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Four Dead in OhioMay 04, 2008 Alison Krause The dead at Kent State. It's one of those dates I remember, even before Barnes Newberry played Neil Young's "Four Dead in Ohio" on Highway 61 Revisited Saturday morning. The date started crystallizing into an icon almost immediately, but at the time it felt more like a dark sparkle riding on a torrent, starting with the invasion of Cambodia, continuing through the student strike, the shootings at Jackson State, and into the following (school) year, which culminated in the Mayday demonstrations. My formative years, as they say; formative years for a lot of us, though they shaped us in different ways. Late Saturday afternoon I went to a wake or farewell party for Cheryl's mare, Misty, who's dead lame from founder and facing a life of unrelentingly painful movement. She's to be euthanized on Monday. For the party she was alert and friendly (painkillers can to wonders in the short term) but the few steps I saw her take were halting and hard to watch. The party was fun. Travvy made more friends and discovered popcorn. At about quarter past six by the barn clock, someone said that we'd missed the Kentucky Derby. Ginny had gone to a Derby party, so I returned to our barn to bring Allie in and feed everybody. I didn't learn till the next morning that 8 Bells had finished second then broken both forelegs while being pulled up after the finish. She had to be euthanized. Tonight I went to a benefit at Outerland for island bluesman Maynard Silva, who's been battling cancer for three years now. After surgery to remove a brain tumor in December, in February the cancer reappeared in a dangerous place, pressing up against his aorta. They've been doing radiation, but the radiation is exhausting him. I don't think I've ever seen that many cars in one place on Martha's Vineyard, except maybe at the annual Ag Fair, but that's in August, and this is May. The place was packed with people dancing and eating and drinking and talking, or trying to. I circulated, meet-and-greeted lots of people I know but in many cases hadn't seen in years. Didn't stay long -- nightclubs have never been my scene, and Travvy was home alone for the first time in his crate -- but I'm glad I went. One of the people I ran into was Bob Schellhammer, who took the great shot of Maynard on the cover of the Calendar section of this week's Martha's Vineyard Times. Maynard's leaning up against the wall of a shadowy corridor, holding an electric guitar. His right shoulder's to the wall, and up on the wall behind his left shoulder is a fire extinguisher. Behind him at the end of the hall is an exit sign. The door underneath it is closed, the knob dimly visible. He looks weary, but he seems about to speak; he's facing the camera, his back is turned to the exit sign. Bob remembers how he lit the picture but he can't remember where he took it. P.S. The Maynard photo and the Calendar cover story are available online. The cutline says the picture was taken at the Atlantic Connection, which used to be a nightclub but is now a gameroom. Could be backstage at the AC; could be anywhere.
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