Fare Thee Well

Back in the day when I was teaching, Tuesdays had a fashion option in my classroom: tie, or tie dye. I opted for tie dye on this Tuesday, not as a blast from the past, but in honoring one person: Bill Walton. Bill Walton passed away yesterday, a real shock to all of us who followed him closely. Big Bill was a college basketball and NBA legend. In spite of many injuries in his career - 37 surgeries - he won three NCAA, and two NBA championships, including the one and only Portland Trailblazers championship in 1977. But Bill was a free spirit of epic proportions. After retiring, he commentated college basketball games, a miracle with the speech impediment he had early in life. Where Bill and I shared common ground was our love for music, and especially the music of the Grateful Dead. Bill was a member of the Dead’s inner family, and I think his blood, as well as his t-shirts, were all tie dyed. So much more I could write about this man, one of the most colorful on earth, but there isn’t enough room here. I feel like I have lost a brother. Fare thee well, Big Bill. We love you more than words can tell.

Song of the day is the Grateful Dead’s “Brokedown Palace,” here covered by the group Shinyribs.

https://youtu.be/3geKwaTqceU?si=FSpRGOAJjKkD77FV