Remembering a River region friend

Posted 8/21/12

Following two weeks spent in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park photographing its countless wild splendors for the inaugural Artist in Residence program, I returned to the Upper Delaware River …

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Remembering a River region friend

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Following two weeks spent in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park photographing its countless wild splendors for the inaugural Artist in Residence program, I returned to the Upper Delaware River region. My focus (pun intended) had shifted, and although the perspective was freshening, it left me with a sense of disconnection.

Then I received a message from The River Reporter’s (TRR) Eileen Hennessy asking if I had restored a fallen statue at the gravesite of our mutual friend and TRR colleague, Jean Kerrigan, who began working for TRR in 1987 and remained a steadfast employee until her death in 2009. Although I was not the one who restored the gravesite, I felt that old tug of connection that Jean was so skilled at prompting in life, and found myself visiting her final resting place, camera in tow, shortly after coming home.

During her life, home for Jean was on nearby Nobody’s Road. But in the greater Narrowsburg community, Jean was somebody, a person connected with many people as a result of the numerous organizations she volunteered for—Tusten Historical Society, Tusten Volunteer Ambulance Service, Women’s Community Club of Cochecton, Democratic Club, Lion’s Club, Catholic Daughters of the Americas, and the Tusten-Cochecton Library, which she helped to form.

Jean was also keenly interested in community news and a steadfast reader of the River Talk column. She often shared news tips with TRR editors and kept an active critter watch to alert me to potential subjects for River Talk. Arriving at work one day, she hurried to my desk to share some breaking news: “There’s a frog out front!”

Typically, I’d grab my camera and head out for the shot. And although she was not a fan of all creatures great and small, she was always interested in learning more about the natural world we share with them. Knowing my preference for relocating indoor spiders rather than squashing them, Jean would warn me when she spotted one whose fate was hanging in the balance if I didn’t make my move.

No doubt Jean would have wanted to hear the details of my Shenandoah experience, as she had a penchant for travel—albeit on a broader scope—to places like France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Hawaii, Germany, Ireland, Puerto Rico and Bermuda. And I would have enjoyed sharing them. But for all her traveling, Jean’s favorite destination was always her return to home. I know how she felt.

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