Wednesday, May 19, 2010

ENVOI...

Well, it had to happen one day, and it has happened, and the day was last Thursday, May 13, 2010.

Konrad Hopkins slipped away to "the other side" at 9:14 p.m. BST at the Royal Alexandria Hospital in Paisley, Scotland, the town he made his own for over forty years, and which he supported and cajoled and awakened each day of those many many years.

His passing was peaceful. He was attended by Bill and Beth Kelly, who really were his adopted family, and every man or woman close to Konrad had either visited him in the days and weeks prior to his "graduation" or they had conveyed their love and thoughts via e-mail or friends' greetings.

I visited him twice - on Wednesday afternoon and on Thursday afternoon - and the atmosphere was lively and full of laughter, the music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold playing on the CD player beside his bed. Although Konrad was "on the hard stuff" to lessen any physical pain he was experiencing, his eyes would open sometimes and he would speak occasionally. He was certainly present, and aware, and let us know it ! - with an upraised eyebrow, a shrug, a lip curled in skepticism, amused condescension or agreement.

Though he didn't speak of it to most people, Konrad was clairaudient and I believe clairvoyant, and he spent a lot of his waking (and probably sleeping!) hours 'in touch' with "the other side." Based upon our conversations over the last five years, I believe that he considered much of his actual work was approached from and accomplished through "the other side," so physical death per se held no terrors for him.

Konrad actually alluded to his experience of "the other side" during our movie -
U & ME & TENNESSEE - an American romance...
when I observed, regarding his phenomenal output as a letter writer :

"You wrote to everyone! You were a writing fool !" and he responded:

"Living or dead, it didn't matter. In fact the
dead were the easier ones to write to!"

"
When We Dead Awaken..." I interjected - quoting the title of Ibsen's final play.

"And you know I go to a spiritualist and I say: 'Any news for me? Did I get an e-mail today?!' "

Konrad was most anxious that those on whom he focused his considerable attention and help, should prosper, flourish, receive recognition and assume their proper place in the scheme of things. It thus felt "altogether fitting and proper" that I received a call from my agent as I sat at Konrad's bedside Thursday afternoon, with news of a job! Here was one more thing he didn't have to worry about!

Konrad's physical remains are now buried in Paisley, "without ceremony" as he requested, and there will be a get-together or more properly a "memorial service" to celebrate his remarkable life and work, sometime in early June.

I'm writing an obituary for THE INDEPENDENT newspaper, and if it is accepted, I'll post a link to it on this blog.

Meanwhile, our movie, which has called forth a lot of time, care and attention over the past five years, is not dead - It will soon be available online and people all over the world will be able to experience the fascinating blend of love, acerbic wit, encyclopedic knowledge and fearless courage that was our dear friend Konrad Hopkins.

The great director Lindsay Anderson used to quote lines from the movies of his favorite director, John Ford. One bit of dialogue that he uttered many times in my presence was the exchange between John Wayne and Mildred Natwick in SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON:

Wayne: "I'll be saying good-bye, Matty..."
Natwick: "You'll do no such thing, Nathan Brittles!
'Good-bye' is a word we don't use in the cavalry.
'Til our next post, dear."
Photos copyright Alan Wylie - All Rights Reserved.
Text Copyright Paul Birchard - All Rights Reserved.

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