and by the end of August, I got the ending – always a challenge for me. I wrote furiously for four days and didn’t show any of it to Marge, my primary editor, until the first draft was done.”

I’m pretty excited about the positive feedback and sales have been brisk.” (#5)

353797135_10226971708790605_3028536348609558689_n

Warren and wife, Marge – his primary editor

He was leaving the next day after our conversation for a book tour in California. I asked him about his typical writing schedule for his books which average about 90,000 words. (It made me glad that I write blog posts and not novels – mine average about 2,500 words):

“It’s not real regimented – usually first thing in the morning for a couple of hours then 9:30 or 10:00 PM until midnight. My goal is five to ten pages every other day.”

He described Deadly Redemption as a

“….capstone, – Cal Claxton returns to LA after 13 years in Oregon to right a miscarriage of justice – I may decide to launch another series at this juncture.”

By the way, I asked about the origin of his protagonist’s name:

“Claxton was my mother’s maiden name and I thought Calvin was just kind of a ‘clunky’ moniker! And I wanted Cal to be a lawyer, not a private investigator.”

Beerchasing Expeditions

In 2023, I reached out to Warren by e-mail and told him about my blog and my thirty+ year background in the world of law and invited him to have a beer so I could interview him.

We raised our first mug at the Aurora Colony Pub – in the historic burg of Aurora – about twenty-five miles south of Portland, where Warren and his wife, Marge now live. (#6)

We had a great chat and discussed the setting of most of his novels – in beautiful Oregon Wine Country – above the City of Dundee – where Cal Claxton has his residence and law office in an historic home.

Cal resides there with his loyal pup, Archie, which coincidentally happens to be the same name and breed (Australian Shepherd) as Warren’s own pooch who will be four in January. (Next time we go Beerchasing, I will pick a place that is dog-friendly so Archie can join us.) (#7 – #8)

Since Dundee is the home of one of my favorite dive bars – one that prompted me to start this hobby in 2011 – I gently chided Warren that although Cal Claxton frequents a number of real and fictitious enterprises in Dundee (such as Red Hills Market), he had never been to Lumpy’s Landing – nor had Warren himself.

I suggested that we remedy that by having our second interview over beer in that colorful watering hole and Warren agreed. Although I hadn’t been back to Lumpy’s since my original visit and review in 2014, it retained the same great ambiance – probably most of the same regulars as well…..

The external reader board slogan which used to read, “Our beer is a cold as you exe’s heart,” was replaced with the one below:

Warren had a draft Breakside Wanderlust IPA and I opted for one of my favorites – a cold bottle of Miller High Life. And while the regulars played pool or lost their money on video poker, we drank-in some of the signs and memorabilia that typify most dives.

An Amazing Background

While Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” played in the background, I interrogated the author about how a guy with a long career as a research chemist and international business executive became a popular crime novelist.

His twenty-seven years at DuPont as Technical Director involved relocation and a lot of travel including a six-year stint in Geneva, Switzerland from 1983-89.

His friendship at DuPont with Mark Suwyn, a fellow chemist (PhD in inorganic chemistry from Washington State University) resulted in what must have been a lot of boring work lunches with discussions ranging from the periodic table of elements to modular calculations of biopolymers and the resulting index for molecular complexity:

𝐶m=∑𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑖𝑠𝑖⁢log2⁡(𝑉𝑖𝑏𝑖)−12⁢∑𝑗𝑑𝑗𝑒𝑗𝑠𝑗⁢log2⁡(𝑉𝑗𝑏𝑗).

But that relationship would be fortuitous (or perhaps come back to haunt him, given his new assignment….) after Warren initially retired from DuPont.

After years of educational achievement and twenty-seven years at DuPont, it would seem logical that Warren was ready to enjoy the fruits of retirement. He was not worried about being bored.

Warren was a good athlete in high school and college (UCRiverside ’59 – ’63) basketball and a football quarterback and is an avid hiker, fisherman and skier – adventure awaited. (#9 – #10)

A Side(ing) Trip!

Louisiana Pacific was founded in 1973 based in Portland, Oregon and Harry Merlo became both Chairman and CEO in 1974. Merlo, who died in 2016, was an Oregon power broker, philanthropist and sports team owner. But there were problems:

“During the 1990s, LP was the defendant in a major class-action lawsuit over its siding product known as Inner Seal, manufactured from the early 1990s through 1996….Many homeowners alleged that Inner-Seal siding, which carried a 25-year warranty, began to rot prematurely—discoloring, disintegrating, and even growing fungi.” Wikipedia

In addition to the siding issues, Merlo got into trouble as reported by Willamette Week:

“But in 1995, a confluence of events prompted its board of directors to abruptly boot Merlo. The feds charged the company with environmental crimes and fraud, and a female subordinate of Merlo’s sued for sexual harassment, alleging women were hired as assistants only if they were stunning, young and ‘likely to acquiesce to sexual advances by the CEO’, according to a 1995 story in Business Week.” (#11 – #12)

Replacing him in 1996 was Mark Suwyn, who needed help in resolving what resulted in millions in legal fees and payments to customers of about $750 million. Suwyn turned to his now-retired friend, Warren Easley, to fill what became a new court-mandated position at LP – Vice President of Quality and Technology.

Warren worked at LP from 1996 to 2002. He’s a modest guy, but some research reveals his influence in the company:

“In 1997 LP unveiled its Advanced Technology Center, which provided the company with the facilities to conceive, test, and improve new offerings. LP soon introduced a bevy of new product systems, including Smart Start siding, TechShield energy-efficient structural panels, TopNotch flooring, and Cocoon insulation….In 1998, LP returned once more to profitability, achieving $12.8 million of net profit from $2.29 billion in sales.” Wikipedia

The photos below show Warren with Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, LP CEO, Mark Suwyn and Warren speaking at the opening of LP’s Advanced Technology Center: (#13 – #14)

A Real Retirement

After writing several full-length novels and receiving numerous rejections for publication, Warren wrote Matters of Doubt. He knew it was good, but when he submitted it to Poisoned Pen Press, who had shown interest in his work, he got no response.

He was dejected and ready to quit, but his wife, Marge, talked him into following up. It turned out that they had lost the manuscript and a month later they offered him a three-book contract.

His “retirement career” has flourished with now ten novels and multiple awards including the Kay Snow National Award in 2012, named the Northwest’s Up and Coming Author by Willamette Writers in 2017 and the Spotted Owl Award for best mystery novel by a Pacific Northwest author in 2022. (#15)

In Conclusion

Having worked in the legal environment for over thirty-five years, I thought Warren showed a good understanding of how law firms work, legal ethics concepts and client representation for someone who wasn’t a lawyer. I wanted to find out if some others who had worked in that environment shared my perceptions of Warren’s book.

The short answer is “They do.”

Don Bowerman is a trial lawyer practicing in Oregon City. He has been my family’s attorney since we moved here in 1962. He has been the District Attorney for Clackamas County and the Vice President of the Oregon State Bar. An expert litigator, Don is a Fellow in the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, and a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

I loaned him Fatal Flaw on a Friday afternoon and Don called me on Monday and said he would drop by and return it stating, “I started reading it and couldn’t put it down. I finished it a 1 AM.” (#16 – #17)

Hap Ziegler is the President of Mesa Consulting in Santa Barbara. After earning his BS in math, economics and computer science at the University of Pittsburgh, he received his law degree at Duquesne University.

He has had a national practice in law firm consulting for many years and worked as a consultant on numerous projects at my firm Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt. I recommended Warren’s books to him and got the following e-mail:

“Warren is an interesting character and he owes you a beer: I bought his first two books!” (Matters of Doubt and Dead Float)

In a follow-up e-mail, he stated:

” Cal Claxton is my new hero! Very enjoyable, well written.”

Warren Easley’s books are a good read and he’s a great guy with whom to raise a mug. (#18)

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1 – #2, #5, #8 – #10. Warren Easley Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/warren.easley).

#3 – #4, #15, #18. Warren Easley Website (https://www.warreneasley.com/).

#6. Aurora Colony Pub (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=461267196004801&set=a.461267156004805).

#7. Wikimedia Commons (File:Wine Country in Oregon Dundee Hills.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license. Author: Luke https://www.flickr.com/people/88071948@N00 – 12 September 2018.

#11. Oregon Sports Hall of Fame (Harry Merlo – Special Contributon to Sports | Oregon Sports Hall of Fame & Museum).

#12. BookBaby.com (When a door opens by Mark A Suwyn | BookBaby Bookshop).

#13 – #14. Courtesy of Warren Easley.

#16. Bowerman Law Group (https://www.bowermanlawgroup.com/don).

#17. Premier Professionals of Santa Barbara (https://www.premierprofessionalsb.com/links/497-santa-barbara-business-professionals/resources/2362-santa-barbara-management-consulting-r-w-ziegler-jr).

Beerchaser Notables – Author Warren Easley

Posted on August 27, 2024 by Thebeerchaser

(External Photo Attribution at the end of the post #1)

I have been remiss! Since starting this blog in late 2011, one of the features I’ve both enjoyed and on which I’ve gotten good feedback is my Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter (BOQ) posts.

Followers of Thebeerchaser will remember that these narratives feature individuals or groups which may or may not have anything to do with beer or bars but have a good story and in my humble opinion have made a contribution to society.

Past recipients of this “honor” include veterans (including a number of combat heroes), academicians, athletes, clerics, media personalities and, of course, lawyers. I’ve known the great majority personally and have interviewed many before writing.

For a fairly complete list through 2020, check out the following link: https://thebeerchaser.com/2020/12/13/beerchasers-of-the-quarter-who-what-why/

(The photos below show just a few. Clockwise from left)

Ret. Colonel Terry (Spike) McKinsey USMC, Author Brian Doyle, Fr. Chuck Wood, Duane (Thumper) Barton 1967 OSU Giant Killer Football, Environments Jack and Jan McGowan, 1798 Crew of the US Constitution (Old Ironsides). (#2)

The pandemic precluded my visits to bars and breweries temporarily and for some reason, I stopped naming new BOQs. I’ve at least done some updates, however, such as that in my last post on Little Beast Brewing, which demonstrates why Jack and Amy Faust and Jim Westwood garnered this label initially.

I’ve identified a number of worthy characters for the future, whose stories you would enjoy; however, researching, interviewing and writing once per quarter is a constraint I find a bit daunting – and perhaps interfering with the further exploration of new watering holes.

So I’m changing the title to “Beerchasing Notables.” (no specific timeline for naming them) Now meet my first – Warren C. Easley.

Two Careers

Warren Easley is a Pacific Northwest author who, before taking pen-in-hand to author compelling mystery novels starting in 2012, had a distinguished career as a research scientist and international business executive.

He graduated from UCal-Riverside in Chemistry and earned a PhD in Physical Chemistry from UCal-Berkley. (#3 – #4)

Warren now lives in Aurora, Oregon with his wife, Marge and dog, Archie, where he’s working on his tenth novel. You’ll definitely be interested in how they got to Oregon, but you’ll have to wait until my next post.

A Change of Pace in Authors

Without a hint of apology, I’m a great fan of escapist crime and adventure novels and my list (which I’ve kept on Excel for the last twenty years) is filled with fiction by Nelson DeMille, Lee Child, David Baldacci, James Crumley, etc.

I’ve also read all of the books by former Portland attorney, Phillip Margolin – one of my favorites because the settings for his New York Best-Seller crime novels are predominantly in Portland.

I was looking for a change of pace and happened upon an article in Portland newspaper, Willamette Week, by its former publisher, Richard Meeker.

As an aside, my friendship with Richard goes back to the early 1980’s, when his wife Ellen Rosenblum – now Oregon’s Attorney General – was on the Board of Governors of the Oregon State Bar and I worked there as Business Manager. (#5 – #6)

Before the quarterly Board meetings, Richard, four other attorney Board members and I used to have early-morning cut-throat ninety-minute three-on-three basketball games before the meeting commenced.

During a recent lunch, I suggested to Richard that I had a better elbow jumper, but he reminded me of the meeting in Newport, Oregon, where they had to delay my report to the Board while I was delayed in my hotel room vomiting after I overexerted myself. (He maintains it was from trying to guard him…..)

After reading Richard’s April 18, 2023 review in the paper entitled,” The Ninth Book (Fatal Flaw) in Oregon Author Warren C. Easley’s Cal Claxton Series Is a Deeply Plotted and Locally Set Delight.” (#7)

Since I trusted Richard’s judgement on fiction more than his ability to defend a pick-and-roll, I checked out Easley’s first novel at the library. Just as Warren expertly reels in trout on Oregon’s Deschutes River, he had me hooked (barbless) after two chapters.

Meeker states in his review:

“Each is populated with well-known local Portland hangouts, and each captures the flavor of our special place.

The Cal Claxton (his protagonist) mysteries are well plotted with believable, multidimensional characters. They are so good and compelling I plowed through all nine in the past three or four months, in the order in which they were written.” (#8)

And after reading part way through his first novel, Matters of Doubt, I discovered a connection. Notwithstanding his professional career in science and technology, Warren has an excellent grasp on what it’s like to practice law.

The Setting

A family tragedy results in Cal Claxton moving to Oregon where he sets up a solo-practice after being a hot-shot prosecutor in LA. Claxton’s new office and historical home are in the beautiful hills overlooking the rural community of Dundee (population 3,238).

It’s located in the heart of Oregon’s Willamette Valley wine country – about twenty-five miles from Portland. He also has a small office where he does pro-bono work in downtown Portland. (#9)

A sole practitioner’s existence is far different than that of a 150 lawyer Northwest regional law firm (Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt) with five offices, that I helped manage.

Author Easley, however, has an accurate understanding of legal ethics issues such as conflicts, billing practices, pro-bono representation and the constant pressure lawyers face balancing a consuming professional routine with a balanced life outside the office.

This perspective and his reference to many local points of interest in Portland and the Northwest made it compelling for me.

A Further Connection?

Further piquing my interest, Dundee – on Highway 18 on the way to the Oregon Coast – is also home of Lumpy’s Landing – one of my favorite bars and one of two dives at which the idea for my Beerchasing journey germinated shortly before my retirement – the other being the Stanley Rod and Gun Whitewater Saloon (in Idaho)

A Dundee Classic

Reaching Out

Warren Easley gives his e-mail address on his excellent website (Warreneasley.com) so although realizing there was a good chance that he wouldn’t respond, I still sent a missive inviting him to have a beer.

He and his wife had recently moved to Aurora – about halfway between Portland and Salem, and we agreed to meet for a brewski at the Aurora Colony Pub. I love watering holes in old historic buildings and the Pub is a perfect example:

“The building dates back to the 1930’s…originally home to a grocery store, then a barber shop, followed by a small tavern. You will find the original meat locker door in the middle of the main bar seating area which is still keeping our kegs and bottles of beer cold.

The pub is authentic with its sloping concrete floors, tin roof and old American atmosphere.”

This July, 2024 Yelp review portrayed it accurately:

“Looking for a stiff drink, the coldest beer in town, or a great meal? The colony pub has you covered.”

We didn’t order food, but looking at the menu where breakfast is served until noon, and reasonably-priced periodic specials include chicken-fried steak, taco bowls and an outstanding looking Reuben-burger with a “slow-roasted prime rib dinner” on Saturday for ($22.99) I vowed a return trip.

The tap list wasn’t robust but suited us fine as did the free popcorn – a fixture which is seen at fewer and fewer watering holes. (#10 – #12)

Warren and I had an excellent chat over beers. Since he mentions local Dundee businesses and eateries – some fictitious such as “Bake My Day”.” (Actual bakeries in London, GoldendaIe, WA and Mobile Alabama…..) – I asked him if he had ever raised a mug at Lumpy’s.

When he responded in the negative, I strongly suggested that we have a follow-up to complete my interview at this great dive – known for signs outside the entrance which state, “Our beer is a cold as your exe’s heart.”

Stay tuned for the whole story!

I was happy that Warren agreed and stay tuned for my next post in which I relate his interesting background and the details of his double career that I gleaned over beers at both the Aurora Colony Pub and Lumpy’s Landing.

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1. Willamette Week (The Ninth Book in Oregon Author Warren C. Easley’s Cal Claxton Series Is a Deeply Plotted and Locally Set Delight (wweek.com).

#2. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:The USS Constitution by C. Myron Clark.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1929. Author: C. Myron Clark – 1876 – 1925.

#3. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:University of California, Riverside logo.svg – Wikimedia Commons) This image of simple geometry is ineligible for copyright and therefore in the public domain, because it consists entirely of information that is common property and contains no original authorship. Author: University of California, Riverside – 12 August 2015.

#4. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Seal of University of California, Berkeley.svg – Wikimedia Commons) This work is based on a work in the public domain. It has been digitally enhanced and/or modified. This derivative work has been (or is hereby) released into the public domain by its author, Casecrer. This applies worldwide. Author: University of California, Berkeley – 2014.

#5. Willamette Week (WNN – Willamette Week – Interviews (whoneedsnewspapers.org).

#6. Oregon Department of Justice (Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General – Oregon Department of Justice : Media (state.or.us).

#7. (Warren C. Easley – Author of the (warreneasley.com).

#8. (Warren C. Easley – Author of the (warreneasley.com).

#9. Wikimedia Commons (File:Willamette Valley Wine Country (25134584933).jpg – Wikimedia Commons) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author: Sheila Sund – 30 August 2015.

#10 – #12. Aurora Colony Pub Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=461267196004801&set=a.461267156004805).

The Gold Medal of Dives

Posted on February 29, 2024 by Thebeerchaser

John Runkle – former owner of The Dirty Shame Saloon in Yaak, Montana

Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and the video at the end of the post and so the narrative isn’t clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution at the end of the post # 1)

In this, my fourth and final post on this series on dive bars, I finish with my Gold Medal. My favorite dive in the US is the “former” Dirty Shame Saloon in Yaak, Montana – about seventy-five miles from the Canadian border.

The fact that I’ve devoted four different posts on this blog to the Shame, which I visited on a road trip in 2019, attests to this.

I say “former” because the prior owner, John Runkle, sold it at the end of 2022 and it is not the same iconic watering hole that originally opened its doors in 1951. For example, if you check out their current website, it states only:

“We’re currently open for drinks only Friday & Saturday 4:30 pm – Close”

Their “unofficial” Facebook page hasn’t posted since last August.

And this is unfortunate because if one reads author, Joan Melcher’s two books on Montana Watering Holes, you will learn that there are at least three and possibly four incredible stories strictly on how the Shame was originally named:

One involves fighter, Joe Lewis and a second relates the saga of seven dead cows – shot by a guy named Jimmy who left them on the road in front of the bar. Don’t forget the other about a mother-in-law of one of the original owners who would sit in the corner of the bar and admonish him “What a ‘dirty shame’ it was that you bought this bar.” (#2)

This watering hole reeks history

Context…

Having reviewed almost 400 bars and breweries before the pandemic struck, I can honestly say that only a handful have not been enjoyable and positive. (The worst was the Yard House in Portland https://thebeerchaser.com/2016/04/14/the-yard-house-does-it-measure-up/))

I’ve found that the character of some notable bars cannot be differentiated from the personality of their owners – the bar embodies the persona of the proprietor.

Such is the case with former Army Paratrooper, Runkle. (Graduated from the French Commando School, earned his Spanish Jump Wings. The big guy made a total of 53 jumps and ended up as an instructor at Ft. Benning) (#3 – #5)

The following other four bars I’ve reviewed also fit this characterization:

The Goose Hollow Inn – Portland, Oregon – the late Bud Clark

Pinkie Master’s – Savannah, Georgia – the late Pinkie Master *

Smitty’s Green Light – Pueblo Colorado – Greg “Smitty” Smith

Buffalo Bill’s Saloon – Beavercreek, Oregon – Patrick Whitmore

* I never met Pinkie, but there is ample evidence of my assertion

Clockwise – Bud Clark, Smitty, Pinkie Master’s, John Runkle and Patrick Whitmore.

Patrick Whitmore and partner, Barb

Transition to Texas

John and his wife, Dallas, now live in Texas with their three wonderful young children. Dallas, got her undergrad degree at Arizona State University and earned her Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Development from Grand Canyon University.

John met Dallas when she bartended for him in 2013 and they married in 2016. They jointly worked to again integrate the Dirty Shame into the community of 250 people.

Dallas taught elementary school for a year in Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho and then transferred to an elementary school in western Washington. (#6)

She now teaches in Texas where John says, “I’m just a full-time house frau…” And make no mistake, John, who is now 62, loves his kids, stating “I’m the oldest and proudest dad in the world with three kids under seven!” (His son is 2 and daughters are 4 and 6.)

His competitive and over-achieving tendencies were evident, however, when he added:

“Pacino and Robert Deniro make me look bad, they are around 80 and just had a child last year. Makes the bar pretty high for me.”

John sold the Dirty Shame nine years after purchasing it in 2013. Given the hours he worked as owner of both the Dirty Shame and the Yaak River Lodge – about two miles down the road from the bar. Add that the rugged Montana winters and John has certainly earned a respite and as he told me when I was in Yaak:

“At 57, I’m no spring chicken and I don’t have much of a bucket list left. I’m usually at the bar until 2:30 AM on Friday nights and then Saturday morning, I’m up cooking breakfast at 5:30. On Monday morning, it’s tough to get going.”

Is he happy with their decision to relocate? As he stated in a recent Facebook post:

“It’s 91 degrees here today in South Texas…Gotta love this February weather in Texas – I have the air conditioner on!” (#7 – #9)

I became aware of the Dirty Shame while having a beer at the Moose Saloon in Couer d’Alene, Idaho in 2016, when Tara, the bartender asked me if I’d ever been to the bar. She had bartended there and after I researched it, I was fascinated with the story.

Tara at the Moose Saloon

A phone call to John Runkle resulted in an invitation to come to Yaak, stay at the Yaak River Lodge and raise a mug at the Dirty Shame.

John had a very successful career in real estate in Orange County. He also had successful stints in mining equipment and banking including time in Queensland, Australia for several years after he bought Yaak River Lodge in 2004 and before ownership of the Dirty Shame.

The Lodge sits on a beautiful site of 7.5 acres on the Yaak River with llamas and horses about two miles from the Shame. I stayed two nights in the Moose Room ($115 nightly) in 2019 and had John’s home-cooked blue-berry pancakes for breakfast.

That’s when I learned first-hand about Runkle’s work ethic and the hours it took to manage both enterprises.

Acquiring the Dirty Shame – “A Matter of Self-Preservation”

Author, Melcher describes it perfectly in her first book when she talks about her return to the bar:

s-l1600

“….the same wood-planked front porch, the same deer rack used as a door handle, the battered pool table, the loose bathroom door, the grotesque graffiti inside, the loggers, ranchers receptionists, Forest Service people using the bar like a third leg….

The Dirty Shame is the fresh, sharp smell of pine, and the dank odor of dirt-laden, beer-splashed floors, wild nights of revelry and mornings of shared pain.” (Page 88)

In her second book, she lamented the “deterioration” of this historic and iconic bar after a female – a former Wall Street stockbroker and her husband – moved from Maryland and bought the bar in 2006.

They tried to eliminate the “dirty” and “clean it up.”

“What I learn is the that the Dirty Shame died a typically raucous death and has been reborn as a law-abiding establishment, that is really more coffeehouse then bar. Sacrilege!…

Besides a piano and set-up for musicians….she also has book readings and draws many people who aren’t close enough to Yaak to be miffed about what happened to its legendary bar.

The Dirty Shame is dead. Long live the Dirty Shame.” (Pages 54-7,9)

Well, their plans to “civilize” the Shame came to a quick end in 2011 when the former broker’s 82-year-old husband was taken out of the bar in handcuffs and extradited to Maryland after he pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of two female minors according to a story in the Montana newspaper The Ravelli Republic.

The bar went into foreclosure ultimately forcing Runkle to act in 2013:

“It was a matter of self-preservation. I started getting cancellations (at the Lodge) because hunters and bikers wanted to hit the Dirty Shame when they stayed in Yaak.

I was the only one who showed up at the foreclosure sale. I paid cash and was now the owner of another business that I didn’t know anything about how to operate.”

A Community Fixture

John’s creativity and marketing prowess took over and the bar sponsored or participated in the following:

The Sasquatch Festival, the Adult Easter Egg Hunt, the Yaak Attack, Miss Sasquatch Pageant, the Sasquatch Screeching Contest, the Big Foot Run and, of course, the Crawfish Festival each September.

It started with a ceremonial leg shaving and had events including male strippers, female cream wrestlers and mechanical bull riding.

Across the road from the Shame is a nice family-owned bar – the Yaak River Tavern. But it’s ambiance is miles away from its neighbor. John described the difference to me:

“The Yaak River Tavern has an annual Ugly Sweater event. We have a Wet T-shirt Competition!”

The Stories Will Live On….

In my two days in Yaak talking to John and from reading Melcher’s book, I was amazed at the stories and why it gained the moniker, “The World Famous Dirty Shame Saloon.”

It took me four blog posts (see links below) to relate all the stories – most of them from my conversations with John over the two days I was there. You should check them out.

These ranged from John’s efforts after he first bought the bar to plaster up the bullet holes in the walls, to visits from “celebrities” such as the aforementioned Joe Lewis, Howie Long and OJ Simpson detective, Mark Furman among others.

The Kehoe Gang was a notorious gang who committed crimes across the US in the mid-to-late 90’s. Chevie Kehoe was the leader and he and his brother Cheyne, after fleeing across the country, settled in Utah where they were arrested for murder in 1997.

After a trial in which his mother and Cheyne (who had turned himself in) served as star witnesses for the prosecution, he was convicted of murder and several other felonies.

Chevie is now serving three life sentences in Florence Prison in Colorado – known as the “Alcatraz of the Rockies”. Also described as the “clean version of hell”. (#14 – #16)

My second afternoon at the Dirty Shame, I noticed two men who were talking to Darilyn, the bartender. One of them stated in a soft-spoken voice:

“Dar, I think I owe you for the meal I had last week and didn’t want to let that slide by before I forget.”

She checked and said that another regular had already paid it.

John introduced me and they were both nice, personable guys. He stated that they do periodic maintenance and electrical work for him at the bar. After they left, John told me that the older guy was Chevie Kehoe’s, brother Noah and the other was Axel his son – the one who wanted to make sure his bill was paid. Noah lives in Yaak and Axel in Spokane.

The Automatic Rifle attack on John and the Bar (#17)

Right before I left on the road trip to Yaak, I got the following e-mail from John:

“Don, you will see an article where a guy went nuts in the Dirty Shame with an AR-15 and you will also see the video of me bear spraying him and his brother trying to fight their way back into the bar and another video embedded in that article showing him running around the parking lot trying to shoot me through the window and then almost shooting his brother in the head.

It was a crazy night. The Dirty Shame is truly still the Wild Wild West.”

“Troy Man Charged Following Saturday Night Incident at Yaak’s Dirty Shame Saloon.

Visit by the Yaak River Road Murderers

In 2017, two strangers walked into the Dirty Shame:

“Both the woman and the man seemed pretty nervous and were not friendly. They just shrugged when a regular asked them what they were doing in Yaak.”

On television, the next day was a story about a murder committed at Milepost 48 of the Yaak River Road (The Dirty Shame is at Milepost 29).

A woman and her boy friend allegedly shot and killed the woman’s husband and after dumping his body by the Yaak River, escaped in his car. They were considered fugitives and law enforcement throughout the state was looking for them.

John and his staff thought the description matched the couple and alerted law enforcement. He later told a news reporter:

“They acted really unfriendly. I still remembered what they ordered. She ordered a double shot of Jack Daniels. He ordered a double shot of Sailor Jerry’s and they toasted each other, which I didn’t think was weird until two days later,”

This article about the pair entitled, “Guilty Verdict in Yaak Murder Trial” from the Western News tells the story including the result of the trial and the sordid details.

The Crack Pillow and Hatchet Lady

A disheveled woman – apparently high on something and wearing camo-gear, walked in with the pillow seen in the photo above a hatchet stating, “You never know when you’re going to need firewood.”

Check the link to see her behavior at the bar and in leaving. The “crack pillow,” which she gave John as barter for a Mike’s Hard Lemonade, became a permanent fixture in the bar.

The Theft of the Bar’s Life-size Cardboard Trump (#18 – #19)

Numerous Other Tales Including the Search for the Missing Person (#20)

The links to the aforementioned posts are below:

https://thebeerchaser.com/2019/10/01/the-dirty-shame-saloon-continued-stories/

https://thebeerchaser.com/2019/09/11/the-dirty-shame-saloon-in-yaak-part-ii/

https://thebeerchaser.com/2019/08/13/john-runkle-beerchaser-of-the-quarter-and-the-dirty-shame-saloon-part-1/

https://thebeerchaser.com/2019/10/16/thebeerchasers-final-thoughts-on-the-dirty-shame-saloon/

In Conclusion…

My visit to the Dirty Shame in Yaak left me feeling better about the possibility of civility in times of polarization.

John and I have distinctly different political beliefs and yet one of the conversations I enjoyed the most was at a table drinking beer with John and his good friend, Todd Berget, who unfortunately passed away of a stroke about a month after my visit at the young age of 54.

Todd was a dedicated teacher and coach for many years, but also a gifted artist and craftsman who formed his own company to produce metal sculptures (Custom Iron Eagles.)

He gifted the Dirty Shame with his collection of metal motorcycles that he started collecting when he was a kid. They are intricate and reflect an artistic talent for capturing detail which is intriguing and the displays add to the spirit of the saloon.

John Runkle is a staunch conservative and Trump supporter. And John told me, “Todd is a liberal whose ideology would be left of Stalin’s!” Yet the three of us had a wonderful and far-ranging conversation, much of it about the rich friendship they had for many years.

Regardless of their political persuasion, John loved his patrons and staff and they reciprocated.

Unfortunately, I did not get to return to the Dirty Shame before its sale. But before I left, I presented John with two bottles of Benedictine Beer from the Mount Angel Abbey in Oregon.

A gift from the Benedictine monks

John Runkle is still a relatively young man although when I e-mailed him to verify his age, he replied, “I remember when I was young, I thought somebody 62 would be in a nursing home with a walker!”

When his three kids are old enough to be in school full time, who knows what endeavors he will pursue in Texas. It might be in hospitality, politics, non-profits or some other business, but you better believe he will not be spending his days sitting on his couch and watching Fox News. (That would – pardon the expression – be “a dirty shame.”)

And perhaps he’ll open a dive bar in Texas. After all, he has a gold medal to defend…….

And the stories and the legacy of the World Famous Dirty Shame Saloon will live on even though the bar will never be the same. (#21 – 24)

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (2012_Olympic_Gold_Medal.jpg (1536×2048) (wikimedia.org)) This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Author: Carlinmack – 16 September 2012.

#2. (https://yaakrealestate.com/29253-yaak-river-road-yaak-mt.html) Sharin Lamp, Realtor.

#3 – #6. Courtesy of John Runkle.

#7 – #9. John Runkle Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/john.runkle.).

#10 – #13. Courtesy of John Runkle.

#14. Southern Poverty Law Center (Two Members of Notorious Kehoe Family Arrested Again | Southern Poverty Law Center (splcenter.org).

#15. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Florence ADMAX.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) This image is a work of a United States Department of Justice employee, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain (17 U.S.C. § 101 and 105). Federal Bureau of Prisons – 2010.

#16. (Chevie Kehoe – Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia).

#17. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:DPMS AR-15 less frame.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. 18 May 2009.

#18 – #24. Courtesy of John Runkle.

BOTQ – Who are Those “Guys”?

Posted on February 22, 2024 by Thebeerchaser

Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter (BOTQ) Update

Followers of Thebeerchaser blog know that I periodically do a post about an individual or group that may or may not have anything to do with bars or beers but has an interesting story and made contributions to society.

Admittedly, I have not related these stories with the frequency I’d have liked in the last two years but hope to remedy that in 2024. I’ve known the majority of the individual “honorees” personally.

The lineup includes war heroes, athletes, media personalities, authors, academicians, civic activists and of course, lawyers. Some are pictured below, and their stories are related in the link over their name – and they are impressive.

Clockwise: The 1967 Oregon State Giant Killer Football Team; former NFL defensive tackle, mountaineer and executive, Craig Hanneman; Portland attorney and television personality, Jack Faust; writer and media personality, Amy Faust; the late author Brian Doyle;

Professional oboist (and my oboe instructor) Kelly Gronli; the late Princeton Professor Emeritus and author, Harry Frankfurt; Jan and Jack McGowan – founders of SOLV; developer and civic activist, Mark Edlen; the late Terry “Spike McKinsey, USMC-retired; Jud Blakely USMC. (#1 – #5)

To see a list of the thirty-five “honorees” from 2011 to 2020, check out the following link:https://thebeerchaser.com/2020/12/13/beerchasers-of-the-quarter-who-what-why/

And Then There’s Jay Waldron

One BOTQ – a colleague of mine for twenty-five years when I worked as the COO at the Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt law firm – is Jay Waldron. As stated in the original 2016 blog post featuring him as Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter, he graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law – one of the Nations’s top five at twenty-nine.

The older than average age was partly because he first completed a master’s degree at the school – but also because of his extracurricular activities which included boxing, playing rugby, teaching 7th-grade English in Appalachia and coaching basketball. (#6 – #8)

Counselor Waldron has contributed his time and served in leadership capacities in many civic and charitable activities, in addition to having a thriving Environmental and Natural Resources law practice.

At age thirty-seven he argued a case at the US Supreme Court and he’s also appeared at the Oregon Supreme Court and the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

His legal work has earned him recognition multiple times in the “Best Lawyers in America” and as an Oregon Super Lawyer and by the Oregon State Bar for pro bono service.

And he just received another accolade from his peers with the Oregon State Bar’s Environmental and Natural Resources Section 2024 Award. It recognizes an Oregon lawyer for leadership, service and outstanding contributions to environmental and natural resources law.

Carson Bowler, who was Jay’s partner for many years eloquently summed up why Jay was selected:

“For more than 40 years, Jay has been in the middle of some of the most important and consequential environmental matters and cases in Oregon and the Northwest. His superpower has always been to identify the core of a complicated case, and then to communicate that core to whatever audience was listening, be they legislators, judges or clients.

His career resume is astonishing; he’s been (aptly) called a grandfather of environmental law in Oregon, a title that finally befits his life season. But I think his lasting legacy will be the quiet influence he’s had on so many young lawyers who over the years have had the privilege of learning their craft from him.”

In his acceptance speech, Jay spent most of his time thanking his partners, his wife, Karen (see below) and others. Emphasizing the importance of being a well-rounded person, he stated:

“I’m probably the only environmental lawyer in Oregon who wrote a master’s thesis on “The Poetry of Emily Dickinson.”

(His favorite poem is “Because I Could Not Stop For Death.” – a poem that explores the themes of death, time and eternity.) (#9)

Black-white_photograph_of_Emily_Dickinson2

One of Jay’s attributes emphasized at the reception was his dedication to mentoring. And to further elaborate on Jay’s contribution to his own firm, take a look at this summary from his partner, Brien Flanagan, Chair of Schwabe’s Environmental and Natural Resources Practice Group:

“Jay was a guide and an advocate for young lawyers. A genius on developing the theme to win a case or the politics that wins approval from bureaucratic regulators. And Jay was always happy to tell a tale while sharing a brew.” (#10)

Thebeerchaser joins Bowler and Flanagan on his birthday for a brewski

Brien’s reference to Jay’s story telling fits into this narrative quite well, because Jay has a vast storehouse of tales – and a preponderance of them, upon further research, appear to be true.

He is a frequent commenter on the bars and breweries I feature in my blog posts including the Ship Tavern, Jake’s Place, Jake’s Famous Crawfish bar, the Horse Brass Pub and most recently Malachy’s Irish Pub in downtown New York City.

I wrote about Malachy’s in my most recent post “Don’t Jump When You Can Dive – Part III”. Jay’s comment was:

“Was Malachy’s named after Malachy McCourt? He was a full-of-shit Irishman who played rugby and drank with me in NYC in the late 60’s and I also had a pint with his more famous author/brother Frank in McSorleys ,my then favorite NYC bar. Jay”

After researching, my response was:

“You never disappoint me, Counselor. Malachy’s in New York City, was in fact, opened by Malachy McCourt, who was indeed, a rugby player. See this video interview on the 50th anniversary of Fairfield Rugby Club. (#11 – #12)

Since the Topic of Rugby Arose….

I’ll start winding down this post by further exploring Jay’s athletic and related “activities” – chief among these being rugby. In 2017, he was admitted to the US Rugby Hall of Fame.

A 2017 article in the Providence College News (his undergrad alma mater) stated:

“(His contributions span) nearly five decades as a player, coach, TV broadcaster, and ambassador of the sport. He began his rugby career in 1968 as a University of Virginia graduate student, where he received his master’s degree, worked on his Ph.D., and then received his juris doctorate while serving as a player, president, and captain. Waldron played on numerous rugby representative teams and won the university boxing championship.”

Fortunately, when Jay was in the office, he chewed gum instead of glass, but his rugby gigs also included coaching the Portland Pig’s Rugby Club for five years. He announced rugby matches aired on Fox and ESPN in a four-year stint. (13 – #14)

You will have to check out the original blog post for the details, but Jay’s other pursuits give credence to Emily Dickinson’s theme of death:

River Rafting – three trips down the Colorado River and in 1996, he became the first Caucasian to row a “cataraft” through all the rapids of the Great Bend of the Yangtze River in China. Other trips included South America and Canada.

Motorcycle Trips and Racing – Twenty-one different road trips throughout the US have been supplemented by a journey around both South Africa and New Zealand and a trek from Chile to the southern tip of South America. He was also once clocked at 155 mph on his Ducati.

Wild Horse Riding – After a long and serious discussion at a bar with two rugby buddies, they decided to compete in the wild-horse ride competition at the Pendleton Roundup. (#15 – #17)

Death Wish?

Could Jay’s instincts and perhaps latent death wish be tamed? The answer to that question is in the affirmative. In 1966, Jay met his now wife of fifty-five years, Karen, while he was serving as a bouncer at a bar at Horseback Beach in Westport, Mass on the Atlantic Ocean.

“It was a Sunday night and she was not 21, but with that blonde hair and tan, there was no way, I wasn’t going to let her in.” (#18 – #19)

The Next Generation

Karen is also an athlete – both she and Jay have won Multnomah Athletic Club Decathlons in their age groups. And their son, Shane inherited their athletic talent and interest. He played college football at Tufts University as a tight end and long snapper from 1999 through 2002.

Starting as an operations intern in 2002 for the New England Patriots under Coach Bill Belichick, he then began what has become a very impressive coaching resume in college football – Notre Dame and UMass – eventually followed by the NFL including the Patriots, Washington Redskins, Los Angeles Rams and as Offensive Coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks from 2021 to 2023.

Early in 2024, he was named Offensive Coordinator for the Chicago Bears and as stated in an article on ESPN.com: https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39368486/what-hiring-oc-shane-waldron-mean-bears

“The Chicago Bears know who will be calling offensive plays in 2024, and now they have to figure out which quarterback will be executing them.”

Chicago, with the first draft pick in 2024, is expected to draft former USC quarterback, Caleb Williams and Waldron will be a key figure in deciding whether he or current starter, Justin Fields will be calling signals when the season starts.

Based on the comments of sports commentators and media, don’t be surprised to see the younger Waldron as an NFL head coach in his next job.

Regardless, Karen and Jay Waldron will be making a lot of trips back to Chicago with good tickets at Soldier Field in addition to seeing their two grandchildren.

Odds are that Jay also knows some good Windy City bars which ruggers frequent and they can share stories – many of which will be in accordance with reality. (#20 – #22)

Karen told me that Jay doesn’t like small talk with strangers so I would tell him “Ask if they have a connection with rugby, rafting or motorcycles and the conversation always explodes.”

Well, that will not be necessary on his Chicago visits because one of his best long-term rugby buddies happens to be one Donald H. Haider – another member of the US Rugby Hall of Fame. (And looking at both of these guys made me wonder if the term Renaissance Man and Rugger is really a contradiction in terms.)

Haider, was on the rugby team during undergraduate school at Stanford. He played and coached rugby throughout his adulthood and earned his MA and PhD at Columbia University. He is now a business professor at Northwestern University‘s Kellogg School of Management. The professor has had an amazing career in government, business and academia. (#23)

And does he have ties to the Windy City! According to Wikipedia:

“Haider had worked as an advisor to Richard J. Daley during his mayoralty. Haider also worked as the Chicago city budget director (chief financial officer for the City of Chicago) under Jane Byrne from 1979 until 1980.[1][4][6][10]

In 1987, Haider won the Republican mayoral primary…During the campaign, in a desperate bid for press, Haider rode an elephant (an animal often used to symbolize the Republican Party) down State Street.”

The Weather Mark Tavern is a great rugby sports bar within walking distance of Soldier Field. I can see Waldron and Haider pre-function and post-function at this watering hole and telling tales of past scrums. (Fans cannot leave the Stadium during halftime…..)

Go Bears!

External Photo Attribution

#1 – #2. Oregon State University Athletic Department (https://osubeavers.com/news/2017/11/27/football-giant-killers-the-legend-50-years-later)

#3. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jack_faust.jpg) I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. Author: Timlyman.

#4. University of Portland Magazine (https://sites.up.edu/portlandmagazine/brian-doyle/).

#5. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harry_Frankfurt_at_2017_ACLS_Annual_Meeting.jpg ) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Author: American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) 29 October 2018.

#6 – #8. Courtesy Jay Waldron

#9. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (Black-white photograph of Emily Dickinson2 – Emily Dickinson – Wikipedia) By Unknown author – https://s3.amazonaws.com/amherst-wsg/ED-dag-case-720dpi_big.jpg, This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer. (1846-47).

#10. Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt (https://www.schwabe.com/professional/brien-flanagan/).

#11 – #12. Malachy Irish Pub Website Photo Gallery (https://www.malachysirishpub.com/gallery).

#13. Portland Rugby Club (https://www.portlandrugby.org/about).

#14 – #18. Jay Waldron

#19 – #22. Karen Waldron Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/karen.waldron.12).

#23. Kellog School of Management (Donald Haider – Faculty – Kellogg School of Management (northwestern.edu).

#24. Weather Mark Tavern Facebook Page ()https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=510230207773421&set=a.510230187773423).

#25. Wikimedia Commons (Soldier_Field_S.jpg (4000×2250) (wikimedia.org) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Sea Cow – 2 July 2022.

Harvey Duane “Thumper” Barton – Beerchaser of the Quarter

Posted on September 23, 2022 by Thebeerchaser

(Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened.)

While in college at Oregon State University from 1966-1971, I had the good fortune to live with about 75 guys in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house which was about 1/2 mile from campus. The popularity of the Greek system on US campuses, ebbs and flows, but at that time, fraternities and sororities were strong.

SAE beaver logooooo

Not only were they an opportunity for enhanced social interaction, but one which imparted adherence to academic discipline – study tables for freshman (Rooks) from 7 to 10 each weeknight – and a routine which helped one succeed in college life initially.

For example, Rooks also got up each weekday morning and did chores at 6:30 AM. These ranged from sanitizing the communal bathrooms to vacuuming and cleaning the house. They also served as waiters and kitchen help each weekday night at dinner.

I established lifetime friendships during those years.. Three of my fraternity brothers were the Barton boys from Baker, Oregon. Duane – class of ’69, Gary (71) and Ronnie (73). They were from a great Eastern Oregon family.

All those who knew him, mourned Duane’s passing from Alzheimer’s on May 14, 2020 at the age of 72. Because of COVID, his Celebration-of-Life was postponed until this August. As stated in his obituary:

“His love for life, Faith in Christ and heart for people was ever present. He was never too busy to stop and encourage others. His impact has left an imprint on our hearts forever; he will be deeply missed.”

Periodically in this blog, I name a Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter (BOQ). During my career and in retirement, I have met (or read about) many fascinating and wonderful people with compelling stories and notable exploits and accomplishments. Those I’ve featured may or may not have anything to do with bars or beer. I’ve known most of them personally.

This disparate group comprises academicians, athletes, authors, clerics, consultants, developers, environmentalists, friends/family, media personalities, military veterans, musicians…..well you get the idea.

The late Duane Barton is my newest BOQ and joins two of his former Beaver football teammates who’ve received that “honor” – Craig (The Dude) Hanneman (8/12) and Billy (Rabbit) Main (5/20) in addition to the legendary 1967 Oregon State Giant Killer Football Team as an entity. (5/18). (To read these posts, click on the links above.)

Renaissance Man?

The SAE’s were involved on campus, to say the least. We had athletes from all sports (ten were members of the Giant Killer Team), student leaders, ROTC guys from the three military branches, honor students and musicians, etc. – a talented group of individuals.

I suggest, however, that Duane Barton was the epitome of the well-rounded college student. Now you may laugh at the analogy, but during his life, he could be considered a contemporary Renaissance Man! Let’s define that term:

“Embodying a basic tenet of Renaissance humanism that humans are limitless in their capacity for development, the concept led to the notion that people should embrace all knowledge and develop their capacities as fully as possible.

This is expressed in the term Renaissance man, often applied to the gifted people of that age who sought to develop their abilities in all areas of accomplishment: intellectual, artistic, social, physical, and spiritual.” (Wikipedia)

Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin would fit in this category. Now comparing Thumper Barton to Ben Franklin may seem like a stretch. Duane didn’t sign the Declaration of Independence, isn’t credited with any inventions such as bifocals or the lightning rod, didn’t publish a newspaper, wasn’t a freemason nor did he serve as a University President……

However

Ben Franklin did not play the accordion, guitar and piano, nor letter in football, basketball and baseball in high school and go on to be a skilled college football running back who also punched holes in defensive lines for Earthquake Bill Enyart.

Ben didn’t meet his future wife while coaching Powder Puff Football (although Franklin did sport a pretty cool powdered wig at times).

The Founding Father didn’t have a wonderful tenor voice which garnered a lead in the Baker High School production of Oklahoma and finally, Franklin, never landed a Navy fighter jet on an aircraft carrier at night in rough seas off Japan or serve as an instructor for other Navy aviators.

Both of them were recognized for their superb humor – Franklin mixed cynicism with optimism and stay tuned below for examples of Duane’s mirth.. The bottom line is that both were remarkable men who made significant contributions in a wide variety of pursuits, were admired both for their achievements and relationships with others and left a lasting legacy.

A Note on the Accordion!

One of the great stories his brother, Gary, told at the Celebration was Duane learning to play a wicked version of “Lady of Spain” Perhaps, he became fascinated with this tune while watching the Lawrence Welk Show (It was the theme song of Myron Floren, the accordionist on the show), but everyone there loved the story.

One has to ask, “Did Duane learn to play the accordion to impress the girls at Baker Union High or for the purpose of culturally enhancing his own life (although maybe not those around him…..)?” Fortunately, he abandoned this hobby in college or at least only resumed it on academic breaks at home.

Faith and Family

Duane’s faith in Christ was a critical part of his value system as was his family. Jan and Duane were married for fifty years and had two beautiful daughters (Kylee and Jamie) who I had the privilege of meeting at the Celebration.

As might be expected, both inherited their parents’ athletic abilities and were elite soccer players. Kylee went to University if Portland on a full scholarship. She played for the U16 and U 20 National Teams Jamie went to Willamette University and was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Willamette in 2010.

Both young women have successful careers – Kylee has worked at Nike for seventeen years and is a Global Strategic Product Management Leader, while Jamie is a Vice Principal for an international school. After Kylee entered college, Jan had a successful 17-year career as a realtor with Windemere.

Jan asked me to say a few words at the Celebration of Life. They are inserted below with some pictures that help convey Duane’s personality and amazing life experience:

“I was privileged to know Duane through both the SAE house and the Navy ROTC program. Duane and his good friend and football teammate, Billy Main were both in NROTC – one year ahead of me.

Shortly after Duane passed away, I talked on the phone with Billy about the 1967 OSU Giant Killer Team. We both reminisced about Thumper – Duane’s nickname. Coincidentally, Billy’s nickname was “Rabbit.”

Here are a few of Billy’s comments because they are memorable

Duane Barton was the back-up fullback to Bill Enyart in 1967 and 1968. He knew Buff well – they were roommates when the team traveled. Thumper was physically very different:

Enyart was 6 feet 4 inches – 235 pounds —- Duane was 5 feet 8 inches – 210 pounds.

Duane was one of the great players from eastern Oregon that were part of that Giant Killer team. He was a skilled and proficient runner and blocker — the purest essence of the spirit and ethos of those teams…Had Buff gotten injured, we would lose very little. He was loved and respected by all of his teammates.”

Let’s talk about Naval Aviation and the Airlines

Being selected for Naval Aviation was a real honor for a midshipman. Both Duane and Billy learned to fly in college at the Corvallis airport and went to flight school at Pensacola after commissioning. Rabbit reminisced and said:

“We were also in the Navy summer camps in LA and Pensacola. We were together on Aircraft Carriers: the USS Randolph and USS Lexington.

USS Lexington (CV-2) leaving San Diego, California #3

During that summer in Pensacola and when we had a few days leave, Thumper had a bright idea. He suggested that we jump a freight train and just see where it was going. Duane always pushed to try something new. (Fortunately, Billy talked him out of this plan).

Duane was a skilled pilot but Thumper had an outrageous sense of humor. He was constantly pinching your ass when you weren’t looking – then he would laugh like hell.”

After commissioning and flight school in 1969, he served in the Vietnam War as a Navy pilot. Flying planes was always a dream of his, so he was then thrilled to continue that work as a commercial pilot for Continental.

In 1985 he began a career with Alaska Airlines, which lasted until his final flight in June of 2007; he had a respected and distinguished career. He was also very involved with Airline Pilots’ Association International for 30 years.

And at the SAE house, the Barton boys were active and appreciated. Not only were they standout athletes on our intramural teams, but also talented vocalists—-although Duane had a much better voice than Gary…..

The SAE’s won the men’s competition in OSU Interfraternity Sing in 1968 and placed second in 1967. It was a big event on campus every year and the Bartons were a key factor in the both victories (along with our white slacks……).

Duane and Gary are standing next to each other in the lower right. (Thebeerchaser is upper row third from left and Danny Riley – stay tuned below – is fifth from the left in the upper row).

Given my propensity to save (hoard) items, I still have the vinyl LP’s from both years and you can hear our winning number “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor” (Rather timely wouldn’t you think….) and hear the Bartons’ dulcet tones. (If there is not an arrow on the photo below, click on it to play the video).

As I knew he would, Billy Main flew up for the Celebration of Life in Portland and ten of Thumper’s fraternity brothers were there as well – obviously all still retained their youthful looks and demeanors.

Finally, let’s talk about nicknames.

Some of you, are probably asking about the derivation of the moniker, “Thumper.” Gary offered this explanation:

“The Thumper nickname came from the Disney movie Bambi. There was a cute little cottontail named Thumper living in Bambi’s forest. Among the burly football jocks at OSU, Duane was like their Thumper – both in size and perhaps even more so in personality.

That said, he gave one a memorable ‘thump’ when he hit you on the football field….”

Thumper: “Hey Rabbit (Billy), I’ll take out the linebacker and you go off tackle.” #4

At the SAE house almost everyone had a nickname. You know Duane’s. Gary Barton was known as “Golden Boy” – I think he got that name from his hair color although Gary always thought it was because of his accomplishments. But that’s a story for another time……

There was also “Foghead,” “The Dude,” “Cheater,” “Buns” and some that can’t be repeated in mixed company. My nickname was “Dirt” and when my younger brother pledged the house several years later, he became known as “Dust.” Those nicknames – in many cases – stuck for the rest of one’s life. I’ll close with an example:

Scene — Portland International Airport (PDX)

In 2007, my law firm was having merger discussions with a Seattle firm. I was flying to Seattle each week and one weekday morning I was seated in the Alaska Airlines waiting area for my 6:30 AM flight.

I looked at the couch across from me about four seats down and saw a pilot in his uniform waiting to catch a hop to Seattle. I was pretty sure that it was Duane; however, I hadn’t seen him in more than 20 years. His hair was white and he had a mustache.

Taking a cautious approach I said in a very low voice, “Thumper?” Well, the lady sitting next to me was horrified…..But Duane turned abruptly towards me, got a big grin and said enthusiastically:

“Dirt!”.

We had a great conversation.

The Celebration was a wonderful and healing time for reminiscing and I enjoyed meeting Jan, Kylee and Jamie. And it was a real treat seeing Gary again and hearing his heartfelt and eloquent tribute to Duane.

A Naval Aviation Family

And speaking of tributes, I want to close with recognizing another SAE who was also in NROTC and my best friend in college.

Foghead and Dirt ready to drive to San Diego for summer Midshipman cruise during college.

Dan (Foghead) Riley also took his commission in Naval Aviation and was a legacy member of an outstanding family of Navy pilots – Mike (’59), Dave (’63), Steve (’69) and then Danny (’71). All were NROTC at OSU except Dave who was a US Naval Academy grad. Dan, like Duane Barton, left us too soon and passed away from a long illness in 1997.

It’s ironic and funny how Dan got his nickname at the SAE house in light of the fact that he subsequently landed many times on aircraft carriers – obviously this task takes a clear head!

At the SAE house, there was a week-long initiation to become a member- usually in the spring of the sophomore year, if one made the required GPA. “Hell Week” did not involve any physical hazing but there was a lot of good-natured psychological grief for the prospective members and “assignments” – some of which were essentially impossible to carry out, but for which there was grief it not accomplished.

One of mine which still brings a laugh – I was supposed to surreptitiously place a unit of hay on the study room desk of the House President, Ronnie “Root Beer” (he didn’t drink) Holloway. I talked a kid in the neighborhood of the SAE house to let me borrow his Radio Flyer wagon.

I took it to the OSU sheep barns (we were an aggie school…) – about 3/4 mile from the house and told one of the workers that I was doing a science project and needed a unit of hay which I would pay for. He laughed and gave it to me.

I pulled the wagon and hay through the back streets to return to the house and waited until everyone was at dinner and Dan Riley helped me get it up to the second floor on the desk. Root Beer was astonished when he came in.

The “birth” of Fog Head – On the first night of Hell Week, they lined us up single file at attention in the hall (about fifteen of us) after dinner. The upperclassmen were all puffing on cigars and the smoke was so thick, it probably could have held up the ceiling. We were all nervous and not wanting to screw up as they lectured us about how we didn’t live up to SAE standards, were flakes, etc.

One senior – a big guy who played football came up, puffed his cigar and stuck his head in Dan’s face and said, “Riley, this probably doesn’t mean anything to you does it?” With all the yelling Dan didn’t hear him so figuring he had a 50/50 chance to be correct, he replied “No Sir!”

All the upperclassmen then laughed uproariously and one of them yelled, “Come on, Riley. Get your head out of the fog!”

Perhaps that night in 1967, in some small way, prepared Dan for a scenario like that below that he may have faced on one of his Navy air patrols! #7

US_Navy_101105-N-5684M-121_The_aircraft_carrier_USS_Ronald_Reagan_(CVN_76)_maneuvers_through_fog_in_the_Pacific_Ocean

I’ll finish with this tribute to the Navy aviators mentioned above – Duane, Billy, Danny, Steve, Mike and Dave. The song is by the OSU Chapter of the Sigma Chi Fraternity – winners of the 1967 OSU Interfraternity Council Sing. #8 (If there is not an arrow on the photo below, click on it to play the video).

Cheers

External Photo Attribution

#1. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benjamin_Franklin_1767.jpg) This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer. Source: The White House Historical Association.

#2. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_convertor_free-bass_piano-accordion_and_a_Russian_bayan.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: Henry Doktorski 30 September 2008.

#3. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USS_Lexington_(CV-2)_leaving_San_Diego_on_14_October_1941_(80-G-416362).jpg) This file is a work of a sailor or employee of the U.S. Navy, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, it is in the public domain in the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Naval_History_and_Heritage_Command

#4. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thumper_Bambi_Screenshot.png) This work is in the public domain because it was published in the United States between 1927 and 1963, and although there may or may not have been a copyright notice, the copyright was not renewed. Source: The Walt Disney Company 1942.

#5. Radio Flyer Wagon – https://www.amazon.com/Radio-Flyer-Classic-Red-Wagon/dp/B00000IS6G/ref)

#6. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hatzir_in_dalton(2).JPG) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: קרלוס הגדול4 May 2013.

#7. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (http://File:US Navy 101105-N-5684M-121) The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) maneuvers through fog in the Pacific Ocean.jpg – A work of a sailor or employee of the U.S. Navy, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, it is in the public domain in the United States. 5 November 2010.

#8.

FDW (Part IV) An “Intelligence” Friend and Go West Young Family…..

Posted on January 15, 2022 by Thebeerchaser

(Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and the video at the end of the post and so the narrative is not clipped or shortened.)

Late last year, I decided to honor my Dad (and Mom) as Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter. The first post told about their courtship and marriage in New York City in the 1940’s and the start of a family in Long Island.

This was followed in the second post by some details about moving to Philadelphia when I was one and subsequently to Madeira Ohio – a burb of Cincinnati on my fourth birthday. We lived there for eight years until we moved to Oregon in 1960.

As I mentioned in the third installment, I grew up as a typical skinny, middle-class kid with an older sister and two younger brothers who were blessed with great parents.

Other than getting raw sewage in our house when there was a substantial downpour and my one-time adventure in which I ill-advisedly “explored” the sanitary sewer with my wonderful best friend, Nelson “Nuthin” Kennedy in fifth grade – my life in Ohio was ideal.

As I mentioned in my last post, Nelson was a West Point grad – Class of ’70 and a key factor in my late brother, Garry, becoming a USMA grad in 1972. Nelson went on to have a great 27-year career at Procter and Gamble – first as a production manager and then in quality assurance. (If you have questions, you can ask him about Pampers, Luvs, Tide, Cheer, Bold, Era and Gain….)

And Nelson never was a person to sit idly by, so when he retired in 2002, he first started driving a school bus and then advanced to 18-wheelers for eight years until 2019. Then “as a lark” he was hired part-time in a local Kroger store in the meat department – as I expected, he loves interacting with customers.

(It also and brings back memories of his Senior Year at the Academy where he told the Plebes that they were “raw meat” – especially during Beast Barracks).

Rudy Rousseau and the Central Intelligence Agency

I digress for a bit, but I had another good friend who lived two houses away from us in Madeira – a very interesting story. Rudy was two years older than I (a classmate of my sister, Lynne) and a big kid. We used to play baseball and were in a neighborhood chess club.

We lost touch when I moved to Oregon although Nelson remembers him as a very good high school athlete – excelling in baseball and football. (“He didn’t have good eyesight and his glasses always steamed up under his helmet”….)

(* External Photo Attribution at end of Post)

I didn’t think about Rudy until over forty years later – in 2004 while working at the Schwabe Williamson law firm in Portland. Attorney, Fred Hitz, a Harvard Law grad, had managed the firm’s two-person Washington DC office. He would periodically fly to Portland – most notably for firm retreats.

Before assuming that position, he worked two stints at the Central Intelligence Agency – the second one as Deputy Chief of Operations for Europe. In between, he served with distinction in the Departments of State, Defense and Energy.

After he left the firm, he was appointed in 1990 as the first statutory Inspector General for the CIA by President Bush. He left that post in 1998 and began a teaching career at the prestigious Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University and the University of Virginia School of Law.

In 2004, he wrote a fascinating book entitled The Great Game – The Myths and Reality of Espionage:

“In this fascinating analysis, Frederick Hitz…contrasts the writings of well-known authors of spy novels—classic and popular—with real-life espionage cases. Drawing on personal experience both as a participant in ‘the Great Game’ and as Inspector General, Hitz shows the remarkable degree to which truth is stranger than fiction.” (Amazon)

He also wrote another book in 2008 entitled Why Spy – Espionage in an Age of Uncertainty.

I had read his book and heard that Fred was coming to Portland and talked him into giving a presentation to the City Club of Portland. I was privileged to introduce him and the crowd loved his narrative.

Afterwards, we were having a beer and for some reason I can’t recall – whether it was talking about Ohio or I had heard that Rudy might be working at the CIA – I asked Fred if he knew Rudy. His response was:

“Absolutely, I worked with him at the Agency and he is now the chief CIA Liaison to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and has had a great career at the Agency since 1982.”

I got Rudy’s contact information from Fred (can you imagine calling the CIA and just asking to speak to an agent……?) I then called Rudy and we planned to get together for a beer when I went to Washington DC on a forthcoming business trip.

Over the phone, we reminisced a bit about growing up in Madeira. Unfortunately, his job took him out of town when I was there. (He would have told me where he was traveling, but then he would have had to kill me…..)

In researching this post, I found out some more about my childhood neighbor and friend. Unfortunately, it included the fact that he passed away in 2018 at the age of 71. But it’s worth noting his story. Like Nelson, Rudy had an impressive educational and career resume:

Education: Graduated from Ohio University’s Honors College (Ohio Fellow). After an internship in the Secretary of State’s office in Washington, he studied at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, spending a summer researching his master’s thesis in Ibadan, Nigeria.

He returned to Washington as a Congressional Fellow, completed his doctorate at the Fletcher School, and worked for Senator James Pearson of Kansas, drafting the Amateur Athletic Act.

Career: From 1974 to 1981 he worked for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, handling foreign economic aid and traveling extensively in Asia, Africa, and Central America. In 1982, he accepted a position at the Central Intelligence Agency.

After 9/11, he served in the Counterterrorism Center, preparing the Agency’s response to the 9/11 Commission. Retiring from CIA in 2006, he taught in Georgetown University’s International Security Studies Program.

While searching for the 9/11 Commission testimony, I was fascinated to find a video on C-SPAN from the hearing in which Rudy, with five other CIA/FBI agents/execs, are grilled by the Commission on why their agencies had not been more proactive in anticipating this terrorist attack.

(His testimony comes at 2 hour, 3.5 minutes in.) The images below are from that hearing https://www.c-span.org/person/?1010552/RudolphRousseau.

I have to admit that while the topic before the Commission was very serious and the questions grueling, I had to laugh at times remembering my youngest brother Rick’s early attempts to pronounce my buddy’s name. Rick would say, “Is Wudy Wooso coming over today?”

Rudy, like Fred Hitz and Nelson Kennedy, all served their County well and I’m proud to know these patriots.

The Road Trip of a Lifetime!

It may be more interesting to consider one of my grade school friend’s career as a “spook” so to speak, but let’s get back to the primary topic – my Dad. Both of my parents always tried to enhance our education with books

They gave us this set of the Great Books of the Western World – now in my home office (to the right of the VW Bus and clock and computer monitor in the photo below) when we were in high school. (I still plan to read all fifty-four volumes although I have to admit that I’m struggling even trying to attempt Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War which is only in volume 6…..) And I’ve already mentioned my art school debacle at the Cincinnati Art Museum, as just two examples.

And FDW was always a guy with big ideas so in the spring of 1959, he and Mom called a family meeting. They revealed plans to go on a “camping” trip that summer using a new Nimrod tent trailer pulled by our VW Bus (with the airline seat belts Dad had installed before they were standard issue in cars).

This was not going to be just a casual road trip, but one of ten + weeks, which would ultimately take two adults and four kids (and about 30 what was known then as AAA Trip-tiks and Travel Guides) from Cincinnati, Ohio to Ames, Iowa – where Dad was born – over the Continental Divide with multiple-say stops in Rocky Mountain and Yellowstone National Parks.

We then journeyed on to the Pacific Northwest where we’d visit Seattle and Portland – one of the most meaningful stops on the escapade. Then down through the Redwoods to San Francisco and the Southwest to Mesa Verde and Grand Canyon National Parks, across the Central Plains and ultimately back to Cincinnati.

And this trip lasted from mid-July until the end of September. You can imagine how long it took us to climb to the summit of the highway through the Rockies in a 36-horse power micro-bus with a six-person family and gear for the entire trip stowed in the tent trailer.

The family didn’t just roll through – we thoroughly explored the National Parks, for example a week at Rocky National Park and there were stops at virtually every “Hysterical” Marker” (as we named them midway through the trip) along the way.

We kids would go to every Park Ranger briefing or campfire and pick-up brochures on which we would be quizzed by Frannie during the long and boring stretches of highway (and there was no screen time in that era)! And FDW, who loved geology, would explain the formations and notable geological events which shaped the landscape.

Hysterical Marker – one of a countless number…*9

In the next post, I will give some more details from the trip – like living through the Great Yellowstone Earthquake (7.3 magnitude), but whether it was enduring a tour of the Willa Cather Center in Red Cloud, Nebraska, going on an all-day horseback ride on Specimen Mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park or walking through the barren volcanic ash of Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho where my sister, Lynne, lost her lunch in a lava tube, we shared those adventures as a family.

Note: Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, created during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm. One wonders if some geologist three-hundred years from now will find miniscule fragments of her crystallized taco vomit and wonder how and from what creature it emanated…… Lynne has kept her promise never to return to Craters of the Moon.

And none of us forgot riding the monorail at Disneyland, being enthralled with the grandeur of the Grand Canyon or the rich history of Mesa Verde National Park or traveling through the plains of Kansas on the way home. We did all of that on that ten-week journey.

You might ask, “If you didn’t get back until the end of September, what about school?” Well, that was the result of another family meeting which I will tell you about in the next FDW post. Needless to say, there were some negotiations with the Madeira School District.

External Photo Attribution

*1 https://www.classcreator.com/Madeira-OH-1964/class_profile.cfm?member_id=2264492

*2 C-Span (https://www.c-span.org/person/?42877/FrederickPHitz)

*3 Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RS3J6300_(6839437296).jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author: Miller Center – 13 Febuary 2007

*4 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons: (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seal_of_the_Central_Intelligence_Agency.svg) This image is a work of a Central Intelligence Agency employee, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a Work of the United States Government, this image or media is in the public domain in the United States. Author: US Federal Government

*5 C-Span: https://www.c-span.org/person/?1010552/RudolphRousseau

*6 Crytome: http://cryptome.info/csp/spy004/spy004.htm

*7 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kombi_(4300860191).jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. Author: Diogo Rodrigues Gonçalves from São Bernardo do Campo, Brasil – 24 January, 2010.

*8 Wikimedia Commons – (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Family_camping_and_picnicking_at_John_Pennekamp_Coral_Reef_State_Park_(4876969528).jpg.) This work is from the Florida Memory Project hosted at the State Archive of Florida, and is released to the public domain

*9 https://history.nebraska.gov/visit/historic-sites

*10 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cratersofthemoon2.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: Marc Heiden – 8/08.

*11 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Symptoms-vomiting.jpg) This image is a work of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, taken or made as part of an employee’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.

FDW – Part III – Don’t Go with the Flow!

Posted on December 19, 2021 by Thebeerchaser

Brother Garry and FDW on Eastern Oregon Trip

In the first two segments about my Dad – F. Duane Williams (FDW), I talked about how my parents met in New York City and then about our moves – first to Philadelphia and then to Madeira – a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio.

The last post told some stories about Ohio which will help illustrate why he was such an outstanding person and role model as a Dad. https://thebeerchaser.com/2021/11/09/fdw-beerchaser-of-the-quarter-part-ii/

These continue below….:

The Trains

One of Dad’s best friends was a guy we called Uncle Charlie, who worked at Shillito’s Department Store – housed in a massive building in the heart of downtown Cincinnati which was also one of my Dad’s carpet sales accounts. Shillito’s was Cincinnati’s first department store – founded in 1830 and at one time, had sales exceeding those of its three largest competitors:

“Shillito’s, in addition to being Cincinnati’s largest department store, was a landmark of the city, and one of the oldest in the country.” (The Department Store Museum blog) (* See end of post for external photo attribution)

Charlie was a buyer for the Toy Department and one of the items he stocked (and got great pricing on) was Lionel Trains. Both my Dad and Charlie loved these trains which were noted for their craftsmanship:

“Lionel trains have been produced since 1900, and their trains drew admiration from model railroaders around the world for the solidity of their construction and the authenticity of their detail.

During its peak years in the 1950s, the company sold $25 million worth of trains per year.^[2] In 2006, Lionel’s electric train became the first electric toy inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame.”

Like many single-family homes in Ohio, we had a large basement. That’s where the laundry, freezer and my Dad’s carpet samples were stored. It was expansive, however, and there was still a lot of additional space.

So FDW built a very large wood “train table” – the plywood top of which must have had the dimensions of ten feet by eight feet for the Lionel trains.

He also built a second table with about the same dimensions for us to construct model airplanes and to play “war” with rubber soldiers – I remember it well. We spent hours in the basement. My Mom also used that table for crafts for the Cub Scout Den when Frannie served as Den Mother.

Every Christmas we would find multiple Lionel engines, passenger and freight cars, cabooses, accessories and additional track under our tree to add to the already impressive collection. Dad got more of a kick out of “Santa’s gift” than we did and Christmas day was always hours spent running the trains through their paces with him.

We still have those trains in great condition – now stored in a storage unit with hopes of eventually putting them into use again. Two of the images below are just a small portion of the inventory made a few years ago. (This led me to check out what exactly the “Electro Nuclear Devices” shown on the second page was – not as ominous as it sounds…..)

Basement Disruption….The “Flow”

Madeira, in the mid to late 1950’s, went through a growth spurt and the infrastructure was challenged to support new development. The Madeira City Public Works and Engineering Departments did not adequately plan for it.

It resulted in the storm sewers eventually being overwhelmed during severe storms and flowing into the sewer system. (Maybe not correct from an engineering standpoint, but my recollection as an ten-year old…)

So after living in our house for about six years or so, a few times each year, our basement was inundated with raw sewage – from 3 to 10 inches deep throughout the entire space. The implications from a health, property damage and livability standpoint were obvious although after the first few episodes, I’m sure that Dad put anything that would be damaged high enough to avoid the odiferous liquid sludge – not the case with appliances……

Rapid Growth Without Supporting Infrastructure *10

It was the result of a lot of new houses being built where the drains in their driveways flowed into the storm sewers – evidently without capacity. If you read the first two blog posts, you saw that FDW was not one to sit passively by, nor were a number of our neighbors on Miami Avenue who experienced the same periodic “shit show” in which excrement in the basement was not an exciting or anticipated event.

But the Mayor and City Council at the time were not inclined to deal with it. The solution would have cost the people in the houses contributing to the problem to pay for the upgrades required for the sewer system.

Although the City was responsible for correcting the problem, this was not a popular political solution especially when it was only a relatively small group of residents adversely affected. (I also noticed that the Madeira Historical Society does not cover this in their chronology…)

Fruitless discussions with the City’s representatives after one of the worst slime sorties, saw FDW make his move – one I still remember. Our entire family including the four kids age 2 to 8 and my mom along with a number of neighbors attended the City Council meeting where my Dad had signed up to testify.

He carried a very large shopping bag with him into the Council Chamber. When it was his time to address the Council, Dad slowly walked up to the witness table with the bag and ceremoniously extricated a bucket.

He sat there in silence for about 30 seconds allowing the pungent smell to circulate. Before returning to his seat in the audience, he then said:

“I thought you should see and smell, first-hand, what we’ve had in our basement for the last three days.”

One reason I remember this meeting over sixty years later is the stench from that bucket made a memorable impact on me and everybody at the meeting! Mayor Patton stammered an apology and said that they would work for a solution. (I don’t remember who came up and got the bucket and what they did with it.)

In the end, while the City remedied the problem, my parents decided to buy a lot and build a house in Indian Hills – an adjacent community that was less developed.

“Nuthun” Kennedy

I was fortunate to have a number of friends from school and Scouts, but from first grade at Miami Hills Elementary (renamed Dupont Elementary after Principal John Dumont when I attended) until we moved after sixth grade, Nelson Kennedy was my best friend. I distinctly remember playing Home Run Derby in his back yard and riding bikes all around Madeira.

He gives me credit for introducing him to the Hardy Boy Novels in our second-grade book club and I will always be grateful to him for joining the Junior Choir at the First Presbyterian Church so I didn’t have to suffer alone.

He had great parents and we often did overnighters. His dad was was a manager for Ford Motor Co. and supervised production of automatic transmissions. His mom worked raising the four Kennedy kids, Joe, Nelson, MaryAnn and Russell.

He was called “Nurthin” – not as a nickname, but because that’s how I pronounced his name when I lost my front teeth…. Nelson (later nicknamed both “Moose” because of his physical size and then “Nellie Bellie” because the jeep on the popular Roy Rogers’ TV Show had the moniker “Nelly Belle.” – It sold for $38,400 in 2018 according to this article.).

I will tell you more about Nelson and how we reconnected in later years, but first, back to our adventures in Madeira when we were in grade school. One summer afternoon when we were in sixth grade, we (four of us – Nelson, Bob McBrearty, Gordon Williams and I) decided to take a short-cut to the High School where kids could jump on the trampoline under supervision.

After so many years, I don’t think I can pin the blame on any one of us, but we collectively decided to take a short cut when we came across a reasonably large storm sewer pipe that went in the same direction as MHS and had no grill or screen prohibiting entry.

It did not occur to us that it was about 1/2 mile away and would require navigation through the conduit for that distance without any means of illumination. There was no water and the illustration below shows about the approximate circumference going in although it was only a single outlet.

A viable short-cut to the High School gym? *13

It started off well. Nelson and I were third and fourth in line and we walked through some junctions of pipe without even having to bend over much and got light from small outlet pipes that branched from the main line. About fifteen minutes into our journey, the pipe started getting smaller, there were several branch junctions we had passed and there was a small stream of water that started flowing. We were also lost…….

It didn’t take long for us to conclude that our plan was misguided (fortunately not fatally flawed…) and we decided to take one of the smaller branch pipes out to daylight – it appeared to be about 100 feet away.

Filled with optimism we started crawling on our bellies (especially Nellie) through the approximately two and one-half foot diameter pipe to daylight. (Nelson went first because he was the biggest and he told me as I was researching this post, that he thought otherwise we would have left him behind).

Nuthin had a good sense of humor and half-way out, he deadpanned, “I’m stuck!” That would have been a real problem, but it was not the dilemma we faced when the four of us – fairly disheveled at that point – slowly and incrementally crawled out of the pipe into the backyard of a house on Miami Avenue – one in which a woman was watering her plants.

She looked with astonishment and said as she walked hastily into her house, “I’m calling the Police.” Even though I was only in sixth grade, I had the political savvy to understand the implications if the oldest son of the chief critic of Madeira’s sewer system was caught slinking through it’s pipes.

We started running and hid in my house without seeing any flashing lights or hearing sirens speeding up Miami Ave to the scene of the “discharge.” None of us had an appetite that night. FDW, when he heard the story, shook his head, told us he was glad we were not harmed and again, asked if I had learned a lesson.

West Point

I said goodbye to Nelson in 1961 and in the next post will relate through a twist of fate (and lawyers) how we were united forty-three years later in Oregon, but suffice to say that after sixth grade, Nelson and I lost contact. I found out that he was a star athlete in high school – primarily basketball – an honor student and earned a cherished appointment to the US Military Academy at West Point.

And Nelson Kennedy, besides being a wonderful best friend, was a key factor in my younger brother Garry’s decision to attend West Point in the class two years behind Nelson, after corresponding and then visiting him in my brother’s high school senior year. Both Nelson and Garry served their country well while at the Academy and during their active duty in the Army.

While at West Point, Garry was a member of the West Point Glee Club and in a five-person vocal combo called The Headliners.

The Headliners group of the United States Military Academy (West Point) Glee Club existed from 1965-84.”

The Glee Club appeared periodically on network television on such shows as the Mike Douglas Show. On one of the multiple appearances while Garry was a member of the Club, they did a simulation of the Dating Game with actress, Karen Valentine, who won on Emmy Award for her role on the comedy series Room 222.

Garry was one of three USMA cadets to attempt to be “the bachelor” selected by the actress, based on answers to her questions and he “won” the contest – although unfortunately, no actual date with Valentine…..

You might surmise that Garry was doing his best to remedy the sullied reputation of his older brother (even before he garnered the nickname “Dirt.”) The Glee Club also sang at the White House in 1972. The picture shows Garry standing just to the left of President Nixon during a performance of the Headliners.

Cadent Garry A. Williams – Class of 1972

Garry called home while he was in the White House. His conversation with my Mom went like this:

Garry – “Well, we just performed in Tricky Dick’s House.”

Frannie – “Garry, you probably shouldn’t say that. They could be recording these phone calls.”

Garry – “Oh Mom, they would never make recordings of conversations in the White House!”

It is fitting to share these memories of Garry on the date of the 32th year commemorating his passing. He left a lasting legacy for his integrity, compassion for others, sense of humor and intellect among other traits.

Stories of FDW – Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter to be continued……

External Photo Attribution

*1 Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shillito_Company#/media/File:Shillito’s_Department_Store_View_1.JPG) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Joe D. Good – 28 September 2014.

*2 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shillito_Company#/media/File:Shillitos_Logo.jpg) This logo image consists only of simple geometric shapes or text. It does not meet the threshold of originality needed for copyright protection, and is therefore in the public domain.

*3 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lionel_Corporation_Logo.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Zachary 578 -17 Febuary, 2015.

*4 Public Domain Wikimedia Cdommons (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Corporation#/media/File:Lionel_Trains_-_1929_advertisement.jpg) Author: Siriu_s 17 November 2016.

*5 Website (https://www.hobbylinc.com/diecast-model-airplanes) HOBBYLINC.

*6 Ebay (https://www.ebay.com/itm/264762908178)

*7 Ebay (https://www.ebay.com/itm/352772578704)

*8 – 9 (https://modeltrainmarket.com/collections/o-scale-model-collections/products/o-1-48-scale-electro-nuclear-devices-louis-marx-company-audio-engineer#6659610935395-1)

* 10 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Housing_subdivision#/media/File:Caudry_-_Lotissement_r%C3%A9cent.JPG) This work has been released into the public domain by its author, JÄNNICK Jérémy. 10 October, 2010.

* 11 Creative Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:34_Bucket.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Deklenam 14 October, 2020.

*12 Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nellybelle_in_front_of_Christies_-_panoramio.jpg) Lcensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Author: hill10003 12 July 2010.

*13 Wikimedia Commons (sewer) (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wylot_kolektor%C3%B3w_burzowych_przy_mo%C5%9Bcie_poniatowskiego.jpg) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Panek 31 July, 2021.

*14 City of Madeira Ohio Website (https://www.madeiracity.com/government/departments/police/index.php)

15 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mike_Douglas_1966.JPG) This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1926 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice. Author: AFA-Ashley Famous Agency (management)

*16 Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Karen_Valentine#/media/File:Karen_Valentine_Lloyd_Haynes_Room_222_1970.JPG) This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published in the United States between 1926 and 1977, inclusive, without a copyright notice. Author: ABC Television.

Thebeerchaser

Bars, Breweries and Watering Holes – An Exploration

Category Archives: Beerchaser-of-the-Month or Quarter

Beerchaser Notables – Captain Don Wilburn, US Army Air Corps – Part II

Beerchaser Notable – Captain Don Wilburn-US Army Air Corps – Part I

Author Warren Easley – Beerchaser Notable – Part II

Beerchaser Notables – Author Warren Easley

The Gold Medal of Dives

BOTQ – Who are Those “Guys”?

Harvey Duane “Thumper” Barton – Beerchaser of the Quarter

FDW (Part IV) An “Intelligence” Friend and Go West Young Family…..

FDW – Part III – Don’t Go with the Flow!