Terry Greenwood was one of the most compelling people you could ever
listen to. There was just something about the way he spoke, there was a
decency and a positivity that shone through every word no matter how
distressing or disturbing the subject matter was. It was as if when he
spoke about the things that troubled him, he was still conferring a
lightness to you, a gratitude to the person listening.
Some
people just manage to bestow a great humanity and great respect onto
you while they are talking. Terry was one of those people. When you
listened to Terry you felt like a more generous person somehow, he just
made you want to listen, and made you want to help.
Honesty,
decency, generosity, care, love. These are the words that spring to
mind when you listen to Terry. And his wife Kathy, will crack you up and
then will feed you and feed you until you can barely get up off the
chair. And those damn amazing red white and blue suspenders! You know
you are the genuine article if you can get away with those.
I've
never released this interview I did with Terry Greenwood in 2009 or
2010 but I am sure you will hear the tone that I am talking about in his
voice. And i hope, it gives you a sense of the man and how much he
loved his farm and his life.
VIDEO IS HERE:
https://vimeo.com/98104966
He
had been speaking openly and publicly about how 10 of the 18 calves
that his cows gave birth to died just after birth or were stillborn and
how he was very worried that it had something to do with the fact that
fracking fluids and other substances had leaked into the pond where his
cattle drank. I had head his story in the press and heard him speak
about it in person, and I had heard of many stories of animals in
heavily drilled areas from Arkansas to Colorado- of cows and goats who
were failing to breed or who were having stillborn calves and kids.
Terry was deeply troubled at the loss of so many of his calves, but more
than that he was troubled by the fact that he felt his well water and
springs had been contaminated by drilling, spills, leaks and fracking.
The
interview speaks for itself. I am uploading it as a tribute to Terry
and as a testament to everything he stood for. One of my favorite
moments in any interview I've ever conducted is when Terry says "Money,
money money! Our lifestyle wasn't about that. We worked hard for what
we got, we didn't need it handed to us." It's a declaration of values
that we can all only aspire to. Terry was saying what so many of us
know and what we wish was more prevalent, that there are some things
worth more than money, and one of them is decency.
When
I heard, a few months ago that Terry had been diagnosed with brain
cancer, I went to see him. In late March, he was having some trouble
speaking, he was a bit weak, but his eyes were still telling you
everything. He was still fighting, he was still positive, he was still
going to find a way to make you smile. And as usual Kathy fed us
amazing food until we could barely get up and packed the car with
Western PA special buffalo chicken and pretzels n that n that n that.
In
the last days, recently, when Terry was in the hospital, we were all
asking what we could do to help. Terry simply said, "Tell my story."
So
what does that mean? Does it mean tell the story of how gas companies
barged onto his land? Does it mean speak about the water contamination
they suffered, the insult added to injury when PA DEP ignored his
complaints, the death of the cattle, his own death to cancer? Of
course, that is part of the story.
But the bigger
part of the story, it seems to me is of the man himself and of his
family. To refuse greed. To speak truth. To act with such impassioned
kindness, to try somehow to have some of that generous twinkle in the
eye, to try to smile when you are talking and to make sure that you are
appealing to that inside of us that is most sincere and honest. That's
telling Terry's story.
This was a man who was truly
brave, truly courageous in walking out into the public eye to tell his
own story. And this was a man who did it without anger, although his
anger would have been justified, who did it without self pity or
depression, although no one would have blamed him for either. This was a
man who could never prove all of what was done to him, but could only
prove himself to be a good man, and he proved it with each sentence and
in every gesture and smile. For us to tell it now is to try to be as
brave, kind, straightforward and loving.
So when we
tell Terry's story, try to find some of that mysterious positive charge,
that brightness, that giving spirit that we will all miss so much.
We owe you Terry. We'll miss you brother.
Thank you.
God Speed and I damn sure hope there's Harleys out there where you are.
