From: Dave Dorst Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 17:49:25 (EDT) Subject: Rich Tribute Sing-Along in South Florida Those in the South Florida area that want to say goodbye to Rich Mullins by getting together with other fans and singing his songs, circle November 7th on your calendar: 7pm Friday Evening, 11/7/97 Westside Baptist Church in Boynton Beach, FL Take I-95 South to the Boynton Beach Blvd exit (south of West Palm Beach). Go west (right) to the first light- Old Boynton Road. Take that right a few blocks (past the mall) and the church will be on your right hand side. If you would like to participate in this evening by singing a solo or playing an instrument (or getting a group together for songs) please call Dave Dorst at (561) 279-4563. He is organizing the schedule of events. Should be an incredible evening- Amity Bookstore (a local Christian store) is sponsoring the event and will probably be selling CDs and tapes there (profits benefit Compassion International). We will take a love offering that will go towards the "Rich Mullins Memorial Fund." If you're anywhere near the east coast, we're a half hour north of Ft. Lauderdale and 20 minutes south of West Palm Beach. We'd love to have any fans come. Call Dave if you have any questions. Or e-mail: dtwin1@aol.com
From: PMMetal@aol.com Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 00:53:36 (EDT) Subject: Re: [RichMailList Memorial Update] The farewell to Rich at True Tunes - Oct.21 - his 42nd birthday - was very moving. It was needed for those of us who weren't able to attend any memorials. The group was very intimate, consisting of about 20. John Thompson invited people to the open mic. Jay, of our WCFL radio station here in Morris, IL, shared meetings and interviews with Rich. Rich told him he didn't want to talk about God, when asked about one of his songs. This threw Jay who was doing a live interview, when Rich continued to say that we speak so often of God in a trivial sense, and commonplace. He said he would rather not talk of God that way then. A fan brought his guitar on stage and sang one of Rich's songs. I'm sorry, I don't remember which one. He told of Rich standing on stage at the dulcimer, walking backwards to the keyboard and tripping. After getting up off the floor he sang a song about falling down! Mark, Jordan and Joe of This Train played lots of Rich's songs for us and shared wonderful, funny stories that made us love Rich all the more. He was so real, so humble, and so RICH. Mark shared how during his last week he wanted to record a few ideas he had for new songs. Being the humble Rich he was, he told Mark he wanted to record them on a boom-box, not in the studio. Mark laughed that Rich couldn't figure out how to get the box to record, and once he figured that out, he played 5 or 6 songs before realizing the pause button was on!! Mark said Rich could go from a brilliant theologian to a 4 year old in a matter of half a second. What a guy. Stories were told of his casting his cares to the wind, so to speak, in the last few days he was with us. John and Michelle Thompson led us in Step by Step. Tears were shed. A friend was remembered and missed. It was a good evening. It ended with the boombox being placed on a chair on stage with the mic in front. We had the privilege of hearing one of the songs he recorded that day downstairs at the studio. Mark said that Rich lived the way he wanted to, and died as he wanted to - out like Elijah in a bang. Rich always longed for his Home and an eternity with His God. I look forward to an eternity with both.
Date: Sun, 26 Oct 1997 00:29:42 From: Jennifer Blake Subject: Carolyn Arends concert... Tonight (10/25/97) I attended a Carolyn Arends. Grover Levy, Eager concert here in Mobile, Alabama. This weekend is the big kickoff for Christ the King week of the Catholic Archdiocese, and every year they bring in a big act...last year was Rich Mullins and Mitch McVicker. Let me start off with a quick recount of the concert last year. The concert was held in Cathedral Square in front of our ancient church here in town, and the setting was a simple stage with white columns behind it...kinda a gazebo sort of thing. On the stage was a grand piano, two acoustic guitars, and a hammer dulcimer. Above in the sky was a full moon, a ton of stars, and a breeze was ushering fall into our city. Rich and Mitch sang a long time...about 3 hours with just the two of them. Rich played "Land of My Sojurn" at my husband and my request because "it's an election year...and now's as good a time as any to play it." They also played some of the stuff from Canticle and Mitch played a Bach tune with Rich on mandolins. Also that night the kids from the area Catholic churches taught Rich "Pharoh Pharoh Let My People Go" and the body motions to go along. He was delighted, and called all the kids up on stage to teach the audience. He seemed to be having a lot of fun with that. After the concert about ten of us hung around and sat and chatted with Rich. I had met him before, but it was great to stand there for over an hour in such a small group and hear him speak from his heart about a lot of various issues. There were a lot of different denominations present, and the debate about different theologies came up, and I remember Rich saying that us debating some of the points that were being discussed was "like fifth graders sitting around discussing sex. We most likely have no clue what we're talking about." It was a beautiful night, and every time we walk or drive past the square, I remember that fall night and it brings me joy. Tonight the concert with Carolyn was supposed to be in the same location, but Tornado Warnings in the area moved it inside, and decreased the size of the crowd down to about 75 people. As we walked into the building the first thing we noticed to the far left of the stage was a large picture of Rich that simply said "Rich Mullins". There were people everywhere wearing tee shirts from the concert last year and talking about how much he will be missed. When Carolyn got on stage (with only 3 months left until baby gets here) halfway through her set she paid a little tribute to Rich. I had my video camera...so I got what she had to say and thought I'd post it here... "I hear that last year for this you had a guy named Rich Mullins, who was a very good friend of ours. And it shows you have very good taste that you brought him here, and some of you may know that Rich died a couple of weeks ago. And so he's been on our minds a lot lately, and so we wanted to sing one of his songs.I'll tell you, Rich had lots and lots of hit singles and big hit songs, but this one is a song you might not have heard on the radio. Here's what I love about it- there were a lot of original and livable things about Rich, but one of the things I really liked about Rich was the way he felt about the Bible. I don't know if you're like me, but when I read the Bible it's because it's I feel like I should- like you take your vitamins. But Rich read the Bible because he thought it was the grooviest, most interesting, most perfect, incredible book in the world. And it led him to that amazing God that he wrote so much about. I think this song shows how he felt." After that she played "Jacob and Two Women" which she was kind of emotional for the first few lines. I thought it was a good tribute, and it seems that the audience was remembering back to last year. I know that the kids in our area will never forget the guy who wrote "Awesome God" and was still thrilled to let them teach him a funny song during his concert. Afterwards I thanked her for playing the song and remembering him the way she did and she told me thanks. Carolyn looked great, and I was interested to see how she was going to play the guitar with the baby in the way, bt she just played it off to the side instead of normal. Well, thanks for giving me a chance to share my experience for the evening. It was a good one. Jennifer Blake jenblake@zebra.net
Hi Rich Fans,
The November '97 issue of CCM Magazine, dedicating a large part of it's content to Rich's memory, is out (most that have subscriptions have received theirs - and the online, though limited version is available at http://www.ccmcom.com/ccmmag/97nov/cover_story.html), and should be on the newsstands soon. This must have for fans of Rich is very well done, so if you do not have a subscription, you should get it as soon as it hits, because I'm sure they'll go fast.
One of the tribute's features is sidebars of letters by fans, CCM artists, and close friends. Many of these are complete printed versions of letters you've heard about from previous memorials or postings here. One you haven't heard about before now is the letter from Steve Taylor that's talks about the coat that Rich wore in the "Legacy" video project - this one really got me. There are also a few very well done feature articles, especially the intro by April Hefner, and the article by Bernie Sheahan.
In this same edition is a feature article about Whiteheart. I had just returned home late Friday evening (9/19), from spending the afternoon with them, when just a few hours later I got the call about Rich's accident (and have subsequently still been delayed in redoing their web page). Liner Notes Readers Alert: Another Whiteheart/Mullins tie is the remake of the recently most referred to Rich Mullins song, "Elijah." Included on this recording (as well as the other new recordings on Songs) is the rhythm section made up of Whiteheart alumni, Chris McHugh on drums (who also plays most of the drums on Liturgy, Legacy...), and Mark Hill on bass (who also plays on the current Whiteheart Redemption project).
It has come to my attention that there are those that were very involved in the memorials for Rich who are now "coming down" from the busy-ness of that week, and are now struggling even more with Rich's passing. As you continue to pray for Rich's family, Mitch's recovery and his family, please also pray that God would send an extra measure of comfort to those who were closest to Rich, and therefore instrumental in his memorials. They now struggle with the everyday task of trying to believe Rich is really gone.