As many of you already know, Nard took ill a few weeks ago. He had a stroke and a brain aneurism. He is in hospice care, at home. The reason he is home is because he has only a few weeks left to be with us. (He gave me permission to post this.) We had a good conversation today, and he has me contacting a few old friends for him so he can basically say good-bye. To that end, if anybody wishes to post well wishes to him I will print them out and make sure to mail them to his home on January 6th.

I reminded him that I have a photo on my wall at the office with Nard, Philnic, Mr. Dark, Doug Spaulding, Ray and me.

Pray for us, Nard!
I'm praying for you and yours.
May God have mercy.

Happy New Year, Nard! You made it into a new decade!

So sad you won't spend much longer here. You were the best correspondent! I could tell you anything! Have a good journey, and continue the work you started! Godspeed!

Nard, I'm sorry to hear about your condition, but I hope they are keeping you comfortable at home. Like dandelion, I have found you an AMAZING correspondent, and so generous. I'm glad we got to meet (and that cameras were present so that jkt has something to hang on his wall!) Take care.

Nard, you have made a tremendous impact here, and have more friends and admirers than you know of. Thinking of you.

I checked in to the board today, January 1, 2010, to see what was new and then I got some very unsettling and emotion provoking news concerning our friend Nard. While I have known him only a few years, we have talked with each other many times and I know him to be a fine person who has found his faith and tells anyone who will listen that he firmaly believes it saved him and can do the same for others. While I calmly chose to differ in my views from those professed by Nard, I greatly respected his passion and felt a kinship with someone who cared so greatly about his faith. I am truly saddened to learn of this latest news concerning Nard's health. I wish him only good thoughts and I believe that his faith will see him through and he will achieve what has been promised to those who follow his beliefs. I guess God muist need another angel and He chooses to tap Nard on the solder at this time. Dear Nard, I will never forget you and who you are. You focused my mind on things that I had not considered for a very long time. Thank you for being there. I know that you will be happier where you are traveling to now. Your passion will remain in my memory and that will keep you alive in this plane for a while longer. Peace be to you and suffer not. The next step is just that. The great Mystery that we all seek will now become known to you. You will be accepted and welcomed and the ripples that you have left here in this life will continue to travel and touch others.

Nard, it was my pleasure to finally meet you this summer at the bookstore on Mr. Bradbury's birthday. Over the years, your passion and honesty have kept many a topic well fueled. This has led to so many of us staying in touch philosophically, metaphorically, humorously, and -in countless cases- personally. You are a person of conviction and artistic imagination. Very fine qualities that speak volumes of one's life.

I truly enjoyed the time you found to talk with me on Sat., August 22. I recognized you immediately when we crossed real paths in, of all places, a crowded bookstore celebrating Ray Bradbury's birthday. How appropriate...right!?

There was a great photo of my family taken at the event. You are standing with us in the background smiling broadly and pointing upward and onward. That's a fine approach to all we do. Thank you for the years of exchanges, challenges, feedback, and truly friendly encounter. You remain in our sincerest thoughts and prayers. May all of God's Loving Blessings Be Yours.
fp

(Your forwarding of this to Nard is deeply appreciated, jkt!)

Nard, I was deeply saddened to learn about your illness. I have not seen much of you since you moved to the West coast, but always found our meetings most enjoyable, with your love for Ray and his work clearly evident. I hope no one minds, but I am going to post again a photo (originally posted by Nard) of Nard, Sam Weller and me (along with a gentleman named Keith whose last name escapes me) at the Lisle, Illinois Public Library in September, 2004. Sam had given a talk about his then upcoming biography of Ray, and hooked Ray up by speaker phone to chat with Sam and his audience. The photo was taken afterward. It was a wonderful evening, one I shall always remember. God bless, Nard.

https://raybradburyboard.com/gr...%2FDSCN3008_0032.jpg

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Richard,

Dear Nard,

One of the great, unexpected joys of working with Ray Bradbury has been the opportunity to meet all the amazing and wonderful people who have been a part of his universe. He has such a passionate and close-knit group of fans. We are all siblings in celebration.

You are so special and it has been a complete blessing to get to know you and see you at so many Bradburian events. You have always been so supportive of me, personally, and for that I am eternally grateful. Thank you, good sir. Your name is in the acknowledgments of my 2005 Bradbury biography, and it is in my forthcoming book of interviews.

But the most inspiring aspect of your amazing character has always been your unwavering faith in Jesus Christ. It is because of this courage and conviction that I feel comforted as you make your way home. I pray for you and thank you for blessing my life with your presence.

God Bless and Godspeed, Nard Kordell.

Yours,

Sam Weller

from Linnl/Brother Tarkas:

Nard,
Warmest regards and blessings to you, your family and friends during this time.
-Robert

Nard,

I don’t know if you remember me, because I played an incredibly small part in your life. We spoke sometimes for, sometimes against each other’s beliefs over the course these past two or three years. I don’t think you know, but your words made an impact on me. Your opinions on faith, the future, and human decency are those of a wise and honest man. A concept from the Orthodox that resonates with me is that of the spiritual father: someone, maybe one of many, from whom one observes wisdom, knowledge and guidance from the heart. In my life, you certainly have a place among these!

I say that you have truly altered and influenced my opinions— regarding space exploration, literature, the fate of a culture marked by escapism, and most importantly, Christ’s role in our lives. What I admire most in you is your discernment, your refusal to accept the spirit of the times. Out of love and hope, you’ve rebuked your brothers, myself included, for what you see as faults that may lead us astray. And that is a great and sacred gift.

So thank you, from the people of Earth, for all you have given. For you will not be of this world, but shall stand before He who gave you a willing Spirit and the greatest Love.

Happy trails, my friend!

-Nico Martin

Friend Nard,

I hope to see you yet again here in the Shadowlands when next I come west - who knows what fate lies in store? If I do not, I want to publicly call you my friend. Our visits at various events over the last few years have always been my pleasure.

You are a man of unwavering faith, a great quality indeed! I have always held a great respect for you and that faith.

Brightest blessings, faithful one, to you and yours.

John

Dear Nard,
I have not met you personally. However, you have brought a light upon us all that we can never repay. Today I thank you. I thank you for allowing me and others to say a prayer for one who has taught us that Faith is not a vain word. Thank you Nard...I wish that I can some day sit with you and converse...you have taught me much...

To Nard: From an old post:
You posted:
Nard Kordell Posted 16 December 2007 10:00 AM
booklover2727:

"Death and the Maiden". Wow! You located my written feelings about the story. Now to find a quiet spot, a quiet 20 minutes, and submerse myself again into the language of those first few paragraphs. Is the magic still there for me? And can I explain it now, that experience, these years later, some 30+ plus years from first reading the story?

Nard posted this in answer to my post. I now quote the last few paragraphs of this story by Mr. Bradbury, that he "submersed" himself upon.

"And they ran down the path out of sight, leaving dust on the air and leaving the front door of the house wide and the shutters open and the windows up so light of the sun could flash in with the birds come build nests, raise families, and so petals of lovely summer flowers could blow like bridal showers through the long halls in a carpet and into the rooms and over the empty-but-waiting bed. And summer, with the breeze, changed the air in all the great spaces of the house so it smelled like the Beginning or the first hour after the Beginning, when the world was new and nothing would ever change and one would ever grow old.
Somewhere rabbits ran thumpinglike quick hearts in the forest.
Far off, a train hooted, rushing faster, faster, faster, toward the town."

Once again, Nard, thank you...

Well, this is co-inkydink if I do say so myself. There had been no additional entries on this thread since january 5, 2010 and then, as I sat down to write this update today on our friend Nard's present condition, there was a post just today! Someone is thinking about our friend, as I am.

Its March 10, 2010 and I had just printed out this thread of remarks on serveral pages and taken them over with me today as I visited with our friend Nard at his home in Laguna Woods. Contrary to what was originally believed, he has not left us for that better place, at least not yet. He was in very good humor today, as we talked about our mutual and life-long friend Ray. There were two others there with myself and Nard, two old friends of his, who, like me, just came to let Nard know that we cared about him and wished him well. I met his joyful wife who was serving home made Mexican food to the little party when I arrived. I had a truly great Taco Carnitas and a ginger ale.

We talked about Nard's recent health events. He had surgery to remove a portion of his brain that had been damaged by the stroke and anneurism, and even survived a heart attack. God must want Nard to be with us a while longer to shine the light of his humor on those about him and to witness for his belief in Christ. His cancer is still active, but he has decided not to continue on with the chemo for now and instead is taking a homeopathic preparation containing the bark of the same tree that is used to make the chemo drug. He learned this from his doctor after he told the doctor he wanted to stay off the chemo.

For a man who tells me he had a third of his brain surgically removed, Nard is in remarkable shape and still has both his terrific sense of humor and his faith to get him through what ever is coming next. I printed out the best wishes that were on this thread and I took them with me and I then asked if Nard had seen any of them. He had not, as he now has trouble reading and can't use the internet any longer. I then read to him what I had written on this blog and he seemed to be very touched by my sentiments. I am sure that his wife will read the remainder to him as well. We talked about his faith and the power of his Christian beliefs and he wanted to be sure that I understood how he felt and was only offering me the insight that he got from witnessing to Christ. I explained my simple minded view of the world and how, while I believe in a greater power and the power of love to heal us, I was not a true candidate for conversion to Christianity. One of his friends let me know that he had overcome a battle with the substance abuse of the '60s and had also found his strength in Jesus.

Now, as a person who came from a father who was a Methodist and was raised in that Church in his early growing years, attending services nearly the entire Sunday day of rest, in a circle of fellowship with others, and from a Mother, who professed to be a Quaker, but was too emotional to attend any services due to the overwhelming sadness that she would feel, I did not become a Christian nor will I ever be. My Father found his faith again after many years of raising our little family and dearly wanted me to understand and share his beliefs, for the same reasons that Nard wants all to share in the joy he has found in his faith in Jesus.

Before my Father passed away I told him I was not tuning in on his message and that he should go out and seek others who could benefit from his passionate belief. He did so and found a welcome reception with a group of African American Christians(they were called Black then), likely Baptists, in Venice, CA and he would visit with them when he could. When He died of Cancer a few years later, these lovely people attended our little informal service for Dad. They got it, and he had made a difference in their lives. He wrote me a letter before he died stating that he felt he had somehow failed in that he could not get me to see that the TRUTH as he knew it was in the path he had chosen to follow to Jesus. I only read this letter much later after his passing and I felt bad that I could not have been there and told him that he had not failed, only that my path is a different one. The teaching of Love as the healing power that can move us to be better people and to work on behalf of the troubles of others, sharing what little we have, to enrich another's stay on this plane of existance, was certainly instilled in me by my parents. Thus, my Father did not fail in his duty to raise a good compassionate son.

When I first met Nard it was as though he was speaking the words I had heard from my Father. I listened and tried to let Nard know that I knew him to be an honest and passionate man and that I could be his friend, but I could not follow his path, as I was on my own journey. So, to see Nard in such humor today after all that has befallen him and still ready to tell anyone who will listen that there is a reason why we are here and that reason is to serve God, made me feel as though my Father was again talking with me.

I am comfortable in my understanding of faith, religion, and the good and bad of it all. I cannot accept only the One Answer, while there are so many in the world around us who are asking the same questions, seeking the same TRUTH, yet come up with differening answers, and who are ready to defend those answers to the death, especially those who do not or will not share their beliefs. It is for this reason that I see Mankind on the threshold of a new change that must take him beyond the isolation of these differing systems of beliefs and to a better, more enlightened existance, that will prevent the act of killing in the name of the very GOD (s) we serve. Mankind can be better and the cure is total acceptance of each other through Love, understanding that we are all the same and come from the same Creator, what ever name we choose to call It.

So, today was a joy for me, to see my friend Nard in such good spirits, facing his challenges and the inevitable end of this life, while still caring enough about others to expend the energy to let them know what he has found and how it changed him forever. Nard attributes his discovery of a book by Ray Bradbury one day and the sensation of a life-changing experience from that book, to him a revelation had occurred, to the reason he found his faith through Jesus. He sincerely believes that Ray was sent by God to make him change his life and to set him on the better path. I believe it happended just that way, for Nard.

If you have the time please send Nard your well wishes and let him know that he is loved, by those who share his faith, and those who may not. He is remarkable man and all who have been touched by his joy and humor will keep his spirit with themselves even as he moves on to be with St. Peter in the coming days.

Email for Nard: catchaway@comcast.net