NORBERT BLEI 1935-2013

Detroit Harbor, Washington Island -

I've got things to do today, but I find it hard to start on any one of them before first getting this out of my system, if that is possible to do with a few words.  But, it's the best way, for now.

When word came that Norbert Blei passed away yesterday morning, an event many knew was only a matter of days, even hours in coming, a sense of peace came over me.   He had struggled with life itself these past months and seemed frustrated at not having his energy back to do the many things he had started or mentally committed to doing.

Thinking back on what grabbed me most about Norb, it was his passion for taking on more than he should, or could do at one time, then quickly building enthusiasm for his next project.  And sometimes  it was "their" project, or my project, not necessarily his own.   He was not a fence-rider or wall flower.  He had both feet in, at once, and something about this rubbed off on me, his need to get on with what seems to reside deeply within in order to provide an avenue for expression.

He was both friend and teacher, not that he taught me in any formal sense, and not that we often got together to visit.   But, when we did visit the conversation flowed easily and his eyes lit up over nearly any topic, and he became both teacher and friend.  Even when his emotion was disgust or anger, his eyes brightened and his words flowed until the subject changed, then he started on the new topic.  He was quiet, thoughtful and compassionate, too, but it was the way in which expressed passion for where he lived, and the people he came in contact with, the literature he was reading at the moment, that sticks with me.

As for teacher?  I never received a critique from him, never any comment specific enough to make me want to start over or head in a new direction.  A few questions from Norb seemed enough.  In this unassuming way, he pointed me in new directions and gave me resolve to try harder and dig deeper.

I wouldn't be writing this piece today - or any essay for that matter - if it weren't for his silent encouragement, the idea that it is possible for me to write and publish.  Write to make a difference, and write to give expression to ideas.  There was that pair of dark eyes, and a soft voice muffled by mustache, over my shoulder then, as now.  He became a comforting critic, a voice inside my head.

In recent years Norbert took photos and posted them.  Some of his photos were excellent, others ordinary, but each showed he was on the job, still working, still an observer.  These mostly arrived on my computer screen without words, other than his one-line description.  A noticeable loss of energy was seen in those photos, but he still satisfied an urge to be out there, using all of his senses to connect with those he knew - and they were hundreds, if not thousands, in internet terms.  On line, this teacher of poetry and literature had a huge audience.

On this day I choose a photo of hundreds of ducks along the shore of Detroit Harbor, remnants of ice still lingering here and there.  I think it might look this way in Europe Lake today, too, near Norb's home, or wherever he drove on his morning rounds when thinking about this place, the seasons and the cycles of life that take place in and around us.

My file photos of Norbert are from the past two years, a time when he was either sick or recovering from serious illness, and they won't do justice to this man of vigor, energy and quickness.   Instead, I'll retain his image, a vital Norbert Blei with his quiet voice, in my head.

-  Dick Purinton