Dick and Dan from Toronto do occasionally cross my mind. We spent a lot of time together. I wonder about how their lives turned out. What they went on to accomplish? Both were dedicated to the cause they followed at that time in their lives, but then again...so was I, then. Maybe they just did what a lot of us did and that was to just put the whole affair to rest. I suspect such a reason as accounting for the lack of first hand writings such as this one from others who were a part of it. A lot of us just don't want to relive it. Not that it can even begin to compare with the horrors of the men who went to Vietnam and fought must relive, nonetheless it still comes with it's own ghosts.

One thing that I have discovered from all of this is that it's a lot harder than one thinks to piece together a portion of your past. Even one of the most memorable portions. Names get mixed up and dates get completely befuddling at times, faces start to blur, you can't quite ever see them clearly anymore. Maybe it's all just nature's way of cleaning out our "Favorites" file? Nonetheless, there are a couple of fellow resisters and one or two "civilians" whom I fondly recall once in awhile. They weren't members of The Council, just personal acquaintences.

Bob Ryskewicz was an outstandingly tasteful guitarist originally from Connecticut, I believe it was. Bob was an incredible exception to the rule when it came to resister's families not supporting a lot of their sons in their decision to resist the war and move to Canada. When Bob decided to do just that, his family packed up everyhing and moved right along with him. His mother and father and his sister just up and followed him to Montreal. I met them several times and they were truly remarkable people. Bob was an incredibly fortunate man in that regard but then Bob was far from your sterotypical draft resister. By vocation he was a stock broker. He played music semi-professionally and he and I worked together in several bands. When we last spoke which was maybe eleven or twelve years ago, he was a vice president at Polydor Records Canada.

Jesse Winchester was probably the most famous draft resister that resided in Canada. When I met him he was literally teetering on the verge of stardom. Bob Dylan's manager had just signed him and Todd Rundgren was due to produce his next album. His previous album had been produced by Robbie Robertson from The Band. He and I met as musicians and I ended up working with him on a few occasions. Our meeting had nothing to do with The Council. Jesse had at one point, when he first arrived in Montreal, been involved with some of the earlier ad-hoc war resistance groups that existed then however he no longer had any involvement with any of us on that level. Some believed it was because his career was rapidly on the rise. I personally don't believe that that was the reason at all though it was certainly well rumored that Albert Grossman, his new manager, had suggested that Jesse distance himself from the entire Vietnam issue in an effort to win acceptance for his records back home in the U.S. I believe Jesse's decision to distance himself from all of us was not actually a decision at all. Jesse wasn't big on making decisions. Jesse was a great guy to be around...sometimes. At one point however his drug use got so severe that no one could deal with it anymore. He literally became a hermit at more than one point, sending out for food, booze and drugs and not necessarily in that order. Eventually his wife and he split up and it finally took its toll on his musical career as well. And though his songwriting career would continue to flourish he himself was left lingering on that hazy plateau of, "could've been a giant". Sad, but somehow I think he's comfortable there. I see him on television about once a year so I guess he's still got that angel looking after him.

There was a young girl who worked as a counseler with us for a while, for the life of me I can't remember her last name. Her first name was Nina. (There is a photo of she and I together in a February 1973 issue of Time Magazine.) I believe Nina was from New York. I never understood fully how she came to be a part of The Council, she just showed up one day, a college student full of vim and vitality and bent on being a part of the "movement". She was feisty and headstrong, intelligent and determined and though she openly supported the burgeoning "Women's Lib Movement" of the day, unlike so many others, she managed all the while to maintain her femininity. She was simply one of those people from your past, that you would liked to have known in your future. Anyway, I do on occasion wonder about Nina. We had a good relationship but we were never really close enough to get to know one another.