The Man and the Mountain

May 17, 2020

Hello friends!

May 18th, marks the 40th anniversary of Mt. St. Helen’s massive eruption. Forty years…yet I remember it vividly! We stood outside in the street that Sunday, watching the plume mushroom as if an atomic bomb had exploded, in awe at the sheer magnitude nature wrought! It wasn’t as if we weren’t warned, but it seemed to us a long time coming…There were a multitude of  volcanic seismic events-for years-building up to the fateful day. It was a relief to have it finally blow it’s top!

Mike was obsessed with the impending eruption, from the first alerts from geologists, and keenly followed every story, especially of Harry Truman. Harry was keeper of the Mt. St. Helens Lodge and obstinately refused to budge from his “guard post”, no matter the threats of impending doom should he stay. He said that he would rather die than leave…and it was the mountain that buried him in it’s bosom.

Mike worked feverishly on the song all night and sang it for us the very next morning. It was typical of his compositional MO if he was impassioned with an idea for a song. You Ukulele Mike Lynch followers were the beneficiaries of his passion for arranging. It was the same for anything he composed, whether for the ukulele, Native American flute, violin or his many liturgical compositions for congregational singing.

He rolled it out to his classes that week and his students sang it for the closing concert just a few weeks later. It became a favorite; students looked forward to bringing it out every spring…and many, returning to visit, reminisced with their old music teacher about Harry and his mountain.

Although this blog is All Things Ukulele, I hope you will allow me the latitude to re-post this song, posted by Mike on the 30 year anniversary…It weaves a story worthy of retelling-especially around a campfire! click to listen and view The Man and the Mountain.

Mahalo Nui Loa!

Collene