What terrible news it was to learn of Towncrier74's recent passing!
He was such a nice gentleman and I am very grateful that we were
fortunate enough to meet him at the 2004 VA/MD/DC Winter
Icebreaker. His passion and enthusiasm for letterboxing was quite
evident. I will always remember a little anecdote from that
gathering--Towncrier74 knew that we had traveled across the country
for the event and he insisted that we take one of his newly unveiled
Swim the Ocean hitchhiker letterboxes back home with us to release
on the West Coast. I remember how he 'sneakily' handed it off to
me, sort of like a schoolkid passing a note in class and insisted
that I release it when we returned home. I saw that hitchhiker again
at a letterboxing gathering in Portland, Oregon and it made me
chuckle remembering about the way Towncrier74 launched it! We also
exchanged some emails since then about one of our boxes we planted
in Virginia. He was so kind and caring in that he helped take care
of our very orphaned letterbox. He even returned to check on it for
me after he initially found it. A true gentleman in my book! I'm
so thankful that letterboxing allowed us to cross paths with
Towncrier74! The world has lost one more beacon of light!!! :(

dvn2r ckr
Adventure Seeker
Steilacoom, WA

Very sad news indeed. The Princess and I had the great pleasure
of meeting Towncrier at The Pentagon Winter Meet. Quiet, unassuming
and a true gentleman. We are honored to have his stamp image.
Blessings to the family.
Psychomom & Princess Turtle

This afternoon I went out to do some maintenance on my Las Vegas Boneyard Box and had
a HH in my possession from my recent trip to Baltimore. Lo and behold, it was
Towncrier74's HH "Ride the Wind." I was very moved when I realized he had touched many
lives here on the list and has now passed on. I also like the sentiments he left behind in
titling his hitchhikers "Swim the Ocean", "Ride the Wind" I don't know what else. I left a
tribute to him in the HH I left behind. The whole thing leaves me a little choked up
knowing how this little activity ties us together and shares often the best parts of
ourselves with one another. It is, you might say, a blessing...an inky blessing but a
blessing all the same.

Belated thanks, by the way, to Team J &R for showing me around Maryland last week,
thanks for the mud and all the great boxing (and the cootie).

Realroadrunner






--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "dvn2rckr" wrote:
>
> What terrible news it was to learn of Towncrier74's recent passing!
> He was such a nice gentleman and I am very grateful that we were
> fortunate enough to meet him at the 2004 VA/MD/DC Winter
> Icebreaker. His passion and enthusiasm for letterboxing was quite
> evident. I will always remember a little anecdote from that
> gathering--Towncrier74 knew that we had traveled across the country
> for the event and he insisted that we take one of his newly unveiled
> Swim the Ocean hitchhiker letterboxes back home with us to release
> on the West Coast. I remember how he 'sneakily' handed it off to
> me, sort of like a schoolkid passing a note in class and insisted
> that I release it when we returned home. I saw that hitchhiker again
> at a letterboxing gathering in Portland, Oregon and it made me
> chuckle remembering about the way Towncrier74 launched it! We also
> exchanged some emails since then about one of our boxes we planted
> in Virginia. He was so kind and caring in that he helped take care
> of our very orphaned letterbox. He even returned to check on it for
> me after he initially found it. A true gentleman in my book! I'm
> so thankful that letterboxing allowed us to cross paths with
> Towncrier74! The world has lost one more beacon of light!!! :(
>
> dvn2r ckr
> Adventure Seeker
> Steilacoom, WA