Dead Grandfathers

Man, that sounds bad. But dead they are.

My grandfather Owen A. Rice died in 1998 in a fire at his home in Grand Haven, MI. He was 82 years old; I was 30.

I called my Mom's father "Doc," and we were very close. I am also very fortunate that we became even closer before he died. I made a point of visiting him often in Grand Haven; when I became separated from my first wife, my dog Murphy and I would often make trips to see him. My mom saved a bunch of stuff from the fire, including his tapes. I just looked at them. The cases are all smoke and water damaged. I am surprised to see how many of the jackets are in my handwriting--I helped him transfer many reel-to-reel tapes in the late 80s and early 90s.

My grandfather Kenneth W. Robinson died in 1976 of his third heart attack in Naples, FL. He was 54 years old; I was 7.

Ken's cassettes are in two brown albums--they are mostly work-related union tapes of Fall School sessions, speeches, and conventions. There is a little music. These all date from the early 1970s; until recently they were at my grandmother's cottage on Lake Michigan. I've had duplicates of many of the union tapes for about 10 years--I made duplicates in 1998 during a visit to Punta Gorda (I was actually writing the prospectus for my dissertation; it was my first post-divorce Christmas; Renee and I visited Gram in her new home; I sat by the pool and wrote while the tapes duplicated). Now I have the originals. I should make digital copies of all of them.