From gammage.kennedy at gmail.com Thu Dec 30 13:25:33 2021 From: gammage.kennedy at gmail.com (Kennedy Gammage) Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2021 13:25:33 -0800 Subject: [ilds] H. R. "Stoney" Stoneback In-Reply-To: <317d03d2-9858-0949-e649-a1be2266af39@gmail.com> References: <317d03d2-9858-0949-e649-a1be2266af39@gmail.com> Message-ID: Just a few words of appreciation about H.R. ?Stony? Stoneback, a gentleman and a scholar. We crossed paths at On Miracle Ground XVI in New Orleans, Summer of 2010. He told funny stories about his old friend Jerry Jeff Walker, who immortalized him as ?Stoney.? They were itinerant troubadours in the ?60s, a time when strangely busking was against the law in New Orleans, and spent some nights in the local jail. As the song goes, ?inside his grey pillowcase were some books by DurRELL? - likely the Alexandria Quartet. He told us the story of calling his future wife once he got a place of his own, but he didn?t expect her to drive all night. The strippers were still there, but they were quickly showed the door by the ?tiny but resolute Sparrow.? I?m picturing her reaching up and grasping them forcefully by the earlobes. You?ll find his poem in DEUS LOCI NS11 2008-2009, which was hot-off-the-press at the conference: MEDITATION ON AN OLD PHOTOGRAPH IX: LARRY AND SPARROW IN THE DARK GARDEN AT SOMMI?RES-JUNE 1986 For Lawrence Durrell and Jane Arden Stoneback, which he wrote in 2008. She was R. I. P. and he was missing her. I read my own poem from that same volume out loud to Stony and others in the Iberville Room, as thunder rolled outside with sheets of rain on the streets of the French Quarter. Following the farewell dinner at the Court of Two Sisters I spoke with Stony, and told him that my UC Berkeley friends in the ?70s were huge Jerry Jeff fans. He laughed when I told him we all bought cowboy hats and started chewing tobacco. But then it was time to go. Happy New Year! Kennedy Gammage Proud member of the ILDS On Sun, Dec 26, 2021 at 3:46 PM James Gifford wrote: > > Dear all, > > Pamela Francis has reported that H. R. "Stoney" Stoneback passed away on > December 22. I've been strumming away at Jerry Jeff Walker's "Stoney" > with my sons since I heard and wanted to share this sad news with everyone. > > I remember Stoney from late nights of singing and carrying on during the > Durrell conferences in Corfu, Paris, and New Orleans, but he was larger > than life in many circles. The Hemingway Society has a tribute posted on > their website, and in lieu of flowers his obituatry suggests donations > to the Hemingway Society: > > https://hemingwaysociety.org/memory-h-r-stoney-stoneback > > https://www.torsonememorial.com/obituary/dr-hr-stoneback > > Kind thoughts to all of you. > > Best, > James > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From billyapt at gmail.com Thu Dec 30 17:03:36 2021 From: billyapt at gmail.com (William Apt) Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2021 19:03:36 -0600 Subject: [ilds] H. R. "Stoney" Stoneback In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Until his recent death, Jerry Jeff and I swam laps at the same cold spring outdoor swimming pool in Austin: Deep Eddy. In his younger years, Jerry Jeff was a big, strikingly handsome, guy. The last time I saw him, though, he had gotten so old and grey and hunched over. One time we talked about Stony, whom I never knew. I told him that I too was a Durrell fan. I also told him that ?Mr. Bojangles? was a milestone: that by that one song alone, so beloved everywhere, he had helped shape the course of not only Anglophone cultural history, but the world?s. He smiled, then paused thoughtfully. Then he told me he was off to Montana the next day. We said so long. I watched him shuffle off. That was the last time I saw him. WILLIAM APT Attorney at Law 108 Wild Basin Rd, Ste 100 Austin TX 78746 512/708-8300 512/708-8011 FAX > On Dec 30, 2021, at 6:29 PM, Kennedy Gammage wrote: > > ? > Just a few words of appreciation about H.R. ?Stony? Stoneback, a gentleman and a scholar. We crossed paths at On Miracle Ground XVI in New Orleans, Summer of 2010. He told funny stories about his old friend Jerry Jeff Walker, who immortalized him as ?Stoney.? They were itinerant troubadours in the ?60s, a time when strangely busking was against the law in New Orleans, and spent some nights in the local jail. As the song goes, ?inside his grey pillowcase were some books by DurRELL? - likely the Alexandria Quartet. He told us the story of calling his future wife once he got a place of his own, but he didn?t expect her to drive all night. The strippers were still there, but they were quickly showed the door by the ?tiny but resolute Sparrow.? I?m picturing her reaching up and grasping them forcefully by the earlobes. You?ll find his poem in DEUS LOCI NS11 2008-2009, which was hot-off-the-press at the conference: MEDITATION ON AN OLD PHOTOGRAPH IX: LARRY AND SPARROW IN THE DARK GARDEN AT SOMMI?RES-JUNE 1986 For Lawrence Durrell and Jane Arden Stoneback, which he wrote in 2008. She was R. I. P. and he was missing her. I read my own poem from that same volume out loud to Stony and others in the Iberville Room, as thunder rolled outside with sheets of rain on the streets of the French Quarter. Following the farewell dinner at the Court of Two Sisters I spoke with Stony, and told him that my UC Berkeley friends in the ?70s were huge Jerry Jeff fans. He laughed when I told him we all bought cowboy hats and started chewing tobacco. But then it was time to go. > > Happy New Year! > > Kennedy Gammage > Proud member of the ILDS > >> On Sun, Dec 26, 2021 at 3:46 PM James Gifford wrote: >> >> Dear all, >> >> Pamela Francis has reported that H. R. "Stoney" Stoneback passed away on >> December 22. I've been strumming away at Jerry Jeff Walker's "Stoney" >> with my sons since I heard and wanted to share this sad news with everyone. >> >> I remember Stoney from late nights of singing and carrying on during the >> Durrell conferences in Corfu, Paris, and New Orleans, but he was larger >> than life in many circles. The Hemingway Society has a tribute posted on >> their website, and in lieu of flowers his obituatry suggests donations >> to the Hemingway Society: >> >> https://hemingwaysociety.org/memory-h-r-stoney-stoneback >> >> https://www.torsonememorial.com/obituary/dr-hr-stoneback >> >> Kind thoughts to all of you. >> >> Best, >> James >> _______________________________________________ >> ILDS mailing list >> ILDS at lists.uvic.ca >> https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds > _______________________________________________ > ILDS mailing list > ILDS at lists.uvic.ca > https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/ilds -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: