Looking for a Rufous

Krazy Cross: Rest Stop Songs, Part 2

Recapping briefly from a previous post about him, I met Art, sometimes called Krazy Cross, at the I-5 rest stop north of Wilsonville. He was singing with his guitar case open for donations. I found him to be very interesting and drove to Salem the following week to get copies of two West Side News articles about him written by Pat Wilkins and published in 2010 and 2012.

When I went to Salem, I discovered that being in a newspaper office with real journalists got me thinking about some of the things I learned in journalism school. As I mentioned in the last post about Art, his life is what makes this story interesting (“the hook”). Personally, I think people are much more interesting than inanimate objects. I discovered that years ago when I was really into photography (before digital), taking many pictures of plants and bugs but hardly any pictures of people. Finally, I realized that people were much more interesting as photo subjects.

I already talked about Art’s background and the remarkable things that have happened in his past, but in my opinion, what is happening now in his life is the most remarkable. This current chapter began about 11 years ago when his daughter Samantha, who suffered from seizures similar to his own, died in a Portland hospital. The very next day he considered taking his own life, but instead, in his own words quite miraculously, discovered that he had a natural talent for music. Fast forward to now, 11 years later, and Art can be found playing his guitar and singing his own songs at the I-5 rest stop. Did I mention that Art is a Vietnam vet that was exposed to Agent Orange. He was diagnosed with cancer and given 15 months to live in May 2008, but he plays on.