Friday, July 31, 2020

The Passing of a Legend

image source https://www.facebook.com/lin.pardey


A great man has passed this week, in a faraway land, down under - on the island of Kawau in New Zealand.

Unless you have a passion for sailing - I'm quite sure you would probably have never heard of him.

I do not imagine that he was a rich man. He did not launch any major companies or commercial products, that I am aware of. His career did not involve any specialization in any modern technologies. And, while he was a very intelligent man - I'm not sure that he had any degree beyond a High School Diploma.

But, within the sphere in which he worked his trade - and to those of us who admired and respected his accomplishments - he was a rare breed of man. His wife - equal to his every accomplishment, in their decades of adventures together.

He suffered for many years with an incurable illness. I am saddened by his passing - but comforted that his suffering has ended.

I knew of him, and their life together, for many years - and their amazing globe-spanning adventures - primarily through the books that they wrote and published.

The value of the lessons I learned from reading their books - incalculable.

But, perhaps not intuitively obvious  - as might be conventionally considered - directly applicable to my day-to-day professional life.

And so, you might assume that that might lessen the true material impact he/they had on my life.

But, you would be wrong.

For in all the ways that truly matter - the lessons I learned from his/their example - were the ones that matter the most.

We only met once, briefly. When I just happened to catch a glimpse, out of the corner of my eye, of what I thought might be their truck making a turn in a suburb of Seattle (that alone, should give you a clue as to how deeply I read their books).

I followed them for miles (someone, observing from afar, might have called it "stalking" them).

When they parked near Pike Place Marketplace - I waited for them to walk back up a steep hill, toward me.

Grinning from ear-to-ear, I greeted them with beaming joy. As I stepped forward to offer my hand, I said "Hello Mr. Pardey".

I don't remember the exact exchange of words after that - but it was something along the lines of thanking them for being such an inspiration to me.

Larry and Lin Pardey - both shook my hand that day. If you had given me the choice of meeting them and shaking their hands - or meeting any other famous person (living, or dead) - on that day, in that moment, I would still have chosen their hands to shake. The inspiration I received from their example and their adventures -  meant more to me than words can express. Shining beacons...of fortitude, of faith, of effort, of their partnership and belief in each other.

Larry has passed on.

Their stories remain.

I will close with this quote that Lin Pardey shared on her facebook page

Larry Pardey: “We were put on this earth to help each other.”


Indeed.


2020-12-31 Update: 

I noted that Lin published a blog post about the October 31st Celebration of Larry's Life:
https://pardeytime.blogspot.com/2020/11/celebrating-larrys-life.html

 

 [movie] The Real Deal: Larry Pardey, Legendary Sailor & Adventurer


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