Don Carey

San Francisco, d. 1993, died of a heart attack while bike touring

 

Don Carey recently passed from this side. He was stricken by a fatal heart attack while riding in New Zealand. We who were his friends knew him as a true messenger who lived respectfully toward himself and others and who shared his ideas and energies with everyone. Wherever he went New Orleans at Mardi Gras time, Denali Mountain in Alaska, Katmandu, Mexico, Bali, New Zealand and other places he went with an open mind and heart to these lands and the people and their cultures. It is with this way that Don showed other messengers how to travel in the world.

I remember the time I returned from the war in Afghanistan to the relative safety of my hotel in Pakistan. As poor as Pakistan is, it was peaceful and civilized compared with the devastating war in Afghanistan. As I trudged into the hotel lobby I picked up my mail. There with a Nepali stamp and a return address from Katmandu was a letter from Don. It was a mad, rambling letter that probably took even more energy to write it then it took to read it. Don told me he'd been drinking and apologized for telling me that, while I read his letter in a 99% dry country. In this 1989 letter he prophesied the coming of the soul - less New World Order.

Don became a bike messenger in 1982. He lived true to a unique way and yet found the time to share it with us as any who attended his Easter parties of Golden Gate Park would affirm. He was a gentleman and a messenger. He lived true to a unique way up to the last.

As I write this (December 10) songs that were oldies when I was a kid are being sung, kids are eagerly guessing what's under the evergreen tree and many other ancient customs are once again being enjoyed. These customs preceded us, they will probably be here after we are gone. They are not necessarily bigger than any one of us but they are evidence that there is Something greater than us.

I hope Don Carey is with that Something.

by Howard Williams