Steve Sanfield & Doc Dachtler
I just learned of an old friend's passing. This is what I get for living so tucked away in the snow.
News comes from a snail mail letter from another old friend in Colorado telling me about Steve's passing in the Sierra of California. And I'm not sure how long my letter sat in the post office box but I opened it tonight sitting by the wood stove on a small bench in barely any light and when I came to that part of the letter about Steve I moved into the light and read the paragraph again to make sure I was hearing things right. That's right, hearing things right.
Above is a photograph of two long-time Longhouse poets I always liked to publish and be in touch with. You can see they were pals.
Steve Sanfield was one of the founders of the American Storytelling
Renaissance, becoming the first storyteller-in-residence in
the United States in 1977. He is also the founder of the Sierra
Storytelling Festival. Steve had over thirty published books under his belt — poetry and prose, but really it was all poetry.
We both lived as long as we lived in our respective spots on earth — 45 years in our spots — which I believe was part of why we contacted one another in the first place. Brotherly Place. Steve's spot on earth was the San Juan Ridge at his home on Montezuma Hill.
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