In Memoriam: Abbott Fay, 1926-2009

by Elliot Jackson

I confess it: I am a print addict. A print junkie, if truth be told. I have been known to while away the time conning the labels on Kraft Mac & Cheese boxes, if no other reading material was available. This addiction is one among others that I inherited from my father, a man for whom the unfortunately hackneyed phrase, “a gentleman and a scholar,” might have been coined. A history scholar, to be precise, who, in his many years of teaching at the secondary and college levels, managed to inspire students with his particular combination of humor, rigor, and tartly compassionate appreciation for their pranks and growing pains.

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Some rules for Western Living

Letter from Abbott Fay

Code of the West – April 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine

Ed and Martha:

There was a sort of Code of the West.

1) Leave cabins unlocked and stocked with food. Recipient is bound to clean up and eventually re-stock.

2) Never take a pair of skis or snowshoes left at a trailhead in case someone needs to reach campers or workers. It’s like stealing a horse.

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