RIP Anna Missed
(detail, small)
by anna missed
(detail, bigger - 170 kb)
(full view - 170 kb)
Today I learned that old time Moon of Alabama commentator anna missed, also known as Jack Chevalier, has died two weeks ago on April 1. Jack was an artist who lived on an island near Seattle. Jack contributed a lot to our discussions about war the Bush gang waged on Iraq. He had been in Vietnam and could relate the ground reality.
In the early years of this blog I often posted art sent to me by some of the commentators. We all knew each other (virtually) from Billmon's Whiskey Bar and were a small but quite tight community.
There were a number of paintings and photos by anna missed and by beq, photos by b real, poems by rememberinggiap and ceramics by annie posted here. Most can be found under the Barfly Art category.
The one below is a gift anna missed sent to me back then. It's an oil painting on a thick piece of raw wood with small glass pellets sprinkled into it.
2008
9"x 16"x 1"
oil paint and glass pellets on wood
by anna missed
bigger
I had to convince the custom officer that I was practically worthless to avoid duties. It has since been hanging in my living room. (Beq - the picture you gave me is hanging in my hallway.)
Other works by anna missed can be found at his dormant blog and at the Linda Hodges Gallery where he had many exhibitions.
I for one will miss him.
Posted by b on April 14, 2021 at 18:07 UTC | Permalink
My condolences. A very talented person. Sorry for your loss.
Posted by: Treehill | Apr 14 2021 18:44 utc | 3
Stunning, just stunning art also on the linked Art Gallery website.
Though the whiskeybar was before my time, and i did not know him, i can sympathize with you B. on the feelings you must feel now.
We all grow older, see people we care about leave us, and face death ourselves. Sometimes only barely avoiding it, until the end does not let one escape anymore.
Still, as long as we live we should live with purpose and the spirit to fight and give what we have for that purpose. Even if it hurts. Fear, Angst and depression about what is inevitable is the enemy of life.
As i learned myself again and again.
Posted by: DontBelieveEitherPr. | Apr 14 2021 18:53 utc | 4
damn
as we get older this stuff happens more often. but it doesn't get easier.
my condolences to his friends and family.
dan
Posted by: dan of steele | Apr 14 2021 19:25 utc | 5
Condolences, B. We don't just lose the person with someone like anna missed. We lose their experience and their moral authority in describing and opposing war.
Posted by: NoOneYouKnow | Apr 14 2021 19:29 utc | 6
Thanks for notifying us b. Glad to see you're still with us dan. Hard to believe this blog has been around for that long and still attracts commenters from the beginners. I'm sure anna missed's spirit appreciates you still being here b, I know I do.
Posted by: juannie | Apr 14 2021 23:13 utc | 8
RIP anna missed / Jack Chevalier. A contributor in word and art.
Posted by: fx | Apr 14 2021 23:20 utc | 9
So sorry to hear of anna missed's death, I regret we hear so little of the original contributors to the Whisky Bar and the early days of Moon nowadays. Doubtless some will have died as anna missed did, tho most are likely to have simply moved on. The comments were much less prolific but more imo heartfelt because of that. Less ideology and more truely felt opinions. Still we all change as we move on, us as well as this blog.
Posted by: Debsisdead | Apr 15 2021 0:01 utc | 10
Oh no. Oh no. what a beautiful compassionate man. anna missed, a brilliant thinker and talented artist. I had the pleasure of visiting Jack and meeting his gorgeous wife (his muse) and daughter years ago on Vashon, it was such a magical place, his home, a cottage he built, so warm inside. just holding a post card of his art the other day thinking of him and the very tiny outside shed in which he painted such moving emotional art.
rest in peace anna missed, you'll always be a part of us.
thank you b, i'll call beq.
Posted by: annie | Apr 15 2021 1:24 utc | 11
Thanks, annie. I remember writing an email to b way back near the beginning of MOA because I was a blog rookie and I was worried about computer viruses. He assured me that it was safe and said, "write something; I'll post it." I am so not a writer and I told him I painted so he said, "Send me pictures and I'll post them". A bit later annamissed asked me about art at MOA and I encouraged him to send his artwork to b. He enriched the Moon with every offering that he shared with us. We will always miss you annamissed.
Posted by: beq | Apr 15 2021 1:43 utc | 12
I'd like to sit in on the conversation when annamissed and fauxreal reconnect.
Posted by: beq | Apr 15 2021 1:45 utc | 13
I found out just a week ago
such a profound loss
all who knew him coud feels & man of. great goodness who had witnessed too much, too early
his art is magisterial
jack touched us as all the others who make this connections & who in their way construct communities of resistance
it is you b tho who nourished us in a healthy & critical way
love r'giap christopher
Posted by: rememberinggiap | Apr 15 2021 2:15 utc | 14
Sorry for your loss. Nice write up on your friend and appreciated the links to his art and blog. What happens to old blogs when people are no longer around to keep them up? To lose them would be a shame.
Posted by: mpn | Apr 15 2021 3:53 utc | 15
Seems you did quite a bit of reflection during your recent 'holiday' from MoA, b.
I haven't read much of what Anna Missed had to say on the www and can't remember where, but I do remember that her comments were brief and thoughtful.
If Voluntary Euthanasia wasn't so vehemently and PROFITABLY opposed by pseudo-Christian Capitalist Privatisers, I reckon that April 1st would be the most popular day for people choosing the time of their own Departure.
If the helicopter pic is a painting, it's an effing good one (excuse my French).
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Apr 15 2021 4:08 utc | 16
I mourn the passing of artists and creators as much as I mourn the passing of an online community I once participated in. turns out when it comes to blogs I once valued, covid is quite deadly.
i've been scrolling through "his dormant blog" b linked to. i've visited it randomly throughout the years and every time it impacts me differently. but specific in Jack's art is realistic-ness of war. especially the 2nd page, "the wave goodbye".
"dear in the headlights" "reconfiguring serfdom" "the sower" "whiching hour" "alakshmi ayn (mirror)" they are all brilliant. his recreations (memories?)of war are timeless.
Posted by: annie | Apr 15 2021 4:51 utc | 18
Thanks for sharing the sad news of Jack's passing B. I fondly remember his years of being a regular at MoA.
Were following each other on Twitter, and about a year ago when we were reminiscing about the olden days he wrote: "Still read b regularly and the new crowd is also very good, and numerous."
Here is to a life well lived. Hope he is off to new adventures in this eternal universe.
Posted by: Juan Moment | Apr 15 2021 6:06 utc | 19
There are signs...
Last night, out of respect for a missing loved one, I was rereading some of his 2004 contributions, Iraq.
I just found this one.
A bit like that species of spider, that forms a little air bubble around itself, so it can descend to the bottom of the pond to feed.The project of lobotomizing Iraq into a lassiez-faire capitalist democracy, stands about the same chance as making lassiez-faire American capitalists into tribal Muslims.
Zero
Posted by: anna missed | Sep 13 2004 17:51 utc | 11
Posted by: Bernard F. | Apr 15 2021 9:13 utc | 20
sure is nice to see the usual suspects around here and a pleasant surprise to see rememberinggiap's post...hope you are well.
I come here every day. don't post so much because until about a year ago I needed to maintain a security clearance and the conversations that go on in this bar are not all seen as benign by my previous overlords.
of course that is only an excuse for not really having anything to say that hasn't already been expressed much more eloquently by someone else.
big shoutout to Beq, annie, fauxreal, Hamburger, a swedish kind of death, Hannah K. O'Luthon, Maxcrat, Malooga, blackie, Uncle $cam and Lizard. ITo those I missed, please forgive me, I am getting old after all.
Posted by: dan of steele | Apr 15 2021 11:11 utc | 21
That's a painting with meaning that doesn't need interpretation!
Posted by: Justin Carty | Apr 15 2021 11:44 utc | 22
My commiserations, b. It hurts when we lose old friends.
Nice to see some old names. I was going to ask about r'giap but I see he's here. Hello!
All we need now is for a special performance from Billmon calling r'giap the fruitloop!
Be well everybody.
Posted by: John Cleary | Apr 15 2021 13:21 utc | 23
Very sorry to read that we have lost Anna Missed. I remember his powerful contributions here back in the earlier days, and his fascinating explorations of a wide range of topics.
Greetings to all you old barfly comrades!
Posted by: Maxcrat | Apr 15 2021 13:28 utc | 24
Sad, so sad. Annamissed was great. Sorry to hear of his death. Also the reminder of the early day of MOA hit me hard. I check in here from time to time but no longer post.
r’giap, I wondered about you as well. dan of steele, glad to hear you are doing good.
andrea black 140 at hotmail dot com (no spaces)
(blackie, tangerine and noirette, i changed names..over the years…) Very best of wishes to all.
Posted by: Noirette | Apr 15 2021 18:04 utc | 25
@21 dan of steele, sadly, fauxreal left us several years ago.
Posted by: beq | Apr 15 2021 19:39 utc | 26
This is terrible news and I am saddened to hear that anna missed has died. There was compassion and genius in his works of art.
Anna missed, the memory of his images and his words, and the generosity of true artists always brings the early days of this bar to mind. Great people have come through this place; and I feel honored to have known them, to have written posts at the same moments along with them. On this thread I see so many writers I remember from that time and my heart goes out to all of you.
I am so torn about our dear friend passing.
As a reminder of the community this was, I searched for him in a few pages of the Moon from 2005. I am so happy to see how committed he was, we were, the experiences, opinions and research are spot-on, scary, topical and funny -- just as the best of today's comments are.
I can't even try to list the many friends and mentors I have found on this site over the last decade and more since Bernhard began this beacon of hope in threatening times, taking the baton from Billmon and having the courage to continue those conversations.
We were nervous about Internet watchdogs, where the world was going after Shock and Awe invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, renditions, torture and total power exercised by our governments. We also posted truth against lies.
It is quite amazing to watch this evolve and be able to look in the rearview mirror as well. All postings on the Moon can be searched on Google by using this:
site:moonofalabama.org anna missed
You can put any text or poster's name instead of anna missed, who always signed in lower case.
To my cherished friends, heartfelt thanks for posting today. You know what it's like to not hear from someone, you worry that they are still around.
To anna missed, I'm sorry I never got to your gallery shows. Thank you for sharing your art with us, it clearly, clearly comes from the heart of your experience and wisdom.
tendresse
Posted by: jonku | Apr 16 2021 2:44 utc | 28
big shout out to everybody. good to see you all. thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Posted by: annie | Apr 16 2021 12:07 utc | 29
Sad news. The artwork anna missed gave to b is especially emotional, inspiring and relevant today as back then.
Good to see so many old barflies with their remembrances. I need to keep in closer touch.
Posted by: Rick Happ | Apr 16 2021 13:00 utc | 30
A great artist...visionary....a profound loss..my sincere condolences to family and those close
Posted by: Philip Rees | Apr 18 2021 18:19 utc | 31
sad to hear of the departures of anna missed and fauxreal - those were distinct voices from a cherished era. anna missed’s artwork was always impressive and his insights astute. a talented soul indeed.
Posted by: b real | Apr 19 2021 12:00 utc | 32
The comments to this entry are closed.
thanks b... i am sorry people die and have to go, especially people are love and are attached to...
that picture at the top is of travelling on a ferry between the islands and seattle, or just between the islands.. i have been on those ferries and always enjoy ferry rides.. there are many of these small ferries here on the b.c. coast where i live.. that picture at the top is from an older one.. trivia, i know..
Posted by: james | Apr 14 2021 18:16 utc | 1