I'm Ken Smith, I'm the "Dad" in this image, and I remember Russ so vividly from our time in Palo Alto, that I recently googled him, and was saddened to find a 'remembering Russ' blog, but thrilled by the life he lived. I have to tell you, he was Russell Towle even at age 9-10. A lot of credit should go to Russ's Dad. I remember one trip Russ, his Dad and I went on down to Needles National Monument to go spelunking. Pretty big adventure for a 10 year old. Another thing Russ and I did, along with Jack Burns (pictured), is we hiked up Palo Alto's paved creek beds until they became concrete conduits, and kept going, for a whole day, and we came up through a conduit miles from home and didn't recognize where we were. We had to call one of our Moms. I don't remember who, but I bet it was Russ's because his family would have understood. Reply to ken@ideasmith.com .

I would like to dedicate a song I wrote years ago to Russell. I have read Russell's Blog many times as I am an avid hiker/environmentalist/prospector and I have always found his writing to describe these beautiful places as very inspirational. Because of his writing I have hiked some of these places he has described. I hope the rest of us can pick up the torch he carried and continue to preserve these wild and historic areas.

This song is called "First Light". This song came to me as a vision of the sun rising over the mountain tops somewhere in the Sierra Nevada. It could be anywhere as you hear this song play.

http://soundcloud.com/doug-reagin/first-light

A picture of Russell I don't remember seeing...

Just because ...

I'll always miss you brother.

Nov 4 2001 - Russell, Janet, Gem, Greg, Gus and Gay:
 

Sept 9 2006 - Gay, Greg, Janet & Russell:
 

Sept 9 2006 - Gay, Greg, Janet & Russell:
 

Sept 9 2006 - Gay & Russell:
 

Death is nothing at all

by Henry Scott Holland (1847-1918).

Death is nothing at all. It does not count. I have only slipped away into the next room. Nothing has happened. Everything remains exactly as it was. I am I, and you are you, and the old life that we lived so fondly together is untouched, unchanged. Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by the old familiar name. Speak of me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference into your tone. Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes that we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without an effort, without the ghost of a shadow upon it. Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was. There is absolute and unbroken continuity. What is this death but a negligible accident? Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner. All is well. Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before. How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!

A delightful memory

Here is Russ, in I think, 1989—reading a Tintin comic to Gay's sons Gus and Gem. During the first couple of years we all lived together, every birthday and holiday was a reason to buy another Tintin, until we had the whole set. The boys learned to read by poring over these Tintins, as did Janet and Greg later on. Russ had a voice for each character, and loved to point out obscure details in the illustrations. Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, Madame Castafiore, the evil Rastapopolous... archetypal characters, all!

Russ would be so proud...

I was just reading Janet and Greg's Blogs... and it made me think about just how very proud of both of them Russ would be. I do wish he was around to participate... as it was through his responses to Janet that I saw such a sweet, tender side of Russell. When I'm out walking around picking up rocks I think a Russ a lot... he would have liked them.