STATUE EMBODIES SPIRIT OF KESEY.Byline: Susan Palmer The Register-Guard Ken Kesey Noun 1. Ken Kesey - United States writer whose best-known novel was based on his experiences as an attendant in a mental hospital (1935-2001) Ken Elton Kesey, Kesey spun his magic again Friday in the heart of Eugene, this time with a little help from his friends. A statue of Oregon's most famous storyteller, unveiled at Broadway Plaza Broadway Plaza is the name of various places:
The sculpture shows Kesey sitting on a granite bench reading to his three grandchildren, who posed for the work. After friends and family pulled the rainbow-colored fabric back to reveal the statue, kids in the crowd of hundreds pressed in first. People patted Kesey's back and touched his shoulder, ran their hands along his cheek, even stroked his nose. Before long, someone had draped drape v. draped, drap·ing, drapes v.tr. 1. To cover, dress, or hang with or as if with cloth in loose folds: draped the coffin with a flag; a robe that draped her figure. a green necklace around his neck and tucked small flowers into it. Mayor Jim Torrey pulled out "Little Tricker the Squirrel Meets Big Double the Bear" and treated those gathered to an excerpt from Kesey's book for children, giving voice to a tale set on a fine autumn morning when "nothing was amove except one finger of sun." Other speakers reminded the audience that Kesey was more than just the guy who wrote two seminal works of fiction - "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Sometimes a Great Notion." He was the man who could have lived anywhere but chose to live in Pleasant Hill, who rallied to the cause of saving Oregon's wild places, who dreamed large and encouraged others to dream, too. "He was interested in calling our attention to the things in life worth embracing," said Pete Helzer, who created the sculpture of Kesey. On a sunny afternoon despite a dreary forecast, author Barry Lopez Barry Holstun Lopez (born January 6, 1945) is an American essayist, poet, fiction writer and prose stylist whose work is best known for its ecological concerns. He began attending the University of Notre Dame in 1966 and earned a graduate degree there in 1968. wondered what Kesey himself was doing just then. "Is he the pigeon or the seagull seagull a noisy, gregarious bird that frequents the seashore. Web-footed, hook-billed, white with gray wings. Member of the family Laridae and of the genus Larus. ?" Lopez said as birds circled overhead. And when an audience member yelled out "Yes!" Lopez echoed him: "Yes! That's exactly what he would have said." Lopez recalled a tender, kind and unfailingly generous Kesey, who was also "a walking hurricane of imagination." "He stood for turning orthodoxy inside out like a sock," Lopez said. Brian Lanker, who organized the fund-raising campaign Noun 1. fund-raising campaign - a campaign to raise money for some cause fund-raising drive, fund-raising effort crusade, campaign, cause, drive, effort, movement - a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end; "he supported for the statue, encouraged people to sit in the space of the sculpture deliberately left between Kesey and the children. "I think if you're real quiet, you'll here Ken reading to you," he said. Kesey's wife, Faye, put an arm around the likeness of her husband. "It was the most natural thing to do," she said. His son, Zane, slipped in and sat next to him, posing as he had for the sculptor to help get the drape drape v. To cover, dress, or hang with or as if with cloth in loose folds. n. A cloth arranged over a patient's body during an examination or treatment or during surgery, designed to provide a sterile field around the area. of the fabric and other details right. "I'm glad I did it," he said. "It was such a thrill. And having the kids there, he delighted so much in the grandchildren." The grandchildren - Kate and Jordan Smith Jordan Smith (born November 4, 1985 in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) was a professional ice hockey player who was drafted by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim of the NHL. Playing career Jordan Smith was promising defenceman prospect for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. and Caleb Kesey - sat next to their bronze images and smiled as dozens of photographers clicked away. More than 150 groups and individuals helped pay for the artwork, with contributions from actor Paul Newman Noun 1. Paul Newman - United States film actor (born in 1925) Newman, Paul Leonard Newman and authors Tom Wolfe and Tom Robbins, Lanker said. The cost of the statue will come to $125,000 - $25,000 less than anticipated, but supporters are still short by about $25,000. Organizers wanted to unveil the statue now even though not all the bills are paid because of the events honoring Kesey this weekend - a two-day symposium on his work at the University of Oregon The University of Oregon is a public university located in Eugene, Oregon. The university was founded in 1876, graduating its first class two years later. The University of Oregon is one of 60 members of the Association of American Universities. , a staging of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" at the UO and the release of a collection of Kesey's journals. The unveiling drew youngsters on skateboards and old men with beards, young women in business suits and old women in tie-dye. Michael Connelly
Michael Connelly (born July 21, 1956, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American author of detective novels, notably those featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch, named after the Dutch painter of , a retired drug and alcohol counselor, said he came to honor Kesey's memory. A casual acquaintance who knew Kesey when he lived in California, Connelly said the author influenced his life. "He inspired me to move, explore, take risks," Connelly said. The statue depicts Kesey in one of his more benign roles. But Connelly hasn't forgotten the man who led the Merry Pranksters The Merry Pranksters are a group of people who originally formed around American novelist Ken Kesey and sometimes lived communally at his homes in California and Oregon. Notable members include Kesey's best friend Ken Babbs and Neal Cassady, Mountain Girl (born Carolyn Adams but , whose trip on the psychedelic bus Further became the stuff of Tom Wolfe's "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" and whose wild streak was as memorable as his literary genius. Yet the image unveiled on the Broadway Plaza seemed fitting, Connelly said. "You take the man as a whole. This is a calm part, not the rapids in the river that he chose to float," he said. KESEY EVENTS Symposium: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Sunday, Fir Room at Erb Memorial Union, corner of 13th Avenue and University Street. Events are free. For more information on panels and topics: kesey.uoregon.edu. Theater: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," 8 p.m. today, 2 p.m. Sunday, Robinson Theatre, Villard Hall Villard Hall is a historic building located in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Completed in 1886, it is the second-oldest building on the University of Oregon campus after Deady Hall. The Second Empire-style building was listed on National Register of Historic Places in 1972. , University of Oregon campus The University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Oregon has around 80 buildings and facilities, including athletics sites such as Hayward Field, which is the site for the 2008 Olympic Track and Field Trials, and McArthur Court, and off-campus sites such as nearby Autzen Stadium and the . Tickets $12. To contribute: Contact the Lane Arts Council to donate money for the Kesey statue, 349-2493, 99 W. 10th Ave., Suite 100, Eugene 97401. COMING SUNDAY IN COMMENTARY The Kesey letters: A sampling of the author's submissions to The Register-Guard's Mailbag CAPTION(S): Zane Kesey, son of the late author, served as a model for sculptor Pete Helzer, a former neighbor of Ken Kesey. |
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