The Passing of a Brother

Earlier this week I got a call from Roger Beck, reporting on one of the housetrucking communities earliest and in some respects, most prominent members. I'm relating this from memory, so I may have some of the details wrong, and may have to edit others in later, but I wanted to get something posted.

As popular as Roger's own book is, there can be no argument that the best known housetruck book is Rolling Homes. The housetruck on the cover of Jane Lidz's book was constructed by Al, and was his home for a great many miles as he traveled with the Northwest Trading Company, doing the crafts fair circuit.

Of course, it was Rolling Homes and photos of Al's truck that I took at the Oregon Country Fair site that inspired me to make the Bus Barn what it is today. More photos of Al's truck can be found at Roger's site, Housetrucks.Com.

Roger related that Al was an avid fisherman, and nearly always had a small fishing skiff on a trailer behind his car wherever he went.

The weekend of July 11th, Al and some friends went out on a fishing boat to cast some lines in the water. Al wasn't feeling very well, so he went to his bunk below decks to lay down for a while. The waves rocked Al gently to sleep for the last time and he died of heart failure out on the ocean, doing what he loved best, fishing. Al was 62 years of age.