“LET US BE GRATEFUL TO PEOPLE WHO
MAKE US HAPPY, THEY ARE THE CHARMING
GARDENERS WHO MAKE SOULS BLOSSOM.”
Marcel Proust
I am sitting and listening to my friends Jim & Andy Nelson as they are doing their Thanksgiving show on COW Radio. As they are playing one of my favorite musicians I am thinking about him.
I have noticed that the friend, Don Edwards, is in declining health. Don is the cowboy’s cowboy singer. Mom and I met Don and his wife Cathy at an awards show. We were fortunate to sit at a table visit and eat with them. Such a warm and friendly couple as any I have met in the Western World.
I have been noticing that Don is using a walker now. He has stopped performing. This makes me so sad. And it occurred to me that I want to say something about Don before he is gone. We have lost so many and I try to make note and do a tribute because the loss of a friend leaves such a hole in the soul.
I want to say how much I admire and appreciate someone before we lose them. Without doing a biography I just want to say what an impact Don has had on my life.
I loved performing on stage for an audience and appreciate those who I would most like to be like. Don is one of those people. Don’s quiet demeanor and musical scholarship is something I would have liked to attain.
When I listen to Don Edwards perform it is authentic and worth the precious time that is left to just close your eyes and visualize what he is singing. Western and Cowboy music is the telling of a story. No one does it better than Don.
When the time comes to memorialize I hope that writing this will show the sincerity then. No one will ever perform ‘Coyote’ better than Don Edwards.
I hope that you can understand that there are things more important than politics.
