Gerry Tank's message at the death of Carl Barks

Donald D. Ault donaldault at pop.net
Thu Sep 13 13:48:45 CEST 2001


Gerry Tank wrote:
>
> I have gone through my archives to see if I could find the text of the
> message that I sent to DCML on August 25th, 2000. How it got lost I don't
> know. This was sent at about 3AM as soon as I arrived home after paying my
> last respects to Mr. Barks. Perhaps you can get the gist of my letter from
> Don Ault who was one of the first persons to get my message. In essence it
> only notified Carl's close friends and DCML that Carl had expired at
> approximately 2AM on this date. Sorry I can't find the original. Gerry
Tank
> gwtank at atiinternet.com

Gerry sent me (and several other people) an exquisitely simple graphic with
the following words:

In Memoriam
CARL BARKS
March 27 1901
August 25, 2000

Since I know the DCML list can't reproduce graphics, I'll try to post it on
my website in the next couple of days and provide the link in an email to
the list. It was beautiful, and it broke my heart because it condensed so
clearly Gerry's and Carl's grace and dignity.

I DO recall that somehow Gerry Tank's original message to the list was not
received or relayed to list members in a timely fashion. I can't find his
message in my DCML archives either. It may not have shown up for several
days. I recall clearly that it specified the time of Carl's death and should
have been the FIRST message to be received since he was the first to know.
Gerry phoned me right after Carl's passing, but unfortunately my phone
ringer accidentally got turned off, and I didn't receive the message until
the next morning. I immediately sent a message to the list, and it showed up
almost immediately. I don't know what happened to Gerry's transmission of
this crucial information.

Donald Ault
Professor of English
University of Florida
http://web.nwe.ufl.edu/~donault/




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