It’s not particularly long, considering how much he did in his life. And of course, like most obituaries, it doesn’t really convey the person himself in all his complexity and energy and vitality. This blog has been much better at doing that.
I haven’t gotten my head around it, and don’t think of Gerard as “gone”.
Just taking a break, and will be back at a later date.
I’ve never done this whole “death” thing very well.
I saw my dad lying in his casket when he was 47 and I was 25 and maybe something snapped inside my tree. Guess I just sorta deny that it is over. Being a loner in the woods helps out. I find solace in the trees.
Being a loner in the woods helps out. I find solace in the trees.
I know exactly what you mean, Ghostsniper, and I head to the woods as often as I possibly can. And if a trout stream just happens to lie within the woods, so much the better.
Bill HenryFebruary 25, 2023, 8:57 AM
I am right there with you…
jdFebruary 26, 2023, 12:29 PM
I can understand how you feel, Ghost. Since we learned of Gerard’s death,
I’ve spent much of the time I allow myself on the computer bouncing back and
forth between here and Neo’s blog. Don’t really know what I’m looking for.
My only close experience to death was with my mother 23 years ago. Her “trip”
took five days and I was with her almost every moment. On the final morning I
could tell by her breathing that something was different so I grabbed a chair,
parked it next to her bed and never took my eyes from her face for her last half hour.
I was blessed because if not for that, I would have missed her beatific smile as
she passed from this world into the next.
From what I have observed this last month, the fog has not cleared, the shock is still numbing. This speaks volumes about the man and his pen. May whoever continues “the work” do so in a fashion that is befitting of his character and may you never be afraid to say what is on your mind.
SteveFebruary 24, 2023, 4:39 PM
Miss him and the site greatly. But people are moving on rapidly. Jean, thanks for keeping this up who can’t help but just keep coming back. But it can’t last for two years. At least that seems to be the case to me. Please let us know if a book of poetry and/or other writings does appear.
Steve:
If the commenters disperse more and more over time, I’ll put up fewer and fewer open threads. The books will be coming out, but that may take several months. I definitely will make an announcement here and on my blog.
It’s hard to let go.
SteveFebruary 25, 2023, 6:21 AM
Neo,
I just realized you have an active blog! https://www.thenewneo.com/
I’ll be following you there. Thanks so much.
KerryFebruary 24, 2023, 5:38 PM
Yes, he did accomplish a lot, very worthy work. And think of all the enjoyment he provided people! Thanks for including the link. I hope you are doing well under the circumstances.
The internet has become a lot less fun. Truth to tell, most of it sucks, anymore. I’m realizing how much of my on- line time was spent here. I still keep coming back, and looking.
Well, even Gerard realized that AD would fade to digital dust, but before it does, we can still share in some of the things which Gerard has shared with us in the past, such as the beauty of kimonos.
AnneFebruary 25, 2023, 8:23 PM
Thank you so much for the Kimonos post!
ghostsniperFebruary 25, 2023, 6:57 AM
I made a comment but it fell off the conveyor belt again.
ghostsniperFebruary 25, 2023, 12:11 PM
I’ll try again.
Remember Gerard’s “Strange Daze”?
They were a plethora of assorted findings on the web that could keep you busy for hours.
Here’s his first one from back in Aug 2018.
Maybe if each of us posted a link to something we seen recently that might be of interest to the others here, we can keep this thing running.
Sort of like a parted-out version of Strange Daze.
Anyway, the following is part of my weekly haunts, look at your own peril.
Howard Kunstler posts new entries on his blog twice a week, Mon and Fri at about 10 in the morning EST. Always worth reading, especially the comments below. https://kunstler.com/writings/clusterfuck-nation/
Pete at Western Rifle Shooters posts new stuff constantly all day long.
He has all 10 thumbs on the pulse of the USSA. https://westernrifleshooters.us/
Teddy doesn’t post a lot but he usually posts worthwhile stuff.
Unless he goes off on one of his boomer rants. http://voxday.net/
Wendy and her husband have a litany of interesting things every day.
Always worth checking in on. http://wendymcelroy.com/news.php
Ann Barnhardt is the boldest woman on the web and she tells it like it is, and should be. https://www.barnhardt.biz/
If you’re a hands-on type of person and you like trucks, trains, and COFFEE, and loathe most of what’s going in the communist parts of the USSA then Phil is your go-to. https://bustednuckles.com/
Kenny at “Knuckledraggin My Life Away” has been around forever in one form or another and he presents a worthwhile variety show. https://ogdaa.blogspot.com/
ghostsniperFebruary 25, 2023, 5:27 PM
Here’s the link for Gerard’s first Strange Daze entry:
Guess what?
Nothing will happen about this stuff.
It’s all too far gone.
Once more, as FREE money is available to fuel the criminal gov’t engine, it will continue to run, and run ever faster. Global financial events are closing in and the petro dollars days are going to start winding down. You are on your own, in all ways, because just about everything is collapsing. Soon, there will be only endless lies and nothing to obscure them. But will you see?
Casey KlahnFebruary 27, 2023, 12:54 PM
Good idea to revisit the GV Strange Days theme, Ghost. I’ll be looking at your links.
It’s got me thinking I can attempt a similar sort of thing. I cannot write as good as GV, but I can bring my “A” Game to the effort. He did teach me that. Mine would have a different flavor, but that’s expected.
ghostsniperFebruary 27, 2023, 2:55 PM
Bring it!
Sure would like to read some Mike Austin commentarys.
AnonymousFebruary 25, 2023, 4:37 PM
Y’all express my feelings much better than I can. I still deeply mourn a friend more than 30 years gone; I still mourn friends I’ve never met: Ol’ Remus comes to mind … and now Gerard. Some pass their aura through pixels on an unfeeling monitor. Wish I had made it to Chico and looked him up (very nice country. If I >had< to live in CA …). Reading old posts allows me to forget for a while.
SteveSFebruary 25, 2023, 4:46 PM
The newneo.com is in my opinion the best blog for analysis of current events, trends, etc. Neo had me many years ago with her analysis of political changers, people who leave the warm fuzziness of the circle dance mentality when reality undeniably presents itself. (Also her writings about the world of dance). Throughout the years blogs have kind of come and went for me but two constants remain. Neo and Gerard. Makes perfect sense they were so much a part of each other’s lives. Devastated for Neo and also for all of us. Do check out newneo.
TerryFebruary 28, 2023, 7:37 AM
SteveS
I tried to go to newneo.com and received a deadend message. Site for sale. Can you provide an active link?
I find it interesting that for many years I read both Newneo and American Digest and then find out that there’s a connection (to say the least). As Steve says, it makes perfect sense. It’s nice to return here and ‘see’ the same old faces……sorta like that bar where everybody knows your name. Thanks, John, for the link to the kimono site and many thanks to Ghost for those links as well. Some of those I’m familiar with, but a few are new and I’ll give them a go. I sure miss coming here every Sunday for edification, entertainment, and terrific writing. I suppose that those will now be via the trusty comments….and no insult intended…..but y’all are not quite the same as Gerard. And I still miss Remus.
BobFebruary 28, 2023, 7:44 AM
Thank you Neo for posting Gerard’s obituary. As he was a star in many of our opinions, he was also a real person. Thank you.
I thoroughly enjoyed Gerald’s American Digest over the years. Yep, he’s gone, but I’m damn glad he was here for 77 years! With over eight decades behind me a great many, possibly most, I’ve known have passed. We all gotta get out of the way and give the next generation a chance to screw things up, -or hopefully, not.
Thanks for linking his obit. Jean, I tipped a shot of Irish on his passing and, reading that, I’m tipping another one now; He had a good run!
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
I haven’t gotten my head around it, and don’t think of Gerard as “gone”.
Just taking a break, and will be back at a later date.
I’ve never done this whole “death” thing very well.
I saw my dad lying in his casket when he was 47 and I was 25 and maybe something snapped inside my tree. Guess I just sorta deny that it is over. Being a loner in the woods helps out. I find solace in the trees.
Meant head. My brain works faster than my typing.
Being a loner in the woods helps out. I find solace in the trees.
I know exactly what you mean, Ghostsniper, and I head to the woods as often as I possibly can. And if a trout stream just happens to lie within the woods, so much the better.
I am right there with you…
I can understand how you feel, Ghost. Since we learned of Gerard’s death,
I’ve spent much of the time I allow myself on the computer bouncing back and
forth between here and Neo’s blog. Don’t really know what I’m looking for.
My only close experience to death was with my mother 23 years ago. Her “trip”
took five days and I was with her almost every moment. On the final morning I
could tell by her breathing that something was different so I grabbed a chair,
parked it next to her bed and never took my eyes from her face for her last half hour.
I was blessed because if not for that, I would have missed her beatific smile as
she passed from this world into the next.
From what I have observed this last month, the fog has not cleared, the shock is still numbing. This speaks volumes about the man and his pen. May whoever continues “the work” do so in a fashion that is befitting of his character and may you never be afraid to say what is on your mind.
Miss him and the site greatly. But people are moving on rapidly. Jean, thanks for keeping this up who can’t help but just keep coming back. But it can’t last for two years. At least that seems to be the case to me. Please let us know if a book of poetry and/or other writings does appear.
Steve:
If the commenters disperse more and more over time, I’ll put up fewer and fewer open threads. The books will be coming out, but that may take several months. I definitely will make an announcement here and on my blog.
It’s hard to let go.
Neo,
I just realized you have an active blog!
https://www.thenewneo.com/
I’ll be following you there. Thanks so much.
Yes, he did accomplish a lot, very worthy work. And think of all the enjoyment he provided people! Thanks for including the link. I hope you are doing well under the circumstances.
Well done
The internet has become a lot less fun. Truth to tell, most of it sucks, anymore. I’m realizing how much of my on- line time was spent here. I still keep coming back, and looking.
JWM
Well, even Gerard realized that AD would fade to digital dust, but before it does, we can still share in some of the things which Gerard has shared with us in the past, such as the beauty of kimonos.
Thank you so much for the Kimonos post!
I made a comment but it fell off the conveyor belt again.
I’ll try again.
Remember Gerard’s “Strange Daze”?
They were a plethora of assorted findings on the web that could keep you busy for hours.
Here’s his first one from back in Aug 2018.
Maybe if each of us posted a link to something we seen recently that might be of interest to the others here, we can keep this thing running.
Sort of like a parted-out version of Strange Daze.
Anyway, the following is part of my weekly haunts, look at your own peril.
Howard Kunstler posts new entries on his blog twice a week, Mon and Fri at about 10 in the morning EST. Always worth reading, especially the comments below.
https://kunstler.com/writings/clusterfuck-nation/
Karl Denninger posts whenever he feels like it and he’s always a bare fisted brawler.
In the current entry he tears apart that whole train derailment thing.
https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?blog=Market-Ticker
Pete at Western Rifle Shooters posts new stuff constantly all day long.
He has all 10 thumbs on the pulse of the USSA.
https://westernrifleshooters.us/
Teddy doesn’t post a lot but he usually posts worthwhile stuff.
Unless he goes off on one of his boomer rants.
http://voxday.net/
Wendy and her husband have a litany of interesting things every day.
Always worth checking in on.
http://wendymcelroy.com/news.php
Irish posts stuff throughout the week but his “Friday Femme Fatale Farrago” alone is worth the trip.
https://theferalirishman.blogspot.com/2023/02/friday-femme-fatale-farrago-still.html
Ann Barnhardt is the boldest woman on the web and she tells it like it is, and should be.
https://www.barnhardt.biz/
If you’re a hands-on type of person and you like trucks, trains, and COFFEE, and loathe most of what’s going in the communist parts of the USSA then Phil is your go-to.
https://bustednuckles.com/
Kenny at “Knuckledraggin My Life Away” has been around forever in one form or another and he presents a worthwhile variety show.
https://ogdaa.blogspot.com/
Here’s the link for Gerard’s first Strange Daze entry:
https://americandigest.org/strange-daze/
Ghostsniper, thank you for the list. Ann Barnhardt reminds me of vaticancatholic.com. Dynamic!
Looking for something to knock your socks off?
This is it (watch the entire 42 minutes):
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/
This nation, if you want to call it a nation, is controlled by blackmail / drugs, and the video above proves this without a doubt.
Bind blowing presentation in front of Arizona fake election Senators, House members.
Had to scroll down to the proper article.
Here it is:
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/02/26/about-that-explosive-arizona-senate-testimony-alleging-sinaloa-cartel-influence-over-public-officials/
Guess what?
Nothing will happen about this stuff.
It’s all too far gone.
Once more, as FREE money is available to fuel the criminal gov’t engine, it will continue to run, and run ever faster. Global financial events are closing in and the petro dollars days are going to start winding down. You are on your own, in all ways, because just about everything is collapsing. Soon, there will be only endless lies and nothing to obscure them. But will you see?
Good idea to revisit the GV Strange Days theme, Ghost. I’ll be looking at your links.
It’s got me thinking I can attempt a similar sort of thing. I cannot write as good as GV, but I can bring my “A” Game to the effort. He did teach me that. Mine would have a different flavor, but that’s expected.
Bring it!
Sure would like to read some Mike Austin commentarys.
Y’all express my feelings much better than I can. I still deeply mourn a friend more than 30 years gone; I still mourn friends I’ve never met: Ol’ Remus comes to mind … and now Gerard. Some pass their aura through pixels on an unfeeling monitor. Wish I had made it to Chico and looked him up (very nice country. If I >had< to live in CA …). Reading old posts allows me to forget for a while.
The newneo.com is in my opinion the best blog for analysis of current events, trends, etc. Neo had me many years ago with her analysis of political changers, people who leave the warm fuzziness of the circle dance mentality when reality undeniably presents itself. (Also her writings about the world of dance). Throughout the years blogs have kind of come and went for me but two constants remain. Neo and Gerard. Makes perfect sense they were so much a part of each other’s lives. Devastated for Neo and also for all of us. Do check out newneo.
SteveS
I tried to go to newneo.com and received a deadend message. Site for sale. Can you provide an active link?
Here’s the link, Terry: The New Neo
Thank you John.
I find it interesting that for many years I read both Newneo and American Digest and then find out that there’s a connection (to say the least). As Steve says, it makes perfect sense. It’s nice to return here and ‘see’ the same old faces……sorta like that bar where everybody knows your name. Thanks, John, for the link to the kimono site and many thanks to Ghost for those links as well. Some of those I’m familiar with, but a few are new and I’ll give them a go. I sure miss coming here every Sunday for edification, entertainment, and terrific writing. I suppose that those will now be via the trusty comments….and no insult intended…..but y’all are not quite the same as Gerard. And I still miss Remus.
Thank you Neo for posting Gerard’s obituary. As he was a star in many of our opinions, he was also a real person. Thank you.
I thoroughly enjoyed Gerald’s American Digest over the years. Yep, he’s gone, but I’m damn glad he was here for 77 years! With over eight decades behind me a great many, possibly most, I’ve known have passed. We all gotta get out of the way and give the next generation a chance to screw things up, -or hopefully, not.
Thanks for linking his obit. Jean, I tipped a shot of Irish on his passing and, reading that, I’m tipping another one now; He had a good run!