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Welcome to Quarry Hill's Blog!

Quarry Hill Creative Center in Rochester, VT, founded 1946 by Barbara and Irving Fiske, is Vermont's oldest alternative community and at one time was probably also its largest. In the 60s -80s, as many as 90 people lived here.
It was and is visited each year, often in summer (but in every season, really) by visitors from all over the world.
We welcome interesting and creative people who are peaceful, bring no weapons, don't believe in hitting children or killing animals, and enjoy the beauty of Vermont and of themselves.

Most of us do not adhere to any particular dogma or religion, though many do find Eastern philosophy closest to our own thought (some of us are also members of the Quakers/Society of Friends).
We value the individual, particularly people who are energetic and have a sense of humor.
Visitors are welcome-- and prospective residents, too. There are some places for rent, others for sale. If interested, get in touch!
And, please follow the Blog and comment whenever you like!

"The symbol is the enemy of the reality, and the reality is ever one's true guide, true friend, true companion, and true self." Irving Fiske, 1908-1990

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Stephen Huneck, Puzzles, and Dogs. Nice Music.





Steve Huneck lived here in the Sixties. My brother, William, considered him a close friend. But as the perspecacious poster just below takes notes, he was not really a friend to W. or to anyone. And, thinking about it, I have got to agree.

5 comments:

  1. That dude was no friend to William, or anyone who came near him. Poor guy.

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  2. You are quite right. Just trying to be polite. He actually did quite a few really nasty things to Quarry Hill and to many here including his own as-yet-unborn-daughter. I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. But Steve remarkably made for himself a very sweet, very dog-loving, rather Bodhisattvic self-image, which evidently he was unable to avoid seeing through at the end. I do wish he could have realized it was not needful to be that way. Oh well, perhaps in some other lifetime, death having paid for all, he will become a real Bodhisattva. Every grain of sand, they say, will be enlightened.

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  3. Perhaps it is not really a good idea to let people think that his persona of himself was his real nature in dealing with people (one may hope that he was actually good to his dogs). His wife seems to have loved him and misses him.
    I feel he could have done a great deal better by William, by his own daughter, and by Quarry Hill in general. He called me one night saying "You know I'm just a fake, don't you? I've got everybody convinced I'm some kind of great artist but I'm just a fake. And anyone in this town who tries to stop me taking drugs can't because (Charlie-Sheen type rant)"...

    In that last conversation I believe he saw himself clearly at least in part.
    And yet everyone, at the core, has a real and radiant Being. Even Steve.

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  4. He had a wife, Gwen, who loved him. I didn't want to hurt her feelings. So I posted the original post about Steve on this site. I think I probably did end up hurting her feelings anyway. She posted an enigmatic mention of me on Facebook.
    Gwen, if you are reading this, I want you to know there was a side to Steve that was very sweet-- and a side that did not always act in accordance with his own highest values. He was not always kind to his daughter.
    I know he had great talent and that he loved William and Irving deep down, but he did do certain things that QH can never agree with (for instance, I understand that he beat his stepdaughter when they lived together). I understand the feelings of "Judy." But a person is dead and cannot help or defend himself-- should we not perhaps now simply have compassion and hope that he will be re-born, if there is such a thing as re-birth, as an enlightened Bodhisattva?

    ReplyDelete