[Rhodes22-list] Gone West

[Michael D. Weisner]

Brad,

Sorry to hear of the loss of such a great person.  At 78, he was certainly 
too young, although his exit had style.  It reminds me of the plight of the 
Indian chief in the Dustin Hoffman movie Little Big Man who would say "Today 
is a good day to die," lie down on a ridge and wait to pass on.

Mike
s/v Shanghaid'd Summer ('81)
       Nissequogue River, NY

From: "Brad Haslett" <flybrad at gmail.com>Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 7:02 AM
> The phone rang around midnight last night (noon Beijing time) and my first
> thought was, "this can't be good".  My older boys are finally well
> established in their responsible young adulthood period so my next thought
> was "parents".  Fan's father got up from the breakfast table, said he 
> didn't
> feel well and was going to lie down for a nap.  He never woke up.
>
> Mr. Shen was an interesting man.  He was born into a prosperous family 
> that
> had their wealth confiscated after the civil war ended in 49'.  He and his
> wife were both mechanical engineers and he was well respected as an 
> engineer
> and manager of several different factories. During the Cultural 
> Revolution,
> he was stripped of his job and title and the associated privileges, but
> later partially re-instated because even idealistic revolutionaries need
> people who "know how to make things work". Throat cancer at the age of 
> four
> and the resulting surgery robbed him of the ability to speak louder than a
> whisper.  When he spoke, people somehow knew it was worth the extra effort
> to listen carefully.
>
> While living with us, he quickly became Gracie's best friend.  She 
> couldn't
> wait for the first walk of the day and would quietly wait for him to
> practice his Tai Chee excercises. I was still a Rhodes 22 owner then and 
> he
> and I built a cradle for the boat in the back yard.  His English was on 
> par
> with my Mandarin, non-existent, but with patience and pictures and lot's 
> of
> hand gestures, we usually got our points across to each other.  On a later
> visit I taught him how to drive (in a parking lot) and how to sail, 
> flying
> was next on the agenda.  He loved to share with his peers back home all 
> the
> new skills he'd learned.
>
> Attached is a photo of Mr. Shen on his grand daughter's sailboat. He was 
> 78
> this year.
>
> Brad
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