Where's Armand?

...to be continued.

We're far from the end of the story of Armand Singer. Although he passed away on July 12, there are so many stories yet to be told and a gift that must be shared. The Where's Armand? blog will continue, I don't think he would mind.

A memorial will be held on October 6 at 3:00pm at Brooks Hall on the West Virginia University main campus. A memorial gathering in Kona is being planned around Thanksgiving. Details will be posted here as soon as they are confirmed.

In the meantime, if you have a special Armand story to tell or a photo to share, send them to me as Elizabeth Felter of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania did:

It was with mixed emotion that I learned of Armand's passing. Mixed because, of course, no one wanted him to suffer or be ill, but the world is such a poorer place without him.

My mother was a colleague of his for years and I remember one wonderful encounter with him as we were crossing the Spruce Street bridge. My mother and I were walking downtown, and he was crossing the bridge going back to South Park and we stopped to speak for a moment.

Armand was covered in bruises and bandages-- he looked like he had been mugged or had fallen down some huge mountain. When we inquired what caused his injuries, he raised his eyebrows, and without missing a beat, exclaimed "Bears," turned on his heel, and continued the walk home. It was extraordinarily funny, and a moment I'll never forget.

Best to you, and to Armand, where ever he is now,
Elizabeth Felter

Photo: Tom Avery

I See Him Dancing

Armand declared yesterday that he was done fighting and ready to go with the flow. He refused dialysis, asked to have his ventilator removed and then more than once stated that he just wanted to die.

In control, as always. Armand is surrounded by loved ones who continue to respect his every wish and so he was placed on a morphine drip to keep him comfortable for the duration.

After my initial sadness, I decided that it was now time to turn up the music so that Armand could dance! I printed a picture of him "pouring it all out", lit my Blue Candle and went searching for some Mad Mondo Music.

He once described a beautiful night that he spent, laying in his bed with a gentle breeze coming through the window and the sound of jazz playing in the dark. It lulled him to sleep after watching some late night tv. I bet he once watched and loved this Carson show with Buddy Rich playing with Doc Severinson. Turn it up for Armand!

Jumping Hurdles

Armand, at this moment, may be lying in a hospital bed connected to various appliances to assist his ailing body. His life substance, however, is that of a man in his prime jumping over every hurdle placed before him.

His second surgery to his colon appears to be a success, but his other organs are fatigued by the ordeal. Armand is determined to keep leading them forward, agreeing to one painful procedure after the next: a ventilator to provide adequate oxygen as well as drain the fluid from his lungs, dialysis for his kidneys, and pain medication that often steals his consciousness.

All of this is being done with his full knowledge and desire to keep on going. While it's been difficult for loved ones to witness, they respect and support each painful step. You may remember the way Ann The Daughter supported him before the hike into the Grand Canyon and at the fateful turnaround point. She continues to standby, stepping aside or supporting Armand, as his body simply reacts to his wishes.

Those of us who know Armand, are not surprised by his tenacious will to live. Yet we are amazed at how much this man is willing to endure. He will not leave this earth until he has completely exhausted his physical body.

He might surge ahead and make a recovery soon, or his body may refuse to carry him over one more hurdle. Either way, Armand will triumph!

Still going uphill.

Dorsey's Knob,is one of the highest points in Monongalia County, WV, and Armand thought I should see it. He made it up to the top, where a young couple were already perched. The woman had a surprised look on her face when she saw him saunter up to where she stood. "Wow, you're a regular mountain goat, aren't you?"

Armand told her about the time he was on a mountain side and dropped and rolled before a frightened climber, just to prove that it was safe. It was mentioned then too, that he was like a mountain goat. "One of the nicer things said about me," quipped Armand.

Now that he's famous...

Armand Singer is back in town: Morgantown, West Viriginia. He had a great trip out west, once he got past Ohio.

I talked to him last night and he's busy on an assortment of projects. At the end of the month, he'll be welcoming Dr.Janice Spleth to her appointed Armand E. and Mary W. Singer Professorship in the Humanities at WVU.

Armand is also completing the second edition of a book listing all covers of mountain climbing expeditions in Nepal, Tibet, and more. He proceeded to tell me about a man named George Mallory, who disappeared on Everest in 1924, and his rumored paramour named Irvine. Mallory's remains were discovered in 1999.

I ran a Google search (george mallory) as we talked and came upon images of a body and the sole of a boot. I couldn't help but interrupt Armand.

"There are pictures of his body lying on the ground, Armand!"

Without even taking another breath he said, "Nothing's private in this world anymore! Why there's a woman in Hawaii who's writing a blog about me!"

Where's Armand? Getting ready for more trips and hikes, a reading in Las Vegas, and a stamp exhibition in San Francisco. Near the end of his report he said, "I'd like to go to Bhutan, I've never been there."

I'd like to go to Morgantown, West Virginia. I've never been there.

Leaving 15 Minutes of Fame

No, 15 Minutes of Fame is not a little town in Ohio. It's the state of affairs that Armand left behind as he drove west to Colorado last week.

On the road after a late start last Wednesday, Armand came upon some road construction,120 miles west of Morgantown on Interstate 70. He encountered a man, signaling him to veer over to the left. A brief moment of confusion, hesitation, acceleration, questioning arms,"turn left", a left turn, a fist banging on his window and he's out of there. A few miles down the road, Armand was stopped and arrested for vehicular assault.

Apparently, the man directing traffic was a sheriff's deputy and he perceived a belligerent driver making obscene gestures and driving toward him. So off to jail with Armand! Handcuffs, fingerprints and mug shots.

It didn't take long for the jailers to realize that this was no Mad Max (sorry, Mel ), and they fed Armand a chicken dinner and arranged for 'a very nice bondsman' to retrieve his wallet from the impounded car so that Armand could post bail.

"They even agreed to a court date that would coincide with my drive back home. Otherwise, I would have had to cancel the whole trip!"

Armand, dubbed 'the nicest person put in jail', bid jail personnel and the kind bondsman goodbye, and was on the road again at 10:30pm. Not until he spoke to his daughter, Ann, on Saturday night, did he find out that the newspapers and television channels had given him far more than his 15 Minutes of Fame. It prompted a Morgantown resident to alter her 'Where's Armand' t-shirt to read, 'FREE Armand!'

I spoke to Armand on Sunday morning. He was reading the last 10 pages of The Scarlet Ruse in his room at Colorado Cottages. Although slightly annoyed that the news accounts weren't entirely factual, he empathized with the deputy's working conditions. All of that being miles behind him, as soon as he finished the book, he was going to do a little pilgrimage hike to a spot he and his late wife, Mary, loved to visit.

"You have us cheering you on, Armand," I said.

He quickly replied,
"Okay. I have a fan club! Goodbye."

Why I'm Chasing a 92-year-old Man.

Armand Singer, pictured as he descends a 4,000 foot mountain in Switzerland, leaves me breathless!

In a few weeks, he'll be flying to Florence, for a short vacation, then on to Malta for a conference he's organizing. He'll then fly home to West Virginia and drive to Colorado to pick-up his young son-in-law (Tomas Hill), to take him on a road tour of national parks. They'll end up at the Sunriver Resort in Oregon for Tomas' family reunion. Armand is driving.

An Abraham-Hicks assessment on longevity recently said, "...intending for long life assures that you must be leading the parade; people don’t start diminishing their life until they stop leading and start falling back into the ranks of the parade, trying to do what others are leading them to do."

Armand leads the parade. He sets the beat and goes for miles on end. He's had many opportunities to stop and take on a pedestrian role, but appears to pause for only a few minutes while he picks out a new beat and route.

He's overcome cancer and outlived the doctors who said he might not survive. Most recently, he has bounced back from a broken hip and responded so well to eye surgery that after seventy- nine years of wearing glasses, he's tossed them into the trash. Armand also told me that he has no intention of "getting over" the loss of Mary, his wife of over sixty years.

My hero has had his share of physical and emotional challenges but continues to bait his future. I have an image of Armand, tying a carrot on a stick before walking out the door each day with his bundle of over a dozen other such sticks!

He has 4 books to write, several others about to be published. He's a persistant stamp collector and lectures and publishes on stamps from Nepal and Tibet.

Lest you think he spends all his evenings peering through a magnifying glass while hunched over rare and dusty stamps, Armand is a fan of the cinema and hip to more stars and late night talk shows than I could ever be. He loves jazz and will crank up his stereo to step and sway to his favorites: Woody Herman, Count Basie, Maynard Ferguson and Doc Severinson.

I've decided to follow this man around the world, vicariously, and report of his whereabouts and accomplishments. He's an inspiration to people of all ages to get out in front and lead their own parade.

I asked Armand, "If a movie were to be made of your life, who would you want to portray you?" Not missing a beat he said, "Me! I'm such a ham."

Originally published in "Connective Issues", Kona Yoga's newsletter. June 19, 2006