Another St. Helens Anniversary

Well, it is the 18th of May again, and a day to remember those people who became the victims of the mountain back in 1980. It was the beginning of the decade, and you know what the funny thing about it was? When my sis was in 2nd grade, back in the early 70s, she asked her teacher what he thought the 1980s were going to be like. The teacher answered back "I have no idea, but I have the feeling it's going to go off with a bang!" Sure enough, it did! Since my sis told me that story, I often wondered if that teacher ever thought about that conversation he had with her that day, and what he said, and how true it has come to be. The 80s did begin with a bang! The biggest bang you could ever imagine! Even though it's May, it's still very early in the year.

Well, I can tell you Mount St. Helens has played a big role in making me who I am. They say every event that happens in our lives shapes us in some way. I think Mount St. Helens has made me tougher, more of a survivor. And this will be the first year I will be spending so far away from the mountain. I grew up there, and lived there for almost my entire life. Sometimes, since I've moved here, I weep thinking about all I left behind to move here. I sometimes question why I moved here in the first place. I don't belong here. Washington is my home. Anna's too. I'd give anything to move back there now, it wouldn't even have to be the coast. I'd settle for living closer to Mount St. Helens again! I miss it like everything!

Many more of my writings have also been inspired by Mount St. Helens than any other subject. Offhand, I can think of 3 stories that I wrote, or collaborated on, where the main subject is Mount St. Helens. Including a story where INXS (with Michael) are on tour and swerve off their route to go see the mountain. Although I am thinking about tweaking the story a bit. I started that story as an idea back in 1998, having discussed INXS a lot in the chatrooms and already being a fan of the volcano, as it was almost at my doorstep back then. I figured why not write a story combining both subjects? It was fun, and I began to write the story. I didn't use the band's true characters (I twisted their personalities around almost beyond recognition for the sake of the story) but I do mention the guys and have images of them throughout the story. Many of them images of the guys playing in the devastation areas. I started that story in 1998, but didn't complete it until 2005. The one thing that made the finishing of that story so slow was the ending. I could not come up with one that I thought was good enough. Looking back on it now, I probably should have thought about it some more. Well, I'm better seasoned as a writer now! LOL! A lot of times I look back on my past works and think they need some tweaking done, and I actually have done some tweaking in the past. Not every story I present on the UMG Productions site is exactly the way it was originally written. I've done some adding and taking away. Some of my stories from my teens and early 20s were much too violent to be considered children's stories, or even stories for young adults, and some things were just downright unacceptable. Sometimes I have to write and re-write stories several times because I am notoriously bad at endings!

Well anyway, I wanted to do something I've never done before on this blog, I wanted to list the names of the people who were victims of the eruption. Some people died, or went missing, right away. Some were rescued and died later on due to the eruption.

Confirmed Victims:

Reid Turner Blackburn, Vancouver, WA

Terry A. Crall Kelso, WA

Joel K. Colten Wyncote, PA

Ronald Lee Conner Tacoma, WA

Clyde Andrew Croft Roy, WA

Jose Arturo Dias Woodburn, OR

Arlene H. Edwards

Jolene H. Edwards Portland, OR

James F. Fitzgerald, Jr. Canton, OH

Allen R. Handy Puyallup, WA

Day Bradley Karr

Day Andrew Karr

Michael Murray Karr, Renton, WA

Christy Liann Killian Vader, WA

Joyce M. Kirkpatrick

Harold (Butch) Kirkpatrick Newberg, OR

Robert Emerson Landsburg Portland, OR

Gerald Lloyd Moore

Shirley (Sam) Moore Kelso, WA

Kevin Christopher Morris

Michelle Lea Morris Olympia, WA.

William Paul Parker

Jean Isabell Parker Portland, OR

Donald R. Parker

Natalie Ali Parker Westport, OR

Richard A. Parker Shelton, WA

Fred D. Rollins

Margery Ellen Rollins Hawthorne, CA

Paul F. Schmidt Silverton, OR

Barbara Lea (Morris) Seibold

Ronald Dale Seibold Olympia, WA

Donald James Selby Everett, WA

Evlanty V. Sharipoff Mt. Angel, OR

Leonty V. Skorohadoff Woodburn, OR

Karen Marie Varner Kelso, WA

Klaus Zimmerman, Spokane, WA

Victims Missing and Presumed Dead:
 
Wallace Norwood Bowers Winlock, WA

Ellen Loy Dill

Robert W. Dill Kirkland, WA

Bruce Edward Faddis Bend, OR

Thomas G. Gadwa Montesano, WA

Paul Hiatt residence unknown

David A. Johnston Menlo Park, CA

Robert M. Kaseweter Portland, OR

John G. Killian Vader, WA

Robert Lynds Kelso, WA

Gerald O. Martin Concrete, WA

Keith A. Moore Mossyrock, WA

Edward Joseph Murphy

Eleanor Jeanne Murphy Renton, WA

Merlin James (Jim) Pluard

Ruth Kathleen Pluard Toledo, WA

Dale Douglas Thayer Kelso, WA

Harry R. Truman Spirit Lake, WA

James S. Tute

Velvetia Tute, Mission, B.C., Canada

Beverly C. Wetherald, Portland, OR