I am sad to be the one to inform any on the forum that a good friend of everyone at Four Winds, James Harlan, owner of the Braided Road passed on this morning. There is to be a memorial at Four Winds on Sunday. I will post details as I get them. Please join me in prayer, and remembrance of a great man, and a wonderful friend.
The memorial for James is on Sunday at 6pm on faire site. Everyone is bringing food and drink and pictures and memories, please bring some along and share as we celebrate a great friends life.
James was a kind and gentle friend. I will miss him dearly.
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3544/3332157132_41137e007c_b.jpg)
Thank you for posting that picture...I realized far too late I didn't have any photos of my friend.......
It was good to see so many loved ones yesterday at the memorial, Rest in Peace James and know that you are loved.
Spikey,
That is one of my favorite pictures of James - thank you for sharing it.
For those of you who could not attend Jame's funeral the following day; it was simple but moving and truly touching. James rests in a beautiful lil' cemetery in the heart of East Texas' rolling hills. Leghorn piped his heart out and did a fantastic job. James' Uncle spoke to us and commiserated with us. James' Mother is truly a gracious lady in who I see her son ... my friend.
It is still odd to think James won't be there the next time myself and my girls perform at Four Winds ... that he won't welcome us as we stagger into the campground, bleary eyed from the hours and hours on the road and help us set up our tent, even though he'd been up since the butt crack of dawn himself. Hard to imagine that we'll not swap recipes ... or that I'll not ever taste his latest culinary adventure ... nor will I ever get to fix my Irish stew for him ... I waited to long for that. I will treasure my memories of him ... the hijinx ... the friendship ... the stories he told as we all crowded into the trailer on the hill overlooking front gate (before it burned down!).
And by God, he bloody well better be there at the gates to welcome my tired, bleary eyed self home ... only this time James, put in a good word for a lowly pirate ... I'd like to have a house and not a tent! ;)
NO, I had no idea!! What happened? It all seems so sudden... I had no idea he was even sick. Now I'm crying here at work.... I wish I could have been there for the memorial. I was in Panama during this though. He was such a kind man, always lending a helping hand to other, one of the first friends I made at Fourwinds, you could always count on his helping hand and his friendly face!! My sister and I will surely miss him!! I love that pic of him Spikey, it shows his wares and his good spirit!
Lady Elizabeth,
As you might have known (or not); James was a diabetic and had been for some time. However; his cause of death has been ruled as heat related. During June; East Texas had been hit much like NE Oklahoma had been with triple digit heat and heat indexes exceeding 100. James and another man were out working on the ranch that houses Four Winds faire; putting in fences. As I was told; James began to feel bad and retired to his trailer to rest and recoup. The guy working with him checked on him at a later time (I do not know how much later). It was reported that this guy said he thought James was resting as he heard James "snoring." The gent went back to work on the fence line. At another later time (again, I do not know the exact time line); he went to check on James. He found James unresponsive and "blue." The guy ran for help and got the site manager, Keith to James' trailer. Keith called 911 and began CPR. The guy that had worked with James is reported as stating "His skin went from blue to pink." EMS arrived on site and rushed James to hospital but sadly, James died in transit to the hospital despite the efforts of Keith and EMS. Truly a tragedy all the way around.
Early intervention CPR saves lives. As a friend of James' and as an RN; please, please, please, contact the American Heart Association and get certified in CPR and THEN, keep it updated. You never know when someone's life will be dependent upon you.
Emerald
James's untimely death was a great shock to both of us... he will be deeply missed.
Almost every time we walked through the gate in the last few years, he was there to greet us at the Braided Rose. It's incredibly sad to think that it won't happen again, except in spirit.
Kim and I have been friends with him for years, and he and I go back to the days when he was on cast (around '97). Unfortunately, when he passed, I was out of the country and couldn't attend the services. I understand they were touching.
We have been late to respond while trying to find photos of him. Honestly, we can't do him justice with the few shots that we have... most are buried in the archives of film and insist on remaining hidden. As we find images, they will be posted in our 'Memoriam'.
Meager as they are , here are the links to our memorial photos...
http://www.stalkwell.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=18732 (http://www.stalkwell.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=18732)
and
http://www.faeriebox.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=108 (http://www.faeriebox.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=108)
Sadly...
Dana and Kim