Monday July 19, 2021
Dear Chautauqua friends,
I am thinking of my old friend Reid Huntley who is seeing his last days not here at the Mayflower House where he and I always spent our yearly visit, but at his home in Columbus, OH where an unwanted visitor has invaded his life - cancer.
He spoke of this place so affectionately as his 'Mecca' and invited me to share the adventure these past 22 years. Our friendship goes back more than 60 years when we worked together in college ministry at Denver University.
He's a gregarious guy and you may remember him as the special prankster who treated everyone to watermelon and engaging stories. He has an engaging intensity that is hard to miss in the crowd. In his early years here he took pictures of everyone and sent them along later with good memories from the Mayflower dining room. One summer he fell from a wall near the Amphitheater while taking photos of the concert crowd. He liked getting great shots of performers and potentates and got lots of warnings about being "too intrusive," but shyness was not a burden for him.
This place was something of a playground for Rev./Dr./Professor Reid - a place where he could expand and exercise his playful self.
I could not keep up with his energy, but we got along fine with each of us following our own inclinations while here for those summer weeks. I miss him badly just now. Hopefully, I will get to visit him at home and carry good wishes his way in his final days.
John Woodmansee
Editor's note: Reid Huntley died on July 23, 2021