Bowdens Last Story
I am not good at mourning.
I suck all the emotions in and soldier on only to have that pain escape at (usually inopportune) moments.
When the writer Charles Bowden died I was devastated.
He was more than a brilliant wordsmith to me, he was a role model for what it meant to be a journalist and a citizen.
He spent the last twenty five years or so putting himself in harms way to find the truth and then he told us the truth, even when we didn’t want to hear it.
He cared little about fame or money, he had far more of the former than the latter when he died and in reality he had little of either.
In a world run by public relations consultants, politically correct liars, and corrupt leaders, he told the truths they covered.
There were similarities between his world and mine.
The main one was that we both reported on worlds where people naturally assumed that their leaders and the systems they worked in could be trusted…that the responsibility of being a steward of something far bigger than themselves overrode the desire for personal gain in the end.
We both knew that wasn’t true.
We both knew that telling the truth made enemies, but they were enemies even if you joined in the lies.
He wrote a lot about Mexico, but Mexico was only a pallet to paint a picture of our common darkness with.
I never had Bowdens prodigious writing gifts, but he made it clear that we all had the same responsibility to truth.
When he died it felt wrong…not just because a great man had left us, but because the great man had not finished his work.
He had left loose ends untied…that only he would risk tying.
Yesterday, we found that he had indeed finished his work.
Chuck Bowdens last story took fifteen years to write.
His last story…’Blood On The Corn”.
I don’t expect many to read this article or the links I’ve posted.
Most people prefer the facade to the reality, whether the false front be in church or government.
What’s important is that the truth be available and accessible to those who choose to see.
Bowden finished well.
May he rest in peace and may God grant that we finish our works as well.
I read it earlier today and it only confirmed how truly evil our governments are and how people will do anything for money. Such a tragic story.
Thank you, Nonnie…it is a horrific tale.
The question is, what do we do with what we know?
Thanks again for reading…and for being here.
I don’t think the ways of the world can improve. What can we do….”To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Those in the high cotton of mahogany row do not like Truthtellers. In recent years journalist have come under attack because they have the skill and ability to pull back the curtain of OZ like Toto did.
Journalist regard not the possible consequences as they push forward in their task of unraveling the layers of duplicity and subterfuge.
Putting themselves in crosshairs of harms way. Chuck Bowden lived to bring to the light truth and searched out the relevant facts.
He was indeed a Journalist.
I read the first two chapters and I’m not sure I can finish it, at least not right now. 🙁 The more I read, the more I can tell my blood pressure is going up. I need to stop because I’m not home at the moment and still need to drive. The writing intrigues me, so it’s hard to stop, but my body and emotions can’t take anymore. Maranatha.
You and Nonnie have done better than I have, Cap’n. Made it through Molloy’s intro last night and Part 1 earlier today. Started wishing there was a way to go back, waay back to my day’s of blissful ignorance about so many things.
“You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.”
―Morpheus to Neo in The Matrix
Anne,
Your stock just went way up on my exchange 🙂
I’ll find the right time over the weekend. Won’t be able to function if I read it now.
we live on the edge of mountain wilderness, on the river road that takes the hikers, the 4 wheelers and the snowmobilers to their foot treks and their roaring seated thrill rides… we see them from our house as they drive past hauling their toys and we see other cars and pick-ups, too… car loads of “short brown people.” that we know are not out for a day’s hike in their expensive REI gear… there are some gardens that need tending, perhaps…
now that our state has legalized growing pot, there isn’t much gardening going on up there as we seldom see those carloads of “agricultural workers” and at the entrance to our river road we have a pot farm – the local paper introduced us to our new neighbor, the son of an orchardist… says he’s never used the stuff, but the opportunity to cash in on the now legal crop is promising to be very rewarding… some of us find that very offensive – dunno why….
my #9 should have been clearer… i’m not equating what Bowden has so eloquently laid out before his readers, with the pot growing in our area… but the older i get, the clearer i see that money begets evil
For the record, i too go out to the paddock,lean on the fence, watch the horses and talk to them and God – now i will remember to pray for an end to the madness that Bowden and Michael, too, try to keep us informed of… even tho i don’t want to think about such things