Dearest Friends,

My family and I are planning for a time of gathering in celebration of Kenneth’s life on the Friday of Thanksgiving Day weekend, November 24, at 6:30pm. I hope you may be able to join us that evening for the scattering of ashes he requested here at Blue Note Garden, 2309 Wagon Road, in Knoxville, Tennessee. There will be a wood fire to take the chill off outdoors. We’ll provide hot cider and popcorn. Bring a bit of a story with you, if you wish. If you cannot come, you are welcome to send a tale ahead and we’ll tell it for you.

You have all been so kind to be in touch with me since Kenneth’s death on 3 September. I cannot express how deeply your kind words have affected me. I am only now beginning to feel I’ve arrived at enough equanimity to respond to the several hundred letters, photos, cards, emails, texts and voicemails expressing appreciation for time with “the gentle giant” in all the different worlds he lived in. (I would make better progress if I did not feel the need to tamp down sadness by repeatedly going outdoors to pull weeds and rip-out tree seedlings in these achingly beautiful early fall days—Japanese stilt grass is sufficiently terrorized that it wilts these days as I make my approach!)

Kenneth knew I would write about him someday and many of you have sent me a welcome stock of material. I’m adding it to the stories Kenneth’s grandparents and Kenneth himself told me from occasions well before I met him 42 years ago. As unassuming as he could be, he certainly wasn’t shy in front of a camera lens or in the presence of a storyteller.

I wish that more of you would have known Kenneth in his prime, when illness, surgeries and chronic pain had not worn him down so much. Still, through it all, he managed to keep his fundamental sense of goodness and kindness intact—I am witness to how much of a feat that could be.

In addition to family members coming in turn to help, I’ve had a couple of students stay with me for several weeks who did not get the chance to know Kenneth; it has been good to focus mostly on their lives and aspirations. After they leave next week, another couple of students will fly over from France to help me with the work we should be doing over there.

In November, we will get Blue Note Garden ready for family and friends to assemble at our simple gathering in memory of Kenneth’s life. We know many of you will have family commitments elsewhere for the holiday but if you are in town, please stop by that evening—or another time afterward. I look forward to speaking with each and every one of you.

Sincerely,

Theresa