Catching nickels
Today the net brought me the sad news that Urban Carmichael lost his ongoing match against cancer. The boxer won’t be catching any more nickels off the back of his elbow, at least not in the usual ring.
I met Urban over three decades ago, shortly after arriving on campus. He was a born clown, singer, boxer, and just the kind of guy that made the day a bit better. I can picture him sitting down, “wait ’til I retune my guitar to Hawaiian” and then inventing a song on the spot. Intensely proud of his brothers and sisters. Acting as a moral compass to the rest of us loonies in the Zoo. Grabbing a snooze on the extra bed.
I can’t claim to have kept in close touch over the years; a quick catchup here and there, a chance meeting in ‘town, the odd email. He sent out word just two weeks ago that he and Waldron would be on an episode of “Unexplained Canada” that same evening, which I managed to see and tape. And then the reference in one of the blogs I check each morning…
Here are some other mentions from the online community today:
CBC
Guardian
Iridescent Spoke
RUK
Waldron
R Paterson
PEI Info
Annekenstein
Government
and added later
