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The writings and thoughts of Bill Elliott are not only vocalized, but can be found here in written form, too. Sample Voice File
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Bill Elliott posted on December 03, 1997 06:25  
| I found my Uncle Leon!!! |
| See... he wasn't really so much lost, as much as he was missing from our lives... he was hiding... he was rebelling from the toilings going on in his life, and when that happens, he usually just goes and hides. He likes his solitude... and he actually deserves it... you see, he is quite the special spirit... I mean, he has some very wonderful insights; some very wonderful works, which are results of his commitment to his own heart and goals. |
| Still... he was missing... He was not in touch with the family... He was SO very distant... yet, very near actually. I need to give you some backdrop, though... some history that led to this hiding of his... some, not much, of the bigger picture... to help you better understand.... why, for me, finding Leon was SO important... and in fact, very healing. |
| The day I found Leon, was a Wednesday... in the early Fall of 1997... but, it 'all' really started several years previous, in '92... when his mother passed away. She was not quite ready to go... had been having back problems, and was in the hospital to repair some damaged discs in her spine... and she never came back... I mean, she just didn't come back home... didn't' recover from the surgery... and it hit them all pretty hard... I mean, my Uncle Leon, my mother (Leon's older sister), and Terry (Leon's younger brother... and somehow, that very incident started some bickering amongst the 'kids'... see... they really didn't see it happening then, but this loss really caught them by surprise... and somehow, it caused them to strike out at each other... trying to express their feelings... sort through the emotions, and the loss... facing their own mortality, surely. But, they didn't really grow up in a home where feelings were expressed and shared openly.... typical American family, it seems anymore... Still, this all caught them off-guard... and Leon's defense was to hide... to seek solitude... But, even the bigger picture for Leon is that he has led a life of separation... of being alone, or at least "unattached".... no, not even really having an apartment, or much of a surrounding of possessions, as I now remember it... and as a little boy, I can still remember, that when Leon was around, it was a main event... because we never really knew where he was, or if he was alright... we just had to trust... and wait. |
| Please, do NOT misunderstand... Leon is "very" successful... and was, amongst so many of his acclaims, the Press Agent for the DOORS, and personal close friend of the late Jim Morrison... traveling all through Europe and America during the birth of the DOORS.... Still... Leon does love to be away... to seek refuge in a quiet "not for your knowledge" place... And, as I grew older, I was aware that one of these dear places for him was Solvang, in Southern California... north of the LA area about 60-odd miles... near the coast. As a little boy, this 'place' was always referred to as 'the Ranch', which was not 'his' ranch, but belonged to a dear friend of his who seemed to always take him in when he needed a place to rest... to hide... to grow... to heal. |
| And it was during his mother's passing, that he, again... seemed to just disappear... We never ever really saw him leave... it's just... after a few weeks, you'd notice he was not 'around' anymore... remember, he usually never 'had a place', or any real home. Sure, he stayed in places... but, typically staying over with friends, or even securing "house sitting" jobs... bouncing from place to place... and then, he'd show up again.... sometimes months later... sometimes longer... and it was in that very statement... that I was beginning to toil... to consider Leon's plight... wonder where this dear Uncle of mine was... |
| See, I had not seen or heard from Uncle Leon since the Fall of '92, just after Grandma has died... and, then... in the summer of '96, Uncle Terry (Leon's younger brother) also died... I was Terry's birthday present (we shared the same B-Day) and he was always telling my mother "she was just too cheap to get him a birthday present" that year. But, Uncle Terry and I were really good 'buds'... and he died... but, that is an entirely other blessed story to share. The thing, though, that was really stacking up on me, was that Leon didn't know this news... see... He REALLY hid this time... but, also... He and my mother were still at odds with each other... still angry over the loss of their mother... still bitter about the things that were said then... still hurting... not really knowing how to work through these problems they were having between themselves... and now, Terry was gone too... and Leon didn't know that. His baby brother had gone too, along with his mother... and that too would make Leon even the angrier... even the more hurt. Still... he needed to know...AND... I just haven't seen Leon in nearly 5 years by now... and it was now coming onto the Summer of '97... |
| I was, at the time, living in the San Francisco area, working in San Rafael for a major software developing firm there... I was on staff in the Technical Training department. We were forever holding seminar courses in various Trade Conferences around the country, and one of the annual conferences that year was being held in Los Angeles. In the Fall of '97... So... rather than fly down there, rent a car and carry all those additional expenses, I decided I wanted to drive my '74 Cadillac El Dorado (it's a convertible)... especially because, it was early Fall... and after the conference was completed... I was planning and hoping to do something I'd always wanted to do... drive along the California Coastline... in that big, magnificent CADI... I could NOT wait... |
| Well... the time did come, and I did drive the CADI to the conference in LA... and during the conference, I had a chance to visit with my mother and sisters, who all still lived in the Orange County area.... and in talking with Mom, about Leon... I began to think, and consider 'where' Leon was... and talking with Mom about missing him... not knowing where he was.... and even up until THAT week, talking there with my mother... I had only really known Leon's 'hiding place' as "the Ranch"... I did not know where this illusive ranch was located. Mom told me it was in Solvang, somewhere, just off the 101 highway, on the way back up the coastline... And I got to thinking, and considering how fun, and adventurous it'd be to see if I could find Leon.... to see if I could seek him out... |
| ...and that's where this story really starts... |
| When the conference was all completed on Tuesdayt, early Wednesday morning, I drove the two hours to Solvang, and just dumped into the downtown part of the city. It's a quaint little Dutch settlement, and very touristy. I went to the Information Center and struck up a conversation with Florice, who had lived there for 20+ years. She's heard of Leon, but really knew of him by his artist pseudonym, Prints Charming... See... Leon shoots photos, then mounts them and does a little art around them... also photographing things for calendars... He's been an artist ever since I knew him, and wouldn't know him any other way. Florice even called her husband at home, because I mentioned that Leon had a 'school of fine arts', which he called Barnard Institute. This sparked her memory, because she had an actual sweatshirt from his school (I only got a T-shirt!!)... and was calling her husband to see if it actually stated which city it was in (she was thinking the school was in a nearby city)... to no avail... her husband just couldn't find the Sweatshirt (Florice was then remembering they may have loaned it to one of their kids)... but!!! Her husband did remember Leon... and actually described him by some of his quirky characteristics. Wonderful!! I'm feeling close, and I just got into the city!! |
| I went into a couple of taverns and lunch places... and got some of the same responses.... ended up in a Leather Shop (I'm a fanatic for leather goods)... the ladies in there were quite helpful, and thought they remembered Leon but hadn't seen or heard from him in over a year. They remember seeing ads in the paper he'd run for his Prints Charming stuff, and directed me to the town newspaper.... and it REALLY gets good here.... I went into the paper's office, and all the folks there were very helpful. After only about ten minutes, I had all the office staff (five people) dragging up old paper-run books in search of one of his ads (looking for the phone number). We found it, and dialed it, but it just had a quick busy signal... must not have been in service. They ALL knew who he was, but no-one knew how to get in touch with him. They were making phone calls to nearby town papers, and connecting with all kinds of good leads, but.... ultimately... nothing!! |
| So... we were brainstorming as to HOW to find Leon, and one of the managers commented how he could remember that Leon would drive up in his little red car... and I interrupted him!! You see, I remembered (and shared the story with them) that he got that car during the making of the DOORS movie, by Oliver Stone!! Oliver Stone was making a movie about the DOORS and Jim Morrison. Now, you'll remember that Leon was a very close friend of Jim's, as well as the Press Agent for the Doors... So.... Oliver was using Leon as a Technical Advisor... but Leon has really NEVER had any transportation to speak of... he's an artist!! So... Leon got the little red Ford Festiva (he affectionately refers to it as his "Robert Red Ford") to provide him with some transportation back and forth... |
| I realized , with the sharing of this news from the manager at the paper, that Leon still had that little red car.... not something Leon really did much through his life... always moving on, it seemed. We laughed about that, and they were finally starting to believe some of the oddities in Leon's wacky little life. Well... With the newspaper staff's encouragement, I resolved to running my own ad in the paper... "Leon Barnard, call Bill Elliott, your nephew (123) 456-7890"... and left. |
| One last time, I went by the information booth to tell Florice about the adventures, as well as let her know the outcomes.... she was about to tell me to go the paper and place and ad... so we were on the same 'wave length' at least!! So.... I uncovered the CADI, drove away from the downtown, and out onto the main drag... discouraged.. feeling SO close.. yet, coming up empty... and now, waiting on a lonely little ad, in such a lonely little town... a town that hadn't seen Leon in at least 12 months... By now, it was 3:45p, and I really needed to think about pointing the old beast homeward. I was just outside the town limits, and getting up to highway speed... A group of cars was coming toward me (as they would on any other highway), and I curiously wondered to myself if any of them would be Leon's little red... would THAT be TOO cool or what.. I mean... after ALL that searching I did... |
| ... and then... |
| I noticed that one of the cars in the pack of cars coming towards me... WAS a little red car.... and it only had ONE driver... could it be.... NO.... could it REALLY be??? |
| Well... you know darn-straight that as we passed each other (now approaching 50mph), I was cranking my head to see... and dog-gone if it didn't look JUST like Leon!! Wow.... I found the quickest place to bring the big-blue-beast around and went SPEEDING after him!! By now, though... numerous cars, and a few semi's had gotten between us (remember, he was driving in a pack of other cars). Well... I ran the two red lights that little town had... and finally caught up to what I thought was 'Leon' about a mile outside of town (on the other side)... He was turning into a ritzy neighborhood, and I turned right in after him.... honked the horn (and man, that CADI's horn is noisy!)... gesturing for him to pull over... I pulled alongside that dinky little red car with my HUGE blue CADI (top was down) and ever so smartly stated "Uncle Leon... It's Bill Elliott!!". What a total gas!! To actually find Leon by 'accident'!! I later learned that he hasn't been in the Solvang area since last November (1996)!! He has been back for the last two weeks, and was only house sitting nearby for friend vacationers... that day (Wednesday) was his last day in the area!! He was actually on his way to the house to get his personal belongings because the owners were on there way home!! And he (Leon) was leaving the little Solvang one last time... probably for quite some time... |
| Killer timing!! Regrettably... he didn't know that his younger brother (Terry) had died the previous year... and now it was all making sense... Terry died in November, and Leon, not knowing this, began experiencing a lot of stress and strain in his life... so he left! He does that... just goes away... No one ever really knows where... he just goes. Only at that time.... he found himself hiding from his very own hiding place... having his own place of solitude surrounding him... captivating him, and leaving him SO troubled... so... he even left THAT place!! And I just happened to catch him... happened to be 'there'.... happened to be moved by the Spirit within me.... happened to be following that special leading we all get to follow when we are surrendered to His will. |
| So... We talked for about 1-1/2 hours... then exchanged numbers and mailing stuff... and I was off... totally thrilled, and very happy!! |
| And, I 'did' stay in touch with Leon after that... I had his cell number.... and could now reach him 'anytime' I needed too... and we kept in 'constant' touch... But, even with that... it was almost the summer of 2000 before Leon and my mother began to talk and work on resolving their struggles... So... It is SO nice to have Leon 'back'! With the advent of the Internet, and technological advances, I plan to NOT lose him again!! Although... he IS an illusive person, when needed... so, I am always thankful for the times I do get to hear from him... |
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