Perhaps someone should start an “OPT OUT” list for Locklearian obituary reviews .
There could be ONE opt out list for caver obituary reviews AND a opt out list for those who prefer to pass in peace WITHOUT being reviewed. Sent from my iPhone > On May 12, 2019, at 10:57 AM, Don Cooper <[email protected]> wrote: > > Katie - > > From our discussions about David's posts - I'm reminded that there are FANS > also, of very very poorly performed music.... > His evaluation of Bill Mixon absolutely TEARS IT! His output is no longer > welcome - in my computer's input. > Happy that I didn't see him blab about William! > Hope all is well. I think of you almost daily. > > -Don C. > From: Texascavers <[email protected]> on behalf of > Katherine Arens <[email protected]> > Sent: Thursday, May 9, 2019 7:38 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Texascavers] My "Review" of Bill Mixon > > Nice remembrance, — but the dogs were Salukis, not greyhounds (short-haired > afghan hounds). With memorable names like Silly and Sally. Sally could open > tight-shut coolers to steal cheese . . . > >> On May 9, 2019, at 6:25 PM, David <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> I can only give Bill Mixon an 8.1 out of 10 stars. >> >> Bill was a male, slightly bald, about 5'-9", light complected, almost skinny. >> >> Bill was somewhat of a curmudgeon - but only when he was not with his >> beloved greyhounds. He was especially saddened after he had to start >> living without his last dog. >> >> He presented himself around me, as a passive person, content to sit in one >> spot at camp for a good part of the weekend and talk to anyone willing to >> start an interesting conversation. >> >> I deducted the first star, because he did not like Rock and Roll, nor maybe >> not any noisy music at all. >> >> And the second deduction, goes to his frugalness or thriftyness. Did he >> ever upgrade from DOS to Windows ? Or get a 64-bit computer ? I would be >> tempted to put an AMD Threadripper in has ashes, just so he can tell Oztotl >> that he got one as a going away present, as a warm token of admiration. >> >> Anyways, I hope there are greyhounds and a giant dog-park in the afterlife, >> so that he can enjoy eternity on his terms. >> >> >> Below is a story that I have told many times: >> >> I first met Bill Mixon in October of 1984 while on a weekend excursion as a >> sophomore student at Texas A&M University ( College Station campus ). >> >> >> Bill was standing at the bottom of a large sinkhole in a remote ranch in >> west Texas. I had no idea why. >> >> >> Myself, ( an Aggie ), and another new young newbie caver from Univ. of Texas >> at Austin, Ed Sevcik, were staring down at him. The two of us had missed >> the group going into the cave, and we both were standing at the edge of the >> sinkhole peering down into it. >> >> >> ( UT cavers had hauled out tons of rusted rubble the day before or trip >> before, so we had a clean safe view of the sinkhole ) >> >> >> We both were unsure what to do. There was no ladder or rope, and a fall >> would be potentially bad. There was nothing to see, but Bill, and an ugly >> hackberry tree, which oddly, was the only tree for 50 miles. >> >> >> We had no idea who Bill was, or where everybody had disappeared to. >> >> >> Bill yelled up to us on how to use the tree limbs and tree trunk in the >> sinkhole to descend the sharp drop-off and climb down using the tree as a >> hand-hold. >> >> >> To our surprise, the actual cave entrance at the bottom of the sinkhole was >> just a tiny intimidating belly crawl. >> >> >> That was my introduction to a first real Texas cave. >> >> >> We learned the cave was known as "Big Tree Cave," but its official name was >> "Langtry Lead Cave." Cavers were deep inside, allegedly pushing a lead and >> maybe re-surveying. >> >> >> I chose to sit there in the sinkhole, as did my new found friend, Ed. >> >> >> Ed was much bigger than me, so he might have even been more intimdated by >> the tiny entrance. >> >> >> Bill was almost a generation older than us, and we assumed he was an >> experienced caver. My first impression of Bill was that he seemed like a >> pleasant spoken guy. >> >> >> Eventually, Bill convinced us to give the entrance a go. >> >> >> We three crawled into the tiny entrance, and started some very fun climbs - >> going downward into the belly of the cave. >> >> >> About the 5th climb down, we chickened-out. Ed and I could not believe >> there was no rope or hand-line. It looked like a bottomless pit, but was >> actually only 23 feet at the deepest part, which was more of an illusion, as >> if you fell, it would have only been 12 feet. Our cheezy headlamps were not >> bright enough to see that the climb was the easiest of all the climbs. [ I >> doubt I had anything more than a cheap flashlight. ] >> >> >> We three set there, in the dark and Bill talked to us about caves and caving >> for probably an hour. >> >> >> Then Bill showed us how to climb back out of the cave. That was so much >> fun, that we went back and forth several times. >> >> >> Eventually we did the 5th climb down and it was so much fun, that we also >> did that several times. >> >> >> We eventually met up with the cavers. Bill felt his job was done ( helping >> newbies ), so he headed back out to camp to enjoy the desert sunset. >> >> >> That group ( in sort of a small junction room ) which were two Aggie cavers: >> John Ragsdale, and Freddie Platt, and also several Austin cavers, James >> Reddell and maybe Bill Elliot and about 10 others. They pointed us in the >> direction of a long crawl to the "Hall of Unicorns." Once reaching that >> point, I knew then that my secret passion that I had had since 1968 as a 4 >> year old - to go cave exploring - was now something etched permanently into >> my D.N.A.. ( from watching the tv kid's episode - "Davey and Goliath - Lost >> in the Cave" ) >> >> >> [ Sidenote: >> >> >> Over the years, I returned there many times and went to what may be the >> bottom of the cave at least twice. The rancher there was nice to us Aggies >> from 1985 to about 1990, but then he sold the ranch to a rancher that was >> more worried about liability. We returned a few more times. The last time >> was over 20 years ago. ] >> >> >> This post or recollections of memories is all about Bill: >> >> >> At all the caving events that I attended over the last 34 years ( 30 >> something events ), Bill Mixon was there selling very interesting caving >> books, mostly about explorations in remote areas of The Sierra Madres in >> Mexico that he had a hand in editing. I bought many of those books, and >> cherished them and still do. I still plan to buy some more. >> >> >> As you all know, Bill proofread nearly every one of them with magnifying >> glass and spoke bluntly of errors, and had no qualms of speaking negatively >> about an article if he felt it was rubbish. He edited them all before being >> sent to the publisher. >> >> >> Bill was the world-authority on cave-exploring-literature and donated his >> library to the cavers of Texas to be on display at the new Texas >> Speleological Center ( which was his 5 acre ranch ). >> >> >> Bill was well known in caving circles at the national level, and always wore >> a tuxedo-t-shirt to formal banquets to present awards to distinguished >> cavers. I especially recall the one in Indiana in the long mine. >> >> >> Bill did some real caving while in college - I think when he was living in >> Chicago in the mid 1960s. Feel free to expand on that. >> >> >> There is a vague trip report of the trip above in a 1985 issue of the "Texas >> Caver." >> >> >> David Locklear >> >> NSS # 27639 RL >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com >> [email protected] | Archives: >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers > > ************************ > Katherine Arens > Phones: Office(512) 232-6363 > [email protected] > Dept. Phone: (512) 471-4123 > Dept. of Germanic Studies > FAX (512) 471-4025 > 2505 University Ave, C3300 > Bldg.Location: Burdine 336 > University of Texas at Austin > Office: Burdine 320 > Austin, TX 78712-1802 > -. .- > _..-'( )`-.._ > ./'. '||\\. (\_/) .//||` .`\. > ./'.|'.'||||\\|.. )O O( ..|//||||`.`|.`\. > ./'..|'.|| |||||\`````` '`" '` ''''''/||||| ||.`|..`\. > ./'.||'.|||| ||||||||||||. . |||||||||||| ||||.`||.`\. > /'|||'.|||||| ||||||||||||{ }|||||||||||| ||||||.`|||`\ > '.|||'.||||||| ||||||||||||{ }|||||||||||| |||||||.`|||.` > '.||| ||||||||| |/' ``\||`` ''||/'' `\| ||||||||| |||.` > |/' \./' `\./ \!|\ /|!/ \./' `\./ `\| > V V V }' `\ /' `{ V V V > ` ` ` V ' ' ' > > > > _______________________________________________ > Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com > [email protected] | Archives: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
_______________________________________________ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com [email protected] | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
