Date: Wed, 30 Jul 1997 22:45:57 -0700 From: Michael Lewis Subject: Tolerating the Ramblings... Hi All, I couldn't help noticing Charlie Ford's posting this evening. For those who have been on the list any time at all, Charlie has become an institution. For those who don't know much about him, let me fill you in. First, I think most of us, who love these busses, in our heart of hearts have though seriously of living out the dream of not making that turn into the driveway at work some morning. Instead, we dream of pushing our bus past the driveway, the city, the work, the stress. Of crossing the country, hell, the world, with a VW van under our ass and nothing but the wind and the next side road in front of us. Charlie is living that dream, and vicariously we all are living it with him. The spirit in which Charlie travels is appropriate to the vehicle and philosophy of "less is more"...like the car. When I began reading his "ramblings" I was taken, and in some way transported to my first reading of "On the Road" by my favorite author, Jack Kerouac. Kerouac is both my hero and email address. I noticed that Charlie was headed North at that time, and offered him a place to park the mothership for however long he wished. In the next few weeks, he became a part of our family, a friend to every member and a brother to me. See, this stuff we have around Volkswagens is not really about oil and tires and octane or money , it's about finding and appreciating human beings who may also incidentally share a love of German metal. Somehow, we put this all into a giant stew called the internet and come out with some real assholes and some pretty fine people. It's a personal thing. Let me just say, that Charlie is a doer, and I miss the many late nights we sat and discussed everything from old splits to poetry to philosophy and even a little religion. I would and did trust him with everything important in life to me...my family. He never let me down. If you are close to him tonite, he needs a place to stay. Cross the invisible line from the anonymity of the web to the reality of the handshake. You will be richly rewarded as were we, with the rarest of things, a true friend and an honest man... Damn, Charlie, we miss ya....and hey...this is where we all ask for some help from time to time... Michael Lewis Seattle '70 Westy Alice IV '71 Deluxe Alice V '74 Super Bekabug