Spirit in Action

Big Turtle & Art for Peace

The David McLimans Art for Peace Memorial Scholarship was launched this year at a 2/27/16 event, conceived of by Eva Hagenhofer, sponsored by Madison Veterans for Peace, and hosted at the Farley Center for Peace, Justice, and Sustainability. David was author of 3 books, including Big Turtle.

Duration:: 55m
Broadcast on:: 13 Mar 2016
Audio Format:: other

[music] Let us sing this song for the healing of the world That we may hear as one With every voice, with every song We will move this world along And our lives will feel the echo of our healing [music] Welcome to Spirit in Action. My name is Mark Helpes Me. Each week, I'll be bringing you stories of people living lives of fruitful service, of peace, community, compassion, creative action, and progressive efforts. I'll be tracing the spiritual roots that support and nourish them in their service, hoping to inspire and encourage you to sink deep roots and produce sacred food in your own life. Let us sing this song for the dreaming of the world That we may dream as one With every voice, with every song We will move this world along Back on February 27, there was an event held at the Farley Center, a bit outside of Madison, Wisconsin To raise money and awareness for the David McCleiman's Art for Peace Memorial Scholarship I wasn't able to be there, but some good folks with the Farley Center recorded the event for me And I'll present you today with some highlights from that day combined with some phone calls to a couple of the speakers This scholarship is the brainchild of Eva Hagenhofer, supported by the Madison Chapter of the Veterans for Peace Appropriately hosted at an environmental and world care center like the Farley Center And another excellent aspect of the day was music by Michael Duffy and Friends Really excellent music, often Celtic I thought we'd kick off Spirit in Action today with one of Michael Duffy's tunes And then we'll listen to some of the proceedings of the Art for Peace fundraising event We'll have the names and information on the Nordenspiritradio.org website So you can track down Michael Duffy's great music ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ I'm shed Farley. I'm the director here at the Farley Center. We are hosting today a book reading and fundraising or informational event about the fundraising for an art scholarship. Farley Center does lots of things, art related, it's kind of part of our mission abstractly. We do lots of other things, community service, community work. My main part here is to introduce Paul McMahon from Veterans with Peace. I think actually I agreed to make a few remarks, but I really regard this as Eva's show. And she deserves all the credit for this. Veterans for Peace in Madison, they're like 125 or so chapters throughout the country. They're made up of, I suppose, a lot of old veterans. They were originally sort of Korea, World War II, Korea, and forward. Mostly I would dare say Vietnam veterans. Not Iraq War veterans are Afghan veterans because a lot of them haven't reached that point in their life where they want to join. I know a lot of us when we got out of Vietnam or out of that era didn't want anything to do with anything. Traditional, VFW, American Legion, or whatever. It was just our personal feeling. Veterans for Peace in Madison really got started in about 2003 with the Iraq invasion. That's what energized around 30, 40 people to show up monthly. A lot of people were upset at that time. Through the years as the war went on and on and on and as the war was over, as some people seem to think it is, the numbers of active members of Veterans for Peace, I'd have to honestly say I've diminished. And a lot of that has to do with aging too. We don't have the energy or the time or whatever as we used to. And several of our members actually have passed. There was a scholarship that we started. And this is about scholarships, really not so much about Veterans for Peace. Or I should say it's about Peace scholarships. In 2008, one of our members who does a lot of what we call counter recruiting or truth in recruiting speaking to high school kids about the realities of service during a war time or any time decided that he wanted to make a Peace scholarship award in one of the rural high schools west of us, west of this area. It's David Giffey, I don't think David is here today, I haven't seen him. David is a tremendous member of our organization, just does a lot of work. David directed it a gift that he made to Veterans for Peace, be used for a Peace scholarship for one of those rural high schools that he was visiting. And then he invited SAS, he invited students to write a two or three page essay on why war is never the answer. So we did that, and the following year made an award, and the following year we said, why are we waiting for? Why are we doing this on a broader basis? So we began to promote and raise funds as much as we could to award multiple Peace scholarships each year. Fast forward to this year 2016, or 2015, let's go back to last May, we completed, we do about $4,000 with the scholarships a year to six rural high schools, everything from River Valley to Baraboo, Richland Center, even way out to basketball. And then we do one in the Madison Public Schools. And we can't provide a lot of money, but what we're really trying to say to students who are willing to write an essay on Peace is try a peaceful route, and here's a little bit of money to pay for your first semester's worth of books or whatever you want to use it for. We've paid out $500 up to $1,200 because at one time in 2008, 9, 10, that bought a little more than it does right now. But we're glad to do it every year. I think through the completion of this year we'll have awarded around $22,000 in scholarships. Last May, when we had a couple of students show up at our annual Memorial Day Peace Rally at the Gates of Heaven at James Madison Park in Madison, Eva was there. And she, I guess, heard the presentations that were done. A couple of students read from their essays. And I think, frankly, last year we had a couple really gems, I guess, that really hit the mark. And Eva came to us, presented an idea of awarding an art piece in scholarship. Or a piece art scholarship, you tell me which way we should say it. And the whole point was having art students do, rather than write an essay, create some art that would symbolize why war and violence are never the answer. So, no, you were careful. And we said, can you give us a little more detail how would this work? And she came back at a later meeting and she presented her ideas and said, what a perfect bookend to what we've been doing. We do the James Allen Memorial Peace Scholarship named after Jim Allen. This would be the art scholarship. And these would both be in Madison schools. So, the way we went. So, we said we're glad to support it. You have to do all the work, all the fundraising. And she's done a good job with that. And we will be glad to do the financial part of it. So, money is sent to us at Veterans for Peace. I provide a tax letter thanking you for your contribution. I copy Eva and we go from there. So, it's got a really good start. And that's where we are today. And this is all about the Peace Art Scholarship. So, the check should be written to Veterans for Peace. The written to Veterans for Peace, thank you very much. You must be a teacher or something like that. Yes, actually, checks in multiples of thousands of dollars. I mean, if you want to, if you want to break it into 500, that's fine too. No, a check written to Veterans for Peace. I'm here today. I'd be glad to take it from you and send you a letter. All the ways they can meet me, I can give folks the post office address. Post office. Box 1811, but I should write that down someplace. And then on the memo line, you put for the David McLime mentality. Sure, yes, yes, yes. Thank you. Another good question for getting all my basics here. Is it the intention just to embarrass me the whole time? No, thank you very much for the opportunity. Thank you for showing up. Anybody else have any other questions? Well, you're in it. We have, by the way, one World War II veteran who's about 92. He's an atomic war veteran. He started in '44 and he was one who was placed out on the Pacific during the atomic testing, where he would visit the sites afterwards. He actually comes to our meetings every month. God bless him. I don't know where he gets the energy to do that. But we meet monthly at the second floor of MATC downtown in Madison. That's part of their public service. It doesn't cost us anything. He shows up each month. I think he's the only World War II veteran that we have that I'm aware of. Several have died. Even a lot of our Korean War veterans have passed on now. It's up to the Vietnam era, Phil. Is that more next? She didn't share this, but I lived with Dr. Jean Farley for a couple of years here before he died. Dr. Jean Farley was also a veteran and he also was very active in supporting the veterans for peace. So, just wanted people to know that as well. And Jean died in 2013, but he did a lot of things to support peace, including the veterans. I want to thank you for saying that I had written that in my notes and I didn't refer to my notes, but he often showed up and he more often showed up whenever we were on the street. I really love it because that's where it really counts. Because when you have a peace demonstration, only ten people show up. It can be kind of embarrassing, but you do what you have to do, right? But he was an active member and an active financial supporter, and we really appreciated that. And that is the transition that's going on with some of our older members. So, any other comments, questions? Anything else you've forgotten here? To thank Yva for starting this and to continue to raise money for that scholarship. So, I have to confess that before Yva came in, I didn't know who David McLaimans was. And it's been an education, his art show up town reading about him. So, it's been a great opportunity to meet that legacy. Thank you. First you heard some music by Michael Duffy and friends. Then a very brief intro to the Farley Center by Shed Farley. And just now you heard Paul McMahan of the Madison Chapter of Veterans for Peace, all present at the February 27th fundraiser for the David McLaimans Art for Peace scholarship. There are questions for Paul, so here he is on the phone. Paul, thanks for joining me for a few additional comments for Spirit in Action. You're very welcome. Are you president right now of the Veterans for Peace Madison branch? Actually, we don't have a president. I'm treasurer is the role that I play, and I guess I'm chair of the scholarship committee for the Madison schools, but we actually meet very democratically around the table. We have a different person chair each month and we don't formally have. Chapter spokesperson, Fran Leidnalloff, who is a retired nurse, as an esthetist, who is a Afghan, a rock war veteran, actually retired as a colonel. And she is our spokesperson and our official coordinator with the national or chapter of Veterans for Peace, the national organization, but I'm just a treasurer. Well, there's a certain amount of power or, let's say, work that's in common on treasures. Indeed, I'm trying to keep us going. We were talking before we got on the air a little bit about the numbers of changes. You said to me that a large share of your numbers are not from the recent wars, the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars, but a lot more from Vietnam War. Could you explain a little bit what led people to get involved when they came back or didn't get involved when they came back from Vietnam War? Well, I think it's not unusual that people came back from Vietnam and drips and drabs, the sort of standard time spent over there. It was about a year, some people, a little less, some people re-opt, if you will, and did another six months or maybe two years. But I think my experience is typical. I came back and took off uniform and I wanted nothing to do with any association with the war. I just wanted to put it behind me. And I think a lot of people felt the same way. Vietnam, that we did not join the VFW or the American region. Not out of disrespect, it was a different time. And different era and a different feeling about what had happened in national policy with Vietnam. So, it wasn't until we saw the slide going on with Afghanistan and then really the shotgun on to March 2003 under the Bush administration going into Iraq that a number of us in the Madison area got together and said we just can't believe this is happening again. We felt that it was extremely misguided. So, we got together in 2003 and that's when we became active. We did have one or two Iraq vets who were with our group. But then when the Iraq veterans against the war started and grew, their attention and their energy was placed more as it should be in that organization. So, what we were left with and the people who joined veterans for peace here, chapter 25 in Madison were essentially Vietnam veterans, but there were a number of Korean veterans and even a few of very well spoken World War II veterans. And I do want to mention for folks listening, I have interviewed a couple members of veterans for peace, Autumn Addison, Todd Dennis is one of them, and Will Williams and that goes back many years. I did that interview with Will. Are they still around? Will Williams is still very active to the extent he can be. And Will spends most of his energy and we all have limited energy, I guess, to have to apply ourselves where we can, when we can. He speaks to high school classes about his experience in Vietnam. He is a Purple Heart winner combat veteran from Vietnam. Todd Dennis is active with our organization in terms of giving us support for our website here in Madison and then devotes his time to a number of other activities outside our organization that are, I guess, I would say, peace and justice, social issues. So there are a few around and we do have our coordinator, Fran Leidenhoff, is a Afghanistan Iraq veteran. I think she did two tours there. So a lot of terrible things as a nurse, a nurse, such as in trying to patch people up. So some of these people are around that you mentioned. We all commit ourselves to do what we do when we can. We have monthly meetings here and a number of people keep trudging on if the work keeps trudging on wars, I could say. And you made that comment when you did your presentation at the Farley Center that we just listened to. You said some people think the wars are over. And a lot of American populace believes that they're done. What's your perspective on it? Well, if they're done, I don't know, you know, why we're doing dozens and dozens of drone strikes in Syria. And I'm not taking a position here that there aren't, there aren't no bad people there, but we spend hundreds of millions, actually billions, on defense and the vertical three sources to various things still going on in the world. And people who are still being shipped to Iraq or the Afghanistan area or, you know, I'm not, I ended up to speed on all of the current defense department deployments. But for the paper, there's certainly a lot still going on that I would consider war. I'm so thankful that there's the group of you who are persisting. And of course, I know you're getting older. Vietnam, that's are generally older than I am since I turned 18 in 1972. So you've got those limitations. But you still do carry on this essayist contest, these scholarships that you've been doing. And I think you said since 2008. And I just had a couple more questions about that. Which high schools, where do you do this and how does this come about? I think we had sort of an epiphany around that time and said, look, if we're really trying to promote peace, if we're really trying to help, what's the best way to do this? The youth of our country has been said many times out of the future. So we thought, why aren't we promoting a peace thing with youth with high schools? And when we offer a scholarship opportunity so someone can write about it, somebody who's committed to write about it can be perhaps awarded some money to go school instead of signing up. I think for lack of a, we're talking 2008 was the beginning of a recession in this country. And there were a lot of people, there were no jobs. And if you come out of high school and you really don't have any money to go to school, one of the opportunities was to sign up for the military, you know, signing bonuses and just, you know, yellow brick road. So we offered a scholarship in the Madison schools and in the rural schools, we were standing west of Madison from Thuberba, Richson, Center of Bosqueville, Spring Green, that area, all the way out to Musque Day. We offered a scholarship if someone would write an essay on why war is not the answer, why war is actually never the answer. That's what we got started in, we've continued ever since. It's kind of interesting that you're doing this, essentially the rural or the smaller towns, because I think there's a view that rural areas are more conservative, whereas Madison is, you know, the Berkeley of Wisconsin kind of thing. And so you would think there'd be oodles of essays here in Madison. Why the connection with these more rural areas? I think because it's more incidents to go into those smaller schools, and either the students in those schools don't go on to four-year universities or colleges to the degree, to the, in the same percentages we do in Madison as a richer area. It is an educational town, there's more promotion of it. That's not to say that everybody goes on to close high school training. But in the rural schools, it's more likely someone would either try to go out and get a job, perhaps without the benefit of one or two-year or four-year program. It seems like they're open more toward allowing someone to come in and to explain who veterans for peace is and what we do and why we do it than the Madison schools. There's just, there are a lot of resources, there are a lot of activities, and there's a lot more competition for time and attention in Madison than there is, I think, in the smaller schools. Wonderful stuff. I am hoping in May to have some interviews where I record some of the students who write the essays. You have the awards banquet for that. I think it's on Memorial Weekend. When is the specific time that happens? Actually, what we do is we get together on Memorial Day, and we hold what we call a peace rally, and it's actually at James Madison Park in Madison, and we use the gates of heaven as a historical little building that was moved to that site from, saved from destruction several years ago. And so we meet inside there, we have some very, very good speakers, a little music, and we have a couple of scholarship students who win these scholarships come in and read from their essays. And it's on Memorial Day. It don't have the day right in front of me, but it's at the same time that we actually erect something we call the Memorial Mile over on the east side of Madison, which is a long line of tombstones, 6,500 tombstones for the people killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. So it's that time of year. There's a lot of emphasis and a lot of patriotism. We talk and we represent frankly a counter to that thing. Look at the cost of war and listen to the words that were written by these very earnest high school students who are going on and who work, who have successfully won a peace scholarship for veterans for peace. So that'll be on May 30th. And it's at James Madison Park. It starts at one o'clock. On the clock, so if you're in Madison, Wisconsin or in that area, come and listen to the promise of our future through the essays of these young people sharing. And also I think the art scholarships will be issued then. I think that is the plan. This is the first year for the David McLemmon's art, a piece of art, I think. Art for peace. Art for peace. I've heard various variations of it, but it's all good. And if somebody will construct some piece of art that represents that theme, that same theme when a war is not the answer. And Eva Hagenhofer hopes to be able to make that award publicly. This is the inaugural year and keep it going every year. So there's a $1200 scholarship for that. It's a $1200 scholarship for the Madison Veterans Peace Scholarship. And then there are other scholarships awarded at the schools that are the rural schools. That's not on the same day. And these are done personally by David Kiffy. He's the coordinator of all of that. Well, it's a valuable scholarship, but it's an invaluable contribution these young people are making. And that they're making it because of the support of Veterans for Peace. So thanks for doing that. And thanks for the presentation back on February 27th when you did the fundraising for the Art for Peace Memorial Scholarship. Thanks so much. It was a pleasure speaking with you. Thank you for your time. That was Paul McMahan of the Veterans for Peace in Madison. Active with the Peace Scholarships offered by that organization. Here with us today for Spirit and Action. Spirit and Action is a Northern Spirit radio production. And that means you can find us on the web at northernspiritradio.org. Including more than 10 and a half years of our programs, free for listening and download, with further links to our guests. Where the fundraiser for this scholarship was held on February 27th. Or the Madison Veterans for Peace. Or to David McClimans, honored by the scholarship. There's a place also for comments, your opportunity for two-way communication. And a place to donate to Northern Spirit radio, which is what makes this full-time work possible. But start out by supporting your local community radio station. So valuable a resource to provide alternative news, views and music. Start by supporting them with your hands and wallets. We're going to go back now to the events of February 27th. Thanks again to the folks who recorded the event for me. And particularly to listen to Eva Hagenhofer, who is the force behind the David McClimans Art for Peace Scholarship. First, however, we've got some more music by one of David's lodge members, who is there to contribute to the fundraiser. More dance music by Michael Duffy and friends than Eva Hagenhofer. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Before I get started, there are a few things that are on the table in addition to the Farley Center material. There are flyers for the art contest. We're looking for those young artists who want to answer this very big question. And so if you know young artists, please take a flyer, put it wherever you think it'll do some good. And then there are also applications and instructions for those young artists. And if you're looking for Veterans for Peace address, it's on that application. So you can find all of that over there. So I'm going to read and then I'm going to read. Caroline asked me to introduce David. And I think of this as, thank you Paul, but I think of this as David's event. He's with us right now, several hundred yards away. And so, and I'm a writer more than a speaker. So that's why I'm doing it this way. So David's work, his satirical pen and ink drawings, his exquisite collages made of cut-up maps and ephemeral plants and flowers, his lusciously colored and flowing watercolors, his junk masks made of throw-away street-found objects, his carved wooden creatures that are guaranteed to curl the corners of your mouth into a smile. Our products have been 65 years on earth. Of his stint as a sonar operator in the Navy that challenged everything he thought he knew about or never thought to think about the military. Of the mail art movement, we got in the 1950s and 60s that connected him with artists around the world, of the dread he experienced when contemplating climate change, his images, whether drawn pasted or sculpted, make cutting personal statements about abuse of power, destruction of the natural world, and puzzling sometimes cruel human interactions. His aesthetic harked back to the mid-century years during which my father also worked as a graphic designer. David was a graphic illustrator, big difference. They shared the same love of line, form, geometry, and function. No times Roman. David's iconoclastic attitude and a reverend approach to all things assumed to be true would have stood him well in that tumultuous time. I imagine those two, David and my dad, meeting up some place that's now inaccessible to us, clinking glasses of icy cold beer or better, shaking their heads at what David called the aesthetic illiteracy of our times, and then laughingly sharing a body joke or something about some random found object. But David's soul came from another time in another century. He came from farming stock. His mother, from a line of prudent Methodist German farmers, his father from a more reckless, hard, scrapple, scotch Irish tribe. He speculated that his name was actually Macklemont. When we rode through the southwestern Wisconsin countryside just because it was there and we needed a different vista than our home and his studio offered, he'd point out every farm that had apparently gone belly up and it hurt him. He loved hand tools, the older the better. He trusted the homemade more than the store-bought. He made cider, baked bread, cut wood, refused to discard anything that would not naturally deteriorate. When on a blustery winter day we sat in front of his uncle Raymond's cast-iron wood stove, letting the souls of our feet melt into the grill work, he was transported. Among the things he resented, along with being pushed into having to use a computer, was being born in these times for which he was really not well suited. He found peace in Buddhist thought and great companionship among his good friends, who will forever be known as the Lodge. This book, one we will hear in a moment, his last is a departure from the other A to Z one to ten books that showcase his whimsical reinvention of letters and numbers to make statements about endangered animal life. Big Turtle illustrated in a palette of bright colors and human forms tells a story, one which, as he said, in his artist notes, explains how people came to live on earth and celebrates their vital holistic and sacred relationship with nature. In those notes in his book, he further explains why he chose to retell this Huron creation myth, so I'm going to read his words now. In Wisconsin, where I live, we are surrounded by water and the Great Lakes dominate this amazing freshwater world. As a boy, I love to play in this watery wonderland, and it was where I formed a deep connection with nature. We are surrounded by Native American playstains, and hearing them reminds me of the tragic story of the relationship between Native and non-Native people over the past 500 years. But they also remind me of the connection that Native people have to the natural world. Indigenous people worldwide continue to lose ground as well as plants, animals, and the ecosystems that support them. In many ways, our planet is suffering and in need of repair. Unless we protect and restore our most basic resources, the health of the planet will continue to decline. It seems impossible for all people to see the world in the same way, but if we look closely and carefully, it is not impossible to see that we are all connected to the same world. Now David's place is in the Farley Center Sanctuary, where he has, like the title of his award-winning children's book, Gone Wild. Some say he has already begun another life as a bird. Whether or not he has or will take any other form, his spirit lives through his daughter Hannah, his works of art, and our gathering here to make sure that another young artist is encouraged to make peace in the world with a pen, brush, chisel, camera, or pencil. We'll go directly from Eva Hagenhofer's comments at the February 27th fundraiser for the David McCleiman's Art for Peace Memorial Scholarship, sponsored by the Madison Veterans for Peace, on the topic War is not the answer. And we now have Eva on the phone with some follow-up questions and information. Eva, thanks so much for joining me for Spirit in Action. Well, thank you for listening. And thank you for undertaking the Art Scholarship in honor of David. We're just listening to the session where you're presenting at the Farley Center. When did David actually die? March 20th, 2014. That's less than two years ago. So you must have swung into action pretty quickly. Was this David's deathbed wish or how did this idea come about other than that you heard the essays being read? No, David had a very sudden death. He had a heart attack. We were partners. We shared a home in Madison. It was a very young relationship, so it was very tragic in many ways. So no, he didn't have a chance to say anything about his wishes. I guess it was just something, the idea of the scholarship is something that just came to me when I went to the Veterans for Peace Memorial Day event in 2015. So it was David. He has a few books. He's both an artist and a writer. Yes, that's right. Primarily, I think he would say that he is an artist who finds words for his art. And most of the time, his art just speaks for itself. It's just so powerful. But the idea of writing children's books came to him later. So he has three children's books, which he did both illustrate and write. You mentioned that he's buried right near where you were speaking at the Farley Center there outside of Madison. In what form is he buried? That's kind of unusual. It's not normally a cemetery there, right? No, and they would absolutely reject that idea of the people at the Farley Center. So it is a green burial site, or I call it the Natural Path Sanctuary. Then a farm that belonged to the Farleys, Dr. and Dr. Farley, which is now a -- it's a CSA that's subdivided for urban farmers to use during the growing season, particularly among Latino and African-American urbanites or farmers actually living in the city who have an attachment to the Earth. So that's one portion of the acreage. What they do is they grow and then they sell in markets. And so it's sort of a economic development project in a way. The Natural Path Sanctuary is in the wooded area of this acreage. And again, he had nothing to say about this. This was our best thinking about where he would like to be. And actually, primarily his daughter's decision because she was his remaining survivor or close relative, I should say. And when you say it's a green burial, some people may not know what that entails. >> Oh, yeah. The specifications, their specifications are that one's loved one should not be surrounded by anything more than either a shroud or an untainted pine box. And David's friends decided on decorating his pine box with the words gone wild written in exactly the same script that he used in his book called Gone Wild. So on the day that we left him there, we went into the woods, a crowd of maybe 30 people or so. His friends were able to spend the days before actually digging his grave. And so that's another feature of the Natural Path Sanctuary there that you can be involved as much as you want in the burial. >> And if I understand correctly, I'd think that one of the things you don't do is to embalm people. People are buried in their natural state. >> Yes, that's correct. And so we had to find a -- I guess it would be a funeral home here in Madison that's familiar with that kind of practice. And so we did, and they were very accommodating. What kind of, I don't know, service maybe isn't the word, but what was said that you read, did you read big turtle or did you sing songs? How did you recognize his passing as of the burial? >> You know, so one thing about a very sudden death is that you have -- you have to do so much hard work in such a short period of time. What we -- Hannah, his daughter, and I agreed that we should just leave it up to his two very good friends, Rosebud and Doreen, who he knew for a long time who were practicing Buddhists. And so they sort of took charge. They figured out what should be said and how it should be said, and we just sort of circled around them and David for the time that we were in the woods. And then we together put the earth back in place. So before that, Hannah and I each had a bucket of soil from his very favorite place in Blue River and also from our backyard. And so he was buried with, you know, soil that he had taken care of. >> Just a question or two more, Eva. Then we'll go back to the February 27th presentation. When Paul McMahon of the Veterans for Peace Madison was speaking earlier, he mentioned that he didn't happen to know David. Given that David clearly must have shared pacifist or anti-war views, and since he evidently didn't connect with vets for peace, I'm wondering how those convictions may became out in his life. How did David live out or associate with folks around peace activism? >> I'm not sure he would call himself a peace activist. He was absolutely anti-war. He fundamentally did not trust power. He didn't trust power in human interaction. He didn't trust power between nations. He certainly didn't go with power over nature. He thought nature had, should always have the upper hand. During the Vietnam era, he was a Navy son or operator, as I said. And it was onboard ship that he began to see the abuse of power. And that actually ended up in a letter to Senator Proxmire. And based on that, he was then released from his duties. What this experience of his in the Navy translated into was his art, his graphics that poked in every possible way at power generally, but what he knew in his gut was this experience in the military. So it was really, he didn't go to demonstrations. He didn't write letters. He didn't really sign petitions. His activism was right as his drawing table. >> But clearly, the conviction was strong. >> Oh, yes. >> So you now have a scholarship, or actually maybe I should ask you how many scholarships there are exactly what format this will take. I guess maybe it depends also on how much support you get financially. >> Right. Well, I think our goal for this year was to have one $1,200 scholarship, and we have that. We also, thanks to the event at the Farley Center, have a good start on a scholarship for next year. Now we're just waiting for the art to roll in from students in the Madison School District. >> How are you going to judge this? Who's the panel, or how do you make this decision, which art speaks best to this war is not the answer theme? >> Well, we're going to put together perhaps just three judges, local artists, and David Giffey from the Madison Chapter of the Veterans' Repeat. He has agreed to be on this panel, so it'll be, you know, representative of the veterans and artists community. They will do the judging, and we will have a winner. Sort of don't like that word, but anyway, because I'm sure they're all winners, but we will have one person that will be recognized at the end of May. >> Is it because winner implies power? >> I guess so. He would say it's all good, although that's not to say that he didn't have some pretty strong opinions about, again, I'm hesitating, but, you know, good art. He had a very strong aesthetic sense. >> So for listeners who weren't at the February 27th, the awareness raising and fundraising for the David McLime's Arts for Peace Memorial Scholarship, they may know some young folks who would want to participate, or maybe listeners would like to donate and support. How can they do that? >> So there are two ways. They can go to David McLime's.com website, and there is a link there to the Madison Veterans for Peace website, and the application and guidelines for submission are at the Veterans for Peace website. The other way is to go directly to the Madison Veterans for Peace website, which is MadisonVFP.org. The advantage of going to David McLime's website is that you can also see this fabulous gallery of his work that has been posted thanks to his good friend, Michael Duffy. >> Well, speaking of Michael Duffy, we're going to be hearing some music by Michael Duffy that was shared at the February 27th event. Thank you for undertaking this, not just memory, I think, of David, but of furthering the world in a good direction. That kind of judgmental thing can sometimes be problematic for some folks, but when people don't have vision, the world suffers for it. It sounds like David had vision. He shared through his books. I do encourage people to check out. We're going to listen to you read right now, big turtle that you did on the 27th. People can get that and gone wild and gone fishing, and then, of course, big turtle that we're going to hear in just a moment. Again, thank you for carrying forth vision for the world and for doing the nuts and bolts work. >> Well, thank you for sharing, David, with so many people. Again, we've been speaking with Eva Hagenhofer down in Madison area, and she's doing the work for McCleiman's Art for Peace Memorial Scholarship in memory of her partner just past a year and a half ago. David McCleiman, artist and writer who produced, among other things, the big turtle book that we're going to just hear in a moment. Thanks again so much, Eva. >> My pleasure. Thank you. >> And now let's head back to the February 27th event, as Eva reads for us, David McCleiman's book, Big Turtle. >> So this is Big Turtle. He dedicated this book to his nieces and nephews, Madeline, Finn, Eli, Noah, and Gordon. So long ago, long ago, the world had two parts. All the people lived in the sky world, and all the animals lived in the water world. One day after breakfast, a sky girl took a very long walk. She walked and walked, but quickly tired, because she was going to have twins. She was so tired, she couldn't take another step. So sky girl decided to take a nap. She lay down under an apple tree and fell fast asleep. Suddenly the ground began to rumble, and a big hole opened up next to her. What's happening? Screamed sky girl. In a flash, apple tree and the girl were pulled down into the hole. Down, down, down, tumbled sky girl. Two swans saw her falling. One yelled, "Let's catch her." "We must move quickly," shouted the other. And the two swans spread their wings and caught her just before she hit the water. That was close. "But what am I to do now?" asked sky girl. "I can't get back to the sky world and I can't live in the water." "Don't worry, we'll take you to see Big Turtle." "He'll know what to do," said one of the swans. After hearing what happened, Big Turtle called a meeting of all the animals and he told them that there was special soil deep down under the water. "If one of you can bring up some of the soil, we can use it to build an island on my back for Sky Girl to live on," said Big Turtle. "That sounds like a good plan to me," said Sky Girl. "Thank you all for your help." Then Beaver, Muskrat and Otter started arguing. "I can do it," said Beaver. "No, I can do it," said Muskrat. "Don't be silly," said Otter. "I can certainly dive deepest." "Achoo!" sneezed Sky Girl. "These feathers are making my nose itch. Please hurry." Just then, Toad popped out of the water and said, "I can do it. I can dive deeper than any of you." Muskrat, Beaver and Otter just laughed. And Beaver said, "Toad, you're too small and weak to dive that deep." "Quiet," shouted Big Turtle. "Everyone has a special skill, and everyone will have a chance to try." "I'll go first," said Muskrat. Before anyone could argue, and down he dived, they waited. But when Muskrat surfaced, he had no soil. "Now I'll try," said Beaver, and down he dived. They waited and waited, but Beaver came up with nothing. "I'll go next," said Otter, and down he dived. They waited and waited full of hope, but Otter came up empty. "Okay, it's my turn," said Toad, and down she dived. They waited for a very long time, so long that they worried they might never see her again. Suddenly Toad surfaced, leaped out of the water and spat a mouthful of soil on Big Turtle's back. At first, everyone cheered, but then they saw how exhausted she was. And to their horror, poor Toad fell back into the water. "Hurry!" ordered Big Turtle. "Don't waste Toad's sacrifice!" Muskrat, Beaver, and Otter jumped on Big Turtle's back and spread the soil around. All over Big Turtle's shell, things began to grow. They grew and grew until an island formed that was big enough for Sky Girl to live on. It grew into the world we know today, and the descendants of Sky Girl became the Earth's first people. To this day, Big Turtle carries the Earth on his back. When he gets tired and needs to stretch or change position, we feel the earthquake. And Toad, Toad is still honored today. Native Americans call her "Mashutaha," which means our grandmother. No one is allowed to harm her descendants in remembrance of her sacrifice. [applause] A reading of David McCleimand's book, his last before his death in 2014, Big Turtle. There's a bunch of websites you may want to check out for the scholarship info. MadisonVFP.org or David's work on davidmocleimand.com or on the Farley Center, FarleyCenter.org. But you can find all of the links on Nordenspiritradio.org. One last song now by Michael Duffy and friends to take us out for today's spirit and action. They were at the fundraiser on February 27th because David and Michael were of the same racket, as Michael told me. The same profession, and they hung out together talking about politics and art and concerns about climate change or anti-war imagery. In fact, Michael is one of David's large members that Eva mentioned. There's a link to Michael on Nordenspiritradio.org and info on his music. Thanks to Andrew Janssen for production assistance, and we'll see you next week for Spirit and Action. First one more song by Michael Duffy and friends. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ The theme music for this program is Turning of the World, performed by Sarah Thompson. This Spirit and Action program is an effort of Northern Spirit Radio. You can listen to our programs and find links and information about us and our guests on our website, northernspiritradio.org. Thank you for listening. I am your host, Mark Helpsmeet, and I welcome your comments and stories of those leading lives of spiritual fruit. May you find deep roots to support you and grow steadily toward the light. This is Spirit and Action. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ [MUSIC PLAYING]