Dear Rich Fans,
Saturday, September 27, 1997 was the end of the longest week I have spent in my entire life. Sure, I averaged about 3 or 4 hours sleep a day, but that had only a small part to do with the emotion that carried me through the week, and made it seem like eternity. The first thing that caught my attention that morning was the front page of the Wichita Eagle. In the upper left was a story about the Canticle of The Plains being presented at Friends University that will go on as planned (as we reported here last week). You can see the article at http://www.wichitaeagle.com/extras/richmullins/canticle0927.htm.
Of course, we on this mailing list are already aware that Rich was fascinated by St Francis, and co-wrote the musical based on the life of St Francis. Accompanying the article is a picture of Kevin Brocksieck, who will be filling the role of St Frank for Mitch McVicker, who is in - St Francis Hospital - in Peoria. Directly under that article is more coverage of the earthquakes in Italy, showing pictures of Assisi, and discussing the damage done to the Basilica of St Francis of Assisi, among other historical monuments.
If that wasn't enough, later that morning, I got email from Kevin Brocksieck, asking if I'd seen the front page. He then informs me that the article on the lower right corner on the same page about the Russian Orthodox Church made things even more interesting, since his parents are missionary's in Russia! I just happen to collect newspaper front pages that are of interest to me or historically interesting, and this one will make a nice addition.
Later Saturday evening, was the memorial for Rich here in Wichita. During the day, my family and I attended a local fall festival (my first contact with the outside world in over a week), and I found it interesting how many people I talked to that where not going to the memorial, because they thought it would be just too sad. I'm sure this must have been contributed to the fact that only 5000 showed up for the memorial. I was sure it would be capacity, none-the-less, the size of the crowd certainly impressed our local media. Almost every TV, newspaper and radio station mentioned it or featured it in their news. For a cyber index of the Wichita Eagle's coverage of the events of this past week (and includes some sound clips from the Wichita memorial), go to http://www.wichitaeagle.com/extras/richmullins/mullins_index.htm
As I mentioned earlier, I'm going to write a review of the memorial, but I'm waiting for pictures to come back. I'm also looking for more time, as I catch up on other personal and professional things that got set aside last week while I was in the marathon mailing list management mode. Until then, you can look at the Eagle's article at http://www.wichitaeagle.com/extras/richmullins/mullins_memorial0928.htm. Interestingly enough, the article (both in print and web) mentions Chris and Melanie Castleberry, who drove up from Houston with all five kids to attend the memorial. They have been cyber-friends of mine since before this mailing list actually started (almost three years ago) and were one of only ten addresses who received the very first post. We found each other after the memorial and had a wonderful visit. As I told them, one of my favorite things about the Internet is meeting my cyber friends face-to-face.
One issue I need to address is the previous mention of possible recordings of the memorial, and again, I'm apologizing. I was very excited about the possibility of providing a positive answer to all of you out there who were, like me, looking for closure in this devastating tragedy, so much so that I assumed it would most likely happen. What I selfishly neglected to consider was the feelings of Rich's family and intimate friends. Of course it would be a noble gesture to donate the proceeds from the sale of recordings, but it would be "selling" just the same. Therefore I think, you all can agree with me that "commercializing" any of Rich's memorials would be in very poor taste, and even insulting.
Feelings seem to be running rampant this week. I'm reminded of the lyrics to a Greg Volz song that are based on the words of Martin Luther when he said, "Feelings come, and feelings go, but feelings are deceiving. I'll place my faith in the word of the Lord. Nothing else is worth believing.
Two weeks ago, there were only two Rich Mullins Web Pages that were kept current - this Mailing List Archive Page at http://www.kidbrothers.net/rmml, and Brian William's Fan Page at http://www.kidbrothers.net. Since Rich's passing, there has been an explosion of tribute pages, and most are worth checking out (while a few are mostly links to other pages). I have decided not try to keep up with all the new ones popping up. Rather, I will refer you Diana Morris' Rich Mullins Page at http://pages.prodigy.com/richmullins/. Diana does a fine job moderating Prodigy's Christian Music features, and has a very comprehensive list of tribute pages to Rich well as other related info. Thanks Diana.
Many have asked if Brian William and I know each other. As a matter of fact, we do (though he's in Washington and I'm in Kansas), and we are currently discussing the possible merging of our pages (even though they are already intermingled link-wise). Actually we started discussing this before the unfortunate turn of events. We will be sure and let you know when anything happens.