He was 68 years old. He died in hospice of melanoma, which was discovered last year in his brain. He never recognized the skin lesion. He was one of my original paddling buddies here in Portland, a retired engineer and a budding Buddhist. He loved his wife and their home by the Washougal river, where he could watch osprey and otters. His hospice bed was at home, turned so that he could see the river flowing by. He was headstrong and didn't enjoy dysfunctional group dynamics, hence was apt to simply leave behind river groups he didn't feel like dealing with. He softened after his diagnosis. I wish his wife and family well in this difficult time. Holidays for them will forevermore bring up the memory of he who they lost on this day. His name was Dick Sisson. A candle burns for him here, and his memory is held with love and respect.

He's gone, dead at the age of 92. We will miss him. While it is impossible to agree with every decision, his work revealed a man of great integrity, strength and resolve. May we soon begin to elect more senators and congressmen with spines and morals, in his honor.

The news is saying that he cast more votes than anybody, ever, in the senate, perhaps because he was elected in the 60's and served until today. He carried a copy of the constitution in his pocket and brandished it at people. He was a democrat, but the party did not rule him.

SOURCE
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-byrd-20100628,0,3523904.story

Kayak Session is French published, and quite beautiful. They usually don't put entire articles online but they put this one up because so many people were looking for it. (I notice today that there are a LOT more google image results for Lars today than there were on Monday.) Generally to see any of this magazine you must subscribe to the paper edition. The paper is quality and the photos are fantastic...we call it "paddle porn". If you're into kayaking, this is great stuff. Even people who know nothing about it really enjoy the photography. I used to subscribe and probably will again someday.

I learned of his passing from a friend on facebook. He was airlifted out of Grand Canyon last October with acute abdominal pain, and died last Friday night (3/13/09) of pancreatic cancer. Lars was a California boater, a formidable athlete, and a down-to-earth nice guy. Handsome, too. I met him only in passing, but among river runners he is a Legend. He is the only person I know of that has run he Grand Canyon of the Toulumne in Yosemite National Park, and also I believe he paddled the gnarly drops where the Merced River exits Yosemite valley and cascades through a morraine. Lars Holbeck took paddling to a level that few others could imagine, much less accomplish.
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Man of Courage
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, 1918-2008.
The Weekly Standard, 08/25/2008, Volume 013, Issue 46
http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/417wvabo.asp?pg=1
by Harvey Mansfield
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My life is rushing forward now, things that have been long delayed are happening. This morning my grandmother died. My father's mother is no more. She lived a full life and was 97. She was an early example for me of a self-sufficient working woman--she was an ad-woman for a newspaper.

Ever since she was put in her retirement "home" she has been miserable and wished to die. She said it was a jail. The loss of her freedom and independence was more than she could bear. She lived independently rather late in life but her falls kept getting worse. I worry about my father. He has been conflicted about this inevitable event for a long time, and now that it has happened he may be conflicted about it from the other side.

Used to know this guy:
Dean Fairburn died on the South Fork of the Payette
while guiding a commercial rafting trip...
http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-jul0207-river_drowning.36ef23b8.html

At least so said Lady Bird Johnson, who died today. Rest well.