Telluride Daily Planet obituary

Mother and spiritual figure Mary Friedberg passes away

Photo by Rio Coyotl

‘She lived life in a magical way’ 

By Katie Klingsporn
Editor

Published: Friday, December 7, 2012 12:28 PM CST

Mary Friedberg, a deeply spiritual woman and friend to many who lived in Telluride and Norwood for several years, passed away on Nov. 25 at her Wilson Mesa Home after battling cancer. She was 58.

Friedberg, whose was called Mary Faery by loved ones, was a mother and friend who is remembered as a deeply spiritual woman with a gypsy streak and boundless generosity. She was passionate about Tibetan Buddhism and dakini dancing, and she had a special light about her, friends say.

“Mary was a wonderful, kind person,” said Art Goodtimes, her husband. “I think her kindness touched everybody, and her spirituality was inspiring.”

Friedberg was born in New York City in 1954, and went to elementary school in Wisconsin and high school in New Jersey before heading to college and ultimately graduating from Evergreen College. She studied environmental sciences and went on to work as a botanist for the U.S. Forest Service, including stints at fisheries in Alaska.

But it was her time in the Peace Corps, Goodtimes said, that was a defining experience in her life.

Friedberg was sent to the Phillipines and was assigned to work on a forestry project with the Ati tribe on a small island of the archipelago. But when she got there, Goodtimes said, she saw that the assignment was bogus and asked the tribe instead what they wanted her to do. They answered that they wanted to own the land they lived on. She set out to accomplish their request, and worked through two different regimes to obtain title to the land for the people, Goodtimes said.

“It was a stunning achievement,” he said.

During her time there, she learned the Ati language and had some amazing and life-changing experiences.

Friedberg returned to the United States and worked for the Forest Service, and soon had a daughter, Sarah. She then moved to Hood River, Ore., for another Forest Service gig. It was at a Rainbow Gathering in Oregon 15 years ago that she met Goodtimes. They began a romance, and she ended up moving to Norwood when they had a son, Gregorio. She later lived in and around Telluride when the couple separated, working at Society Turn Conoco and for Dave’s Mountain Tours.

Friedberg was very interested in Tibetan Buddhism and all colors of spirituality, Goodtimes said, and was a very independent spirit. She held dakini dances at her yurt in Norwood, loved to dance and was loving to all in her circle.

“She had a bit of gypsy in her blood,” he said. “She was a spiritual person who took eclectically from different religions … She lived life in a magical way which is hard to do in our society.”

Friedberg is survived by Goodtimes, her daughter Sara Mae Friedberg, son Gregorio Rainbow Osha', father Harold, brothers Bill and Bob and sister Jean Friedberg Ozler.

The Mary Friedberg Memorial Fund for the benefit of her children has been established at Alpine Bank.

Saying Goodbye to Mary Faery

Mary Ellen Friedberg

(1954-2012)

Mary and Art in front of the Sheridan Hotel, Telluride

Forgive the hiatus in this blog, but we lost Mary between Thanksgiving and the end of the Mayan Great Cycle of 26,000 years.

Here’s what the Katie Klingsporm of the Telluride Daily Planet wrote in the paper's 2012 Year in Review:

Mary Friedberg, a deeply spiritual woman and friend to many who lived in Telluride and Norwood for several years, passed away on Nov. 25 at her Wilson Mesa Home after battling cancer. She was 58. Friedberg, who was called Mary Faery by loved ones, was a mother and friend who is remembered as a deeply spiritual woman with a gypsy streak and boundless generosity.

Up Bear Creek / 22nov25012

Giving thanks for what we’ve been gifted

TURKEY DAY … The wild Turkey should have been the American animal totem, if we hadn’t been so enamored of military might that we chose the Eagle instead. But then we are a nation born in revolution. If it hadn’t been for military might, we might not exist as an independent nation. We might have stayed a British colony, part of the English Commonwealth, toasting a queen or king instead of sticking stubbornly to a Constitution that, for all its faults, upholds our Declaration of Independence with its championing of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness … Yes, the Electoral College is an anachronism unworthy of any modern democracy. Yes our winner-take-all elections often leave minorities (and always minor parties) disempowered. Traditions like the Senate’s filibustering allows the few to thwart the many … I love quoting President Obama, “We are an imperfect union.” But our job as citizens, as Jefferson would have admonished us, is to keep advocating for change, and to work towards “a more perfect union,” as Lincoln envisioned … We’ve done that in many ways. Ending slavery. Extending suffrage to women. More recently, legalizing gay marriage in some states. And in Colorado, even legalizing cannabis … These changes have been slow, and yet on the scale of human history amazingly swift. Race equality, like gender equality, isn’t achieved, but we’re working towards it, and we’re getting closer … This Thanksgiving there is a lot to be thankful for. Re-electing Obama may not have seemed so momentous or invigorating or even hopeful as his first campaign for office. But, in my mind, it’s far more important … I’m a Green. I have lots of disagreements with both political parties. But I voted for Obama this election. Yes, Dr. Jill Stein was far closer to what I truly believed. I think her GreenNew Deal was a far better road map for our future than what any of the other candidates offered, including Obama … But I also understand our clunky electoral system and its imperfect workings. There may have been 17 candidates running for president – but only two counted. And the Romney/Ryan vision of America, with its Reagan/Bush war-mongering foreign policy and its domestic war on the middle class, women, gays and drugs was not a very hopeful vision for my children -- from my perspective … As I’ve stated in this column previously, I’ve reserved criticizing Obama until his second term. One term presidents can’t change much. The next four years will really determine what Obama can do to change and improve this nation. That he won a second term shows me – a long-term thinker – that he got it. He understood that he needed to balance his supporters’ hope for change the first time around, with enough moderation to appeal to independents and allow him a second term. That’s the great secret to being successful in politics – thinking strategically … This term will be the time to criticize and agitate (as Jim Hightower would say) and see if we can move the national conversation towards a Greener vision of America, and the world.

Sec. Ken Salazar and Commissioner Pete McKay of Silverton

KEN SALAZAR … I know it wasn’t politically correct (threatening to punch out a journalist for ambushing him in a press conference) and it might have soured Ken’s chances for higher office, but maybe I’ve lived in Norwood too long or maybe it’s my deep Italian ancestry. As I’ve written in one of my poems, my neck keeps getting redder, even as I try to hold a green course forward through a blue county … I had to secretly admire Ken for losing his cool. How many times have I wanted to say exactly that after a public meeting? … Ken’s a true Westerner, not just because he continues to wear his cowboy hat in D.C., but because he sometimes lets his emotions get the best of his razor-sharp mind. Personally, I love both those aspects of him (and yes, he did apologize for the inappropriate behavior).

 

CANNABI-TOURISM … In these hard economic times, I think Telluride and San Miguel County have just been given an amazing economic opportunity (not without its perils but with great potential benefits) … If we can jump on setting up a reasonable licensing system, I could see San Miguel County becoming the Amsterdam of ski areas. Folks could flock from all over the country to come here to enjoy their recreational herb legally, while skiing our slopes and attending our summer season of festivals … San Miguel County was first in the state in percentage of voters approving Amendment 64 that regulates cannabis like alcohol (79%) -- followed by Pitkin (75%), Summit (69%), Gunnison (67%), Eagle (66.5%), Boulder (66%), Denver (65.9%), San Juan (65%) and Saguache (64%).

MOSHER EXPOSURE … I don’t know about you, but I’m upset with KOTO for yanking my favorite radio talk show off the air last month. I love Audrey and Erick and their banter. It’s radio with a little meat, some local color, and a great camaraderie … Every radio station has music. But only community radio has local talk show hosts who reflect the quirky, idiosyncratic, oddball humor and lifestyle of a place. It’s what made Telluride a mecca for the downwardly mobile in the Seventies … Have we gotten so upscale these days we can’t allow some diverse opinions and peculiar perspectives? Personally, I relish the show – it’s my kind of mustard on a great hot dog … Let our community station know how you feel. Bring back the Moshers.

THE TALKING GOURD

gifted

eating my hafiz of an avocado

you gave me after i

brought flowers

& we watched together

the pre-moon alpenglow on the waiting

peaks of Wilson Mesa’s overflow

that silky spiky cream green

beloved flavor, almost sweet

gift for gift

Up Bear Creek / 15nov25012

Singing the Blues

copyright Scripps Media, Inc. 2012

DOUBLE WHAMMY … As a newspaper columnist in Telluride since 1982 (30 years!), it was hard having to give up my freelance gig, at the same time my main job was in jeopardy. But I think the folks at the Watch wanted to be sure that my weekly opinions weren’t an unfair advantage in the election, and that was reasonable … Instead of a column, I did write letters to the editor (both paid and unpaid). But a lot of issues that I would have liked to have seen in print locally didn’t see the light of day. So, I’m grateful, now that the elections are behind us, that I’m able to resume Up Bear Creek.

BACK IN THE SADDLE … First of all, thanks to the citizens of San Miguel County for returning me to local elected office for a fifth time. With special thanks to those that worked on and contributed to my campaign, and those who voted Green locally this time around … Campaigning is tough in small communities. So many of the folks we call friends are not on the same political page as we are. And yet having real choices and going to the ballot box to reaffirm or oust elected officials is an important part of the democratic process in our country. I’ve long been an advocate for making the ballot box our term limits (a position this county has adopted). Elections become report card time … Greens have long pushed for Instant Runoff Voting – but Colorado statute doesn’t allow counties to use that system. With IRV (as the Town of Telluride has adopted as a home rule municipality), you vote your candidate choices in order of preference. Basically, it’s like having a run-off vote simultaneous with your first-vote, instead of afterwards. The calculations can get a little daunting, but the winner is always elected with the majority support of the citizens … As it was, once again I won office without gaining a majority vote, since in a three-way for commissioner in Colorado the one with the largest plurality wins. This time I got 42% of the votes cast county-wide – down 6 % from four years ago when I received 48% … Actually, checking comparisons from 2008 it was interesting that only 29 more people voted this time from four years ago in the District 3 Commissioner race (4,118 versus 4,089). Republican Kevin Kell scored the biggest increase by garnering 1000 votes this time (24%) versus Bill Wenger’s 813 votes (20%) in 2008. Democrat Dan Chancellor got 63 more votes (1375 / 33%) than Oak Smith did last time (1312 / 32%). And my numbers dropped from 1,964 to 1,743 (48% to 42%).

GETTING BLUER … Our local election results were only a small part of a larger picture in Colorado that saw our purple status moving into a deeper shade of blue. And nationally, it was a delight to see Obama win (and great to see the president take Colorado, where Gabe Lifton-Zoline, a local boy I got to mentor in politics back when he attended the Telluride School, managed Obama’s state campaign) … As the Watch has reported, the amazing Lynn Padgett won re-election in Ouray County against a concerted Republican push to unseat her. Lynn won Colorado Counties’ Commissioner of the Year award in 2011, and is one of the Western Slope’s brightest political lights. Let’s hope she aims even higher up the political chain next time … Montrose County remained its arch-conservative self, although Dems gave both White and Henderson a run for their money (the two were architects of an unsuccessful water grab that saw Montrose County try to claim water rights and build a reservoir on Zadra and Skalla ranches in San Miguel County) … However, things were different in San Juan and La Plata counties … San Juan has been a rock red county for decades, in spite of the efforts of Dem Pete McKay (my buddy and one third of what Gov. Ritter termed “the ponytail caucus”). Yet, Pete ran unopposed for a third term this year, and long-time colleague Terry Rhoades lost to Dem challenger Scott Fetchinheir (239 to 274) – giving San Juan County a Dem majority for the first time in recent memory … In another blue upset, Dem challenger and long-time oil & gas enviro activist Gwen Lachelt appears to have beaten incumbent Republican Kellie Hotter. Dem Julie Westendorff took the seat vacated by term-limited Dem Wally White (the other third of the “ponytail caucus”). That means, finally, La Plata County will have a majority of Dems in control. And Dem Mike McLachlan beat incumbent Repub J. Paul Brown for the 59^th State House seat – a district Telluride would be in, except for a state Supreme Court nix … Viva la Blue! … However, it wasn’t a blue landslide, as Dem Sal Pace lost to Repub Scott Tipton in the U.S. 3^rd Congressional District, and Joe Miklosi lost to Mike Coffman in the 6^th.

County by county vote on Cannabis Legalization in Colorado

CANNABIS LEGALIZED … When I was a Haight-Ashbury hippie, I thought legalization was right around the corner. And yet it took 30 more years before Colorado and Washington led the nation in turning around the archaic and unscientific prohibition of cannabis (“marijuana” is a racist nickname as popularized by the Hearst newspapers and now commonly adopted in the U.S. for a kind of plant that has been used medicinally and recreationally for thousands of years under dozens of names – I personally refuse to perpetuate the racist term, and prefer its scientific name) … Imagine what Telluride would be like as a resort town if alcohol was still outlawed? How wonderful that we’ve begun to dig ourselves out of the expensive and socially disastrous pit that cannabis prohibition has been.

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein speaking

FREE SPEECH SCANDAL … Without question, the Dems and Repubs ought to be ashamed that the Commission on Presidential Debates prevented Green presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein and her running mate Cheri Honkala from even entering Hofstra University for the second national presidential debate back in October, let alone participating. Stein and Honkala were arrested and handcuffed to a metal chair in a police warehouse in Long Island for eight hours, while Obama and Romney debated … It’s clear that a lot of foreign nations think our “free speech” laws are a joke, when the two major political parties are afraid to hold an open debate with all legitimate candidates and even have opponents arrested and handcuffed to keep them from speaking to a national audience … If you’re one of those that think our system of government is the best and most democratic in the world, think again … Gore wins the popular vote, and loses the presidency. The Supremes allow big money to pour unlimited funds into political campaigns. Stein tries to run as a Green, and is handcuffed to prevent her from debating with Dems and Repubs … Until America gets electoral reform, our version of democracy is truly a flawed system.

THE TALKING GOURD

San Miguel Election

Night Sky

contrails crisscross

pure cirrus

in streaked cacophony

against a deaf & dumb blue

all of it tinged orange

above the Abajos

Green Party State Co-Chair Re-Elected to a Fifth Term

This is an ad/poster that my daughter Iris Willow designed for my election campaign, along with a fetching photo by Carl Marcus. I took a break from my weekly column (Up Bear Creek) for a couple months after Shroomfest at the request of the publisher (being a weekly columnist was seen as too advantageous for me as a candidate). But I should be back in the writing saddle in a week or so.

And this is the campaign poster that my son Gorio Osha' created for me. We posted these around the county, although my Democratic opponent was a sign-maker by profession, so he had more and bigger signs for his campaign. Beth Kelly did a great decal, but the image is too big to post.

Anyway, we won. I got 42% (in 2008's three-way I got 49%), the Dem 33% (last time 31%) and the Repub 24% (last time 20%)

Post-Shroomfest12 Wrapup

Photo courtesy of Greg Sanchez (CMS past president)

In spite of the drought in most of the region, this year’s Telluride Mushroom Festival 2012, sponsored by the Telluride Institute, saw plentiful fungi of all kinds, as the heavily loaded identification tables in Elks Park demonstrated this past weekend.

One of my favorite edibles is looked on askance by many – Hawk’s Wing (Sarcodon imbricatus, formerly Hydnum imbricatum). As Wikipedia notes: “It is reported as edible but of poor quality in the United States by some sources, but as deliciously edible by others.^” Being in the latter camp, I felt wonderfully vindicated when a dish made of its toothy flesh won the Chefs Cook-off this year at the Wilkinson Library.

Sarcodon imbricatus on Lizard Head

We learned from flamboyant University of Wisconsin mycologist Tom Volk (both arms covered in rainbow-hued mycelial tattoos and sporting wildly dyed forelocks) that unbaked bread dough, taken in quantity, could make one drunk, thanks to its yeast content – yeast being a eukaryotic microorganism classified in the Kindom [sic] Fungi, with 1500 currently described species. We also got a hands-on lesson in manipulating yeast to make kombucha and mead from Ken Litchfield of Merritt College in Oakland, California.

Tom Volk

Ethnobotanist Kat Harrison traced the introduction of entheogenic shrooms into Western culture and then compared techniques of use from traditional Mazatec shamans in southern Mexico where she’s conducted years of enthnobotanic research to our own initiatory attempts to incorporate sacred visions into a post-industrial American society unscientifically fearful of anything psychedelic. A panel discussion of hallucinogenic mushrooms as medicine emphasized the growing body of scientific knowledge proving their value, from relieving cluster headaches to providing life-changing experiences of balanced wholeness with the universe.

Kat Harrison

Professional jazz singer Ruthie Ristich of Boston showed a film and gave a talk that acquainted us with the legendary East Coast mushroom guru Sam Ristich, her father, who charmed and tutored legions of mushroom seekers, including our own resident mycologist Gary Lincoff.

Chef Lisa Dahl serving hors d'ouevres

And Lincoff led a special Ophir foray up the Waterfall Canyon trail that culminated in a gourmet mushroom feast, prepared by amazing chef Lisa Dahl of Sedona’s Cucina Rustica, at Bob Kingsley’s spectacular OPUS Hut on the San Juan County side of Ophir Pass. It was my first time ever over Ophir Pass, made all the more thrilling by our driver’s announcement that he was running out of gas on the long climb up the San Miguel side. A friendly jeeper saved the day and gave us enough petrol to make it down safely.

John Major Jenkins

Maya scholar John Major Jenkins explained to us the origins of the Mayan Calendar long count in Izapa, Mexico – how it was tied to startling astronomic observations of the Sun’s conjunction with the center of the Milky Way galaxy and how it was clearly perceived by the Maya as a time of transformation, not a Christian apocalypse.

Myco-historian David Rose expounded on Mushrooms in Science Fiction, Daniel Winkler on Mushrooms in Tibet, and Fungi magazine editor/publisher Britt Bunyard on Mycorrhizatopia – Fungi as the Puppet Masters of the Universe.

Lecturers including a couple of teenagers – Devon Enke of La Veta on Oil-eating Mushrooms and Norwood’s Sklyer Hollinbeck sharing his paper on Myco-Remediation at the Missionary Ridge Fire near Durango. Maya Elson and her cohorts alerted us oldster fungophiles to a new developing group of Radical Mycologists who are marrying social activism to mycology and holding “convergences” around the country.

Attorney Brian Vicente of Sensible Colorado sought support for Amendment 64, the Regulate-Cannabis-Like-Alcohol Constitutional Amendment that will be up for consideration in Colorado’s November election. It’s a measure that makes good scientific and social sense, and I’m publicly a supporter along with Rep. Jared Polis and former Rep. Tom Tancredo (now there’s an unusual conjunction).

Anne Enke speaks at Sunday panel while Teresa Frank and Jo Norris look on

Jo Norris of Arizona’s Rim Institute gave a special workshop on Connecting to the Feminine in Shamanism, and the festival ended with a panel discussion by Norris, Marie Luna, Teresa Frank and Annie Enke on the relationship of plant and fungal allies to world consciousness.

But that’s only the things I got to see and hear. There were dozens of other lectures and workshops that I missed, as simultaneous events took place around town in the Palm Theatre, the Nugget Theatre, the Wilkinson Library, the Swede-Finn Hall, Elks Park, a County meeting room, various foray locations and even Smuggler Joe’s brewpub – where several tasty myco-medicinal brews were concocted especially for the festival.

Perhaps most memorable for me, I had the privilege and delight of leading the annual Shroomfest parade down Colorado Avenue on my birthday – a great way to turn 67. And after such a thought-provoking and ground-breaking festival, the Telluride Institute is already planning for an even better event next summer.

Riding the Amanitamobile (Photo by Sara Friedberg)

Up Bear Creek / 28jun25012

Remembering World War II

PAUL HOMER … I still haven’t seen The War, the seven-part documentary that premiered as a TV series about the American experience of World War II which has just been released on Blu_Ray. But I want to. For those of us 66 and 67-year-olds, conceived in that war but born in peace, we feel pulled in both directions. I find myself working for peace at home and abroad but consumed with curiosity for the inconceivable profligacy and abandon of the war experience … Accomplished Chicago barrister and consummate storyteller Paul Homer (One of the “Great Generation”) has written another collection of war-time stories sprinkled with poetry and funny tales. Memoirs and Lies & Collected Short Stories 2011 he calls it. The war stories take us into the action and the craziness (and even the humor) of things that happened in the European theater. A poem about hearing a rabbi chaplain speak about Hiroshima and the war’s end, embedded in a platoon of prose, is quite moving … The collection includes a number of short stories and classic Jewish tales. I loved the “Moscow Cat Circus” and “Twins” – a most amazing legal tangle that sounds, at least in part, autobiographical. But as Paul hints in the title – this is a mixture of memoir and lies in varying proportions. “Ants” seemed almost the ravings of a borderline psychopath. “Alfred at Rest” purports to be the diary of a very cruel man who gets his comeuppance … Homer is not afraid to explore the dark side. But he makes us laugh a lot. Highly recommended.

PLACERVILLE SCHOOLHOUSE … It was nice posing for a photo at the old Placerville one-room schoolhouse last week as the County closed on Downvalley’s historic icon. Kudos to Linda Luther for the County and Banks Brown for the Telluride School Board (the district owned the building, although the deed has long been lost) for making it happen. Downvalley’s Jerry Albin – the closest thing to a mayor that unincorporated Placerville has -- was there. He’d actually attended grade school in the building as a boy, before going to work for the mines ... County plans are to refurbish this historic landmark and make it usable for community groups again … I remember the commissioners meeting there in the Nineties and lovely Thanksgiving community dinners catalyzed by Pviller Jeannie Stewart. Not that things didn’t get heated there as well. Like the time the County Planning Commission denied the Gray Brothers of Olathe a logging permit or the public meeting I was chairing where two local citizens came close to fisticuffs and had to be separated)  … I think this is exactly the kind of project that citizens hoped to make possible with the County Open Space and Recreation fund. And important for Placer Valley to have it as a valuable community space.

ENERGY PIG … If you’ve not been following Confessions of an Energy Pig, you’ve missed the saga of my attempting to reduce my power usage by more than half. As a part-time bachelor & part-time single dad, the amount of energy I was using three years ago was way out of line for a household of one and a half persons … I know there’s a great program that Eco-Action (aka The New Community Coalition) has been promoting of energy audits, retrofits, etc. I’m just not the type that likes government coming into my house and monitoring my life. Besides, I knew I had some bad practices, reduplicative systems. I worked for a year or so to change those obvious energy drains, and for another year I’ve been publicly tracking the results in my energy bill -- the lag time between the promise of better energy practices and the actual savings payoff. It’s not THE answer, but it’s a simple thing we can all do to begin our personal carbon reduction amidst climate change … According to our cooperative power association (SMPA), in August of 25009 (ANAC) my total kilowatt hour (kWh) usage for the past 12 months had been 16,118 kWh. My May bill for this year shows a total annual kWh usage of 6,766 – a savings of 9,352 kWh or a reduction of 6.4 metric tons of carbon released into the atmosphere (SMPA’s electricity is mostly coal-based). My average monthly usage dropped from 1,343 kWh to 563 kWh … It still means I’m releasing 4.6 metric tons of carbon into the air each year just by utilizing cheap electricity, so it’s no time for complacency. There’s much more to be done. But maybe I’m not too bad of an energy pig, after all, just a wee porker – at least by U.S. standards.

PICKING CHERRIES… Folks call them pie cherries or sour cherries, and indeed they make the mouth pucker up, but I love their sour-sweet-juicy fruit. And this year it’s late June and I’m already harvesting ripe cherries at Cloud Acre. Even the birds weren’t ready for that bounty this early … The apple trees (Macintosh) are heavy with fruit, and (thanks to my irrigation runoff water) I even have a few plums on the tree my dad planted before he passed in 2008. Only the apricots are still playing understudy this season. But I can’t wait until their golden globes also appear in my harvest baskets.

THE TALKING GOURD

Soul on Fire

Venus just clears the

gray mountain edge,

barely ahead of the sun.

The morning star

blazes for a time

as the sky turns.

She rises along her arc,

growing ever dimmer

in the hidden sun’s surge.

A soul on fire.

-John Nizalowski

Grand Junction