Barbara Cushman Rowell
January 29, 1948 - August 11, 2002
Galen and his wife, Barbara died Sunday in a plane crash
near Bishop, California.
Galen was a huge influence in my wanting to take pictures.
I met Galen through my friend Bob, and only talked to him
once. It was a lavish private honoring of Galen in Berkley,
California. Many high-brow people were there, including a
few celebrities that talked about Galen through video. I was
very moved, after seeing all of the fascinating places that
he had seen.
After the show, when Bob introduced me, I asked Galen how
he achieved the effect of looking right toward the sunset
and still being able to see the foreground. He seemed relieved
to take a break from the compliments, and took me away from
the crowd to explain his invention of "Multi-stop gradient
filters".
This was very interesting to me and I became much more intrigued
by nature photography. I also noticed that even though, he
was nearly 60, he had the voice and attitude of a teenager.
For the past few years, prior to this meeting, I looked at
myself as someone who would never hike or climb mountains
because I felt that because of my leg problems, it just wasn't
part of my future.
A day before meeting Galen, I was helping quadriplegic patients
at a medicinal ranch near Oakland California. I had a chance
to talk to most of the patients and to really understand what
it was like to not have the option to walk, or do about anything
on your own.
I had a chance to know what it is like to not be able, and
then a chance to see what you can do when you are able. And
I knew I was missing too much of this world. So I started
hiking.
I was just looking through some of his photography books on
Saturday. On Sunday, I visited his web site, and read most
everything about him and his wife Barbara, the same day they
died.
I found out through a phone call from Bob today. I am deeply
saddened
417 ) Galen Rowell | 
4 ) Rowell Galen |