Edward Abbey & Friends, University of New Mexico (1955-1956) Ch. 3
“Long live literature and reading!” – Jimbo Forrest
“I’m not afraid to die!” – Ralph Newcomb
“Sure a lot of noise here!” – Edward Abbey
Jimbo Forrest -
“In this chapter, I will
reveal the story of Ralph Newcomb, and guitar playing. I remember a
party up in the Sandia Mountains, starting at midnight, and lasting
past dawn on a Saturday. With both guitar and vocal sounds transmitting
easily through the cool mountain air, there was audible lovemaking
going on. I remember Ralph Newcomb running up the side of a mountain in
his cowboy boots, whooping and hollering. He contracted polio the
following year.”
Author’s Note (Regarding Jack Loeffler) -
Jack
Loeffler is a self-proclaimed aural historian, having spent the last
fifty-plus years traveling around the American West and Mexico recording
folk music, and conducting recorded interviews for several radio
series, which he produced for Community Public Radio.
He recorded Edward Abbey three times, the most extensive of which he
made on January 1, 1983. That was after Jack and Ed left their campsite
in the Superstition Mountains and headed back to just west of Tucson.
The interview took place in Ed's writing cabin, a hundred yards
downhill from his home. A few months earlier, Ed received the diagnosis
of “esophageal varices”. Both men knew that Ed’s days were numbered. Later made public, they covered a fair amount of territory in that interview.
When the two men went camping (which was as frequently and for long as
they could), they had myriad conversations about absolutely everything.
Jack is a lifelong journal-keeper and noted many of their
conversations in his journals. He also had posthumous access to Ed's
journals while writing his 2002 book, “adventures with ED (a portrait of Abbey)”.
Even though Jack did not record any of those campfire conversations,
he was able to to present them as they actually occurred.
Jack Loeffler –
“It
helps that I have a fair memory. I've discovered that the act of
writing actually helps with memory retention. It was because of Ed that
I started writing books. I had a grant to produce a 13-part radio
series in 1984. My wife, daughter and I had opted to spend that winter
in Tucson to help Ed with his illness. He acted as my “listening
editor” for that series. He listened to the whole series twice, and
then informed me that it should indeed become a book. He introduced me
to a publisher in Tucson, and thus my first book actually came out in
1989 shortly after Ed had died.
I highly recommend Ed's book, “Desert Solitaire” and his best known novel, “The Monkey Wrench Gang”,
which helped invigorate the radical environmental movement. It's not
his greatest novel, but it's certainly his best known. Shortly before
he died, he asked me to ‘grade’ his books, which was a terrible thing to
ask. I answered as honestly as I could, and indeed, Ed agreed with my
assessment. I think that “The Brave Cowboy” is my favorite of Ed's novels.
The
character ‘Jack Burns’ (the spirit of Ralph Newcomb?) also appeared in
“The Monkey Wrench Gang” as the ‘Lone Ranger’, as well in “Good News”
(pub. 1980), and finally “Hayduke Lives” (pub. posthumously, 1990)
where it is revealed that ‘Jack Burns’ is the father of ‘George
Washington Hayduke’, and thus the godfather of the radical
environmental movement.
Ed's been gone for thirty years as of March 14, 2019. I'll visit with his widow, Clarke Abbey in Moab, Utah in October 2019, where I have a book signing scheduled for my new book, “Headed Into the Wind: A Memoir”. Ed remains a hero in Moab.”
Jimbo Forrest (to Jack Loeffler) –
“Interesting! I remember
Ralph Newcomb well. Actually, I saw him more often, and for a longer
period, even though Ed and I were the only two graduate students in the
philosophy department. Ralph was really a bit of a wild man, very
bitter and frustrated after he, as an adult, contracted polio, around
the same time that Jonas Salk introduced his vaccine!”
Jimbo Forrest –
“I
am reading a chapter of Loeffler's book each night. A stint as an Army
MP (1945-1947) seems to have sealed Ed's fate as an anarchist and
antiestablishmentarian. All too easily, violence can become a way of
life. Imagine if they had actually blown up Glen Canyon Dam or that coal train. Revenging supposed “wrongs” can result in worse wrongs.
It is interesting that I knew none of this while at UNM. Maybe that is
why Ed was so quiet. In my experience, he was quiet with everyone,
every time I saw him with others. He would speak, but after giving the
matter some reflection, with virtually a monosyllabic response. To me,
he looked like he was thinking all the time (which he probably was),
deciding what he was going to say.
That makes me think about speech-inhibited people, or someone trying to
speak in a non-native language, looking for the way to say something.
Ed and I had very different personalities. Perhaps this would explain
Ed’s thousands of different words in his books, and my years as a disk
jockey, radio announcer and English teacher. However, the dialogues Ed
engaged in with Loeffler fascinated and confused me. The back and forth
conversations were not what I had experienced, the few times I was
alone with Ed.
I’ve
been thinking more about Jack Loeffler, Ed and Jack’s book “adventures
with ED (a portrait of Abbey)” and happened to look though the index
again. I noticed two references to Ralph Newcomb, which I had not
reflected on when I first read the book. The second reference speaks of
Ed and Ralph taking a rafting trip on the Colorado River in June 1959
(later featured in “Desert Solitaire”).
When I went to UNM in September 1954 to enroll in the philosophy
department as a graduate student, I met Ed, and shortly thereafter,
Ralph. Eventually, I spent more time with Ralph and his family, and had
a closer relationship over a longer period than I did with Ed. I have
many memories of Ralph, and always wondered what happened to him. With
regard to Ed, I found out a LOT more about him in the press, but
particularly in recently reading Loeffler’s book. In many ways, Ralph
remains a mystery to me.
By
August of 1955, I felt compelled to go to Mexico City, and on to
Acapulco. My Spanish was adequate for getting around, but it didn’t
register in my mind that “AGUA NO POTABLE”
meant that I shouldn’t drink it. Well, it was hot and humid in
Acapulco, I was thirsty, and there was water. At age twenty-two, I was
invulnerable, or so I thought. (I did meet a young woman in Acapulco,
however, and a year later, we were married, subsequently producing
three daughters.)
Returning to Albuquerque for the new school year in September 1955 I
started having symptoms, which sent me to a local doctor. She commented
on my yellow eyeballs, and dark urine, and informed me that my liver
was the culprit. Later, my young brain made the relationship between my
liver and “AGUA NO POTABLE”. Not being able to take care of myself, I
flew back to Illinois to be with my parents. A week in the hospital, a
month in bed reading Russian authors (they wrote thick books), I was
up, got a job, and then went back to Albuquerque in June 1956.
At
that time, my friends informed me that Ralph Newcomb had contracted
polio, ironically just before the release of the first vaccine. I
visited him, found him on crutches and heard him speak about being
determined to return to his previous health, which had allowed him to
climb up the Sandia Mountains while wearing cowboy boots, at a fast
pace. If not, he considered suicide.
Later, Ralph decided to buy a large, old car, and take his family to
southern Mexico; Salina Cruz pops into my head right now. He spoke of
living off the land, watching young Mexican women with bare breasts
walking around in the tropics, etc.
I became involved in academics at UNM, had my first child, worked at
radio station KOB, and heard aught of Ralph. Did he arrive in Salina
Cruz? Was he able to climb mountains again at a fast pace? Did he
commit suicide? On the other hand, did I hear something about Ralph
Newcomb later moving to Oregon?”
Author’s Note –
Ralph Newcomb is a mystery no more. On the website, TheWorldLink.com is an obituary for one Ralph W. Newcomb (1925-2011). Although not corroborated
by other sources, the details of this particular Ralph Newcomb’s life
coincide almost perfectly with what we know of “our Ralph” from Edward
Abbey, Jack Loeffler and Jimbo Forrest.
The Obituary for Ralph W. Newcomb reads as follows: “Ralph's
journey on earth ended July 15, 2011, in Coos Bay and another journey
begins for him. Ralph, 86, of Allegany, Oregon was born June 23, 1925,
in Newport, Rhode Island, the oldest in a family of four children.
Ralph's
early years were spent in Newport, followed by a couple of years in the
military during World War II. He left the military and moved to
Wyoming and then Montana, where he became a cowboy and bronco rider in rodeos for a few years. While living in Montana, he married Eileen Scott. They spent the first
part of their marriage on a horseback trip, crossing the Rocky
Mountain Divide, riding through the Red Desert of Wyoming and then into
the Superstition Mountains of Arizona.
Eventually three children were born to Ralph and Eileen, Ralph Teton, Katchina and Scott Ross.
Ralph was an artist, creating beautiful sculptures from soapstone. His
subject was wildlife. Deer modeled for him in his back yard. His
carvings have been on display up and down the coast. Another talent he
had was playing the guitar and singing folk songs. He also studied art,
music and anthropology at the University of New Mexico. He received a
degree in anthropology from UNM.
Ralph is survived by, Eileen of Allegany; son, Scott Ross; and a brother
and sister. He was preceded in death by a sister; son, Ralph; and
daughter, Katchina”.
End Part Three - To read Part Four, Click HERE. To return to Part One, click HERE.
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