Chris Rose_ Jazzfest fixture's e-mail arrives after he succumbs to cancer - Chris Rose - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com.pdf - Chris Rose NOLA.com

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4/24/22, 10:32 AM Chris Rose: Jazzfest fixture's e-mail arrives after he succumbs to cancer - Chris Rose - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com The Wayback Machine - http://web.archive.org/web/20081012090307/http://blog.nola.com/chrisrose/2008/06/chris_rose_jazzfest_fixtures_e.html • Complete Forecast | Homepage | Site Index | RSS Feeds | About Us | Contact Us | Advertise SEARCH: Enter Keyword(s) NEWS SPORTS FORUMS BLOGS CAMS ENTERTAINMENT MORE TOPICS JOBS AUTOS REAL ESTATE CLASSIFIEDS FROM OUR ADVERTISERS Entertainment Home Chris Rose: Jazzfest fixture's e-mail arrives after he Music Home Food and Dining Home succumbs to cancer The Arts Home Posted by Chris Rose, Columnist, The Times-Picayune June 25, 2008 4:15AM Festivals Home Categories: Jazzfest, Living: Columnists TV / Film Home About The Author A shocking and saddening e-mail is making the Latest Posts rounds through what, for lack of a better term, could The 60-Second Interview: be called the extended Jazzfest family -- a loose- Maria Shaw knit but broad-based coterie of over-dressed, ever- Chris Rose: Life goes on in present, always exuberant 40-, 50- and even 60- Little Woods The 60-Second Interview: something revelers who seem to have been born Johnny J right there on the Fair Grounds and never left. Chris Rose: No more Rivers on the river The e-mail was written by one of the most visible Running of the Bulls N.O.- and colorful -- literally -- Jazzfest fixtures, a man by style the name of Wing who was most notable for his Categories braided hair, his medley of fantastical fringed outfits and his nearly maniacal stamina and dance style, 60-Second Interview (RSS) most often in the Gospel Tent or at Congo Square. Breaking News (RSS) Festival Guide (RSS) Wing, simply put, was a spectacle, an institution, a Jazzfest (RSS) Living: Arts and harbinger of delight for all who laid eyes upon him. Chris Rose, Columnist entertainment (RSS) He whirled, skipped and spun relentlessly through Living: Columnists (RSS) the aisles, from stage to stage, every day, every year. Favorite Links He was always there, always on the move, always a blur of movement -- except Archived Posts during the thousands of instances when people asked him to pose for a picture, for ----- which he always obliged. If you were even just an occasional visitor to the Fest, chances are you encountered him. And if you encountered him, you probably thought he was crazy or tripping on acid or both -- though he was neither. He was simply free. So intense was his dancing regimen that he used to do cardio workouts for weeks before the festival. Except this year. Wing lived on a 90- acre ranch in northern California called, fittingly, Wingspread. A few weeks before the 2008 festival, he told friends that his father was ailing and he would be unable to attend. But the truth was: Wing was dying. He told no one except a close friend and neighbor in California. And it was that friend who sent the e-mail, as per Wing's wishes, upon his passing last week at around the age of 60. The e-mail was a farewell to his innumerable Jazzfest friends, who then forwarded it onto many more, the reach of Wing's goodbye now widespread and indeterminable. It read, in part: Kathy Anderson / The Times-Picayune Wing Hodasz, in his trademark fringed jumpsuit, there once was a man name of wing, dances in the Gospel tent at the 2001 Jazzfest. who decided one last final thing, it's now time to leave take rest all bereaved i'm off to my greatest final fling! web.archive.org/web/20081012090307/http://blog.nola.com/chrisrose/2008/06/chris_rose_jazzfest_fixtures_e.html 1/3 4/24/22, 10:32 AM Chris Rose: Jazzfest fixture's e-mail arrives after he succumbs to cancer - Chris Rose - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com to all my friends, by this email know that wing/ dancerboy no longer exists in the form you knew him as. i have chosen to end my life ... my cancer returned in symptomatic form 10 months ago. after a biopsy and series of scans i elected not to receive treatment .¤.¤. i chose not to share the information for the following reasons: why upset everybody? don't have to justify my reasoning to anyone don't have to listen to everyone's aunt marthe's famous cancer cure now i imagine some of you might have wondered what was up, since there was no jazz fest or travel to the islands for winter dancing and fun. now you know." Many readers of this e-mail -- including myself -- took the message to be a suicide note. But it was not. It was simply the words of a man coming to terms with his impending death. By writing that he had "chosen to end my life," Wing was referring to his refusal of further treatment for his lymphoma, according to his longtime friend Harry Perret, a New Orleans native who lives part-time in Tennessee since Hurricane Katrina. "People misunderstood that letter," Perret said this week, adding: "When I got the letter I was floored. He didn't tell anybody. Not even his closest friends knew his cancer had come back." Perret was notified in a separate e-mail that he will be receiving some of Wing's ashes in the mail. "We're going to pick a day at Jazzfest next year and we'll get all his friends and have a skip around the Gospel Tent in his honor," he said. "We'll dance up and down the aisles like he did." Columnist Chris Rose can be reached at [email protected], or 504.826.3309, or 504.352.2535. Print This Page | Send To A Friend | Permalink (Learn More) Share: Reddit | Digg | del.icio.us | Google | Yahoo | What is this? COMMENTS (5) Post a comment Posted by onilosmada on 06/25/08 at 7:19AM R.I.P. Wing "Aint there no more"! Inappropriate? Alert us. Post a comment Posted by LaBee on 06/25/08 at 11:38AM Fly on, Little Wing. Inappropriate? Alert us. Post a comment Posted by twainhearn on 06/25/08 at 9:15PM More proof that New Orleans not only matters... ...it may be Our best way out! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ..... Flying Vortexes Sprout New Dance Tonight!! ..... What a great reminder that we can just about Save the Planet by believing in the power of New Orleans!! God Bless!! Thanks Chris! Inappropriate? Alert us. Post a comment web.archive.org/web/20081012090307/http://blog.nola.com/chrisrose/2008/06/chris_rose_jazzfest_fixtures_e.html 2/3 4/24/22, 10:32 AM Chris Rose: Jazzfest fixture's e-mail arrives after he succumbs to cancer - Chris Rose - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com Posted by derail on 07/03/08 at 9:06AM Once again, Chris, you help us make sense of it all. This year, I "saw" Wing out of the corner of my eye, twice, colorfully skipping up the aisle in the Blues Tent. But when I turned my head, I didn't see him. Hmmmm, I thought, I'll see him later................... and now I know. I imagine that Stevie Ray is getting a big kick out of Wing's crazy style! They had this in common - Be the Best That You Can Be. Keep up the good work, Chris. Inappropriate? Alert us. Post a comment Posted by stpetelarry on 07/28/08 at 2:34PM Chris, I recently learned about your article on Wing from friends in New Orleans. I missed this year's Jazz Fest after 24 consecutive years, being on a trip through Asia and the Middle East. I visited with Wing each year in the Gospel Tent;. I once asked him why he spent so much of his time there. He answer was "That's where the power is". One year he told me that he wrote poetry. I purchased his book and looked through it again after I read your article. The last poem in his book was entitled "Jazzed Fest" and sounded very much like a prayer. I WAKE UP EARLY MORNING, SIT AND CLOSE MY EYES. THE MOON HAS LEFT THE SKY AND THE SUN IS YET TO RISE. IN THESE SILENT MOMENTS, I THANK YOU FOR MY LIFE, AS I FEEL THE WORLD AROUND ME BURNING IN IT'S STRIFE. I THANK YOU FOR MY BODY THAT CARRIES ME ALONG. I THANK YOU FOR MY HEALTH AND THE CHANCE TO DANCE TO SONG. I THANK YOU FOR MY FRIENDS AND THE PLANET ON WHICH WE LIVE. I THANK YOU FOR THE CHILDREN, AND HOPE THAT WE CAN GIVE THEM HOPE AND INSPIRATION TO KNOW THAT ALL IS RIGHT, AND THAT AS WE JOIN TOGETHER IN LOVE, WE'LL DANCE INTO THE LIGHT !!! I ASK FOR UNDERSTANDING, FOR COMPASSION AND FOR TRUTH, I ASK FOR STRENGTH TO WALK IN LOVE AND ALWAYS FEEL MY YOUTH. TO THINK WITHIN MY HEART, AND NOT GET STUCK IN HEAD. TO SEE YOUR PRESENCE IN ALL THINGS AND KNOW THAT I AM LED. TO TOUCH YOU, FEEL YOU, HEAR YOU, AND SENSE YOU IN ALL WAYS, AND REJOICE THAT WE MAY WALK AS ONE, THROUGH ALL MY LASTING DAYS !!! Inappropriate? Alert us. Post a comment Username (Don't Have a Username? Sign up here): Password: Remember Me Login Reset Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement. Please read our Privacy Policy. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Contact interactivity management. ©2008 nola.com. All Rights Reserved. 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