Ezra Caldwell died this week. The grace and creativity with which he lived, especially during those last six years after his diagnosis of cancer, inspired so many. He created some of his finest art, in photographs, in his Fast Boy custom-designed bikes, in simple gourmet meals, in beautifully finished metal and wooden artifacts in his workshop, all the while actively dying. And now he is gone, his life a testament to courage and self-creation and family and love. Always, when I read his words, I was reminded of what mattered, what endures. Thank you, Fast Boy, for everything you shared with us, for your great light. The news of his life and his leaving us is here. That self-portrait was apparently one of his most sought after.
I have no idea why, but I never read Ezra. I hope they keep his blog up so that I can rectify this, albeit tragically late.
ReplyDeleteI feel his loss, even from this remove.
There was just something about him, the way he refused to quit, the way he refused to whimper, they way he just kept on keeping on with his photographs, his simple and elegant food creations, his making of beautiful objects and bikes that were works of art, his love of pool right up to the end, and especially the way he cherished his wife whom he met in a dance class, his family, his friends, his hospice caregivers, his dog. He seemed to take none of it for granted. He lived down the road from me, but I didn't know him personally, just in the blog universe. But I was powerfully moved by his spirit of acceptance in the face of dying, which was not defeat in any way. In dying, he showed us how to live.
DeleteI've been reading his blog for years, too -- I think I was inspired to follow him through Rebecca. I would click in and look for his posts, always expecting that it would be his last, and then there'd be another one and they were always so filled with humor and brutality and physical beauty (what he made, what he looked like, his art, etc.). What a great soul.
DeleteThat picture. Ezra lived fiercely and unflinchingly. I found him through Dishwasher's Tears and it was an honor reading about his life and looking at his photos. I had no idea how truly extraordinary his life was. I'll miss him, and wish I'd found him sooner.
ReplyDeletea lovely tribute, angella. i read ezra, too--picked him up from one of you. and loved him, felt a kinship...the putney vermont, bread & puppets connection. he lived so creatively, attacked his cancer creatively. a true inspiration.
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