A Eulogy for Uncle Russ

There’s humor in every thing…

That’s one of the first Russ Truisms I heard throughout my life and thought it curiously apt for such a day. The first time I heard it, I was riding shotgun in that old Thunderbird of his. The T-Bird, “It’s got eyeballs” Russ would say in that unmistakable voice.

And what a voice. Call it what you will — be it Gravelly or Gruff, a Tom Waitsian twang, a Wolfman Jack Jive, or even a river-bottom-scraping rasp — if you were on the other end of it, whether it was good news or bad, whether he was poking fun or singing your praises, it was warm and good and most of all, made you feel welcome. I mean, Russ could tell you your truck had four flat tires but make it feel like he was inviting you to a party.

There’s humor in every thing…

Of course, today it feels like our world just got less funny, less bright. We have a man here, who made our worlds fuller and simply more fun to be in. And no mistaking it, he was indeed a great man by all accounts: Russ was a terrific husband and father; he served his country; he was professional success, an entrepreneur and admired by his peers; he had dozens of good friends; he died with a giant loving family around him; he spread only love and the hand of friendship to folks; he had an open mind and an open heart for even the funniest looking strangers; he was an accomplished and prolific artist, be it through music (he sang for huge audiences, he played the dulcimer, the harmonica), photography or, um, gardening. He could forgive; Russ always worked toward reconciliation. And he did all of this his way always staying true to himself, true to the Russ Campbell style. No guidebooks, no conformity, no getting in line behind the other guy.

But what I loved the best about Russ and ultimately what I’m jealous and covetous of  — and only because I still haven’t figured out how to do it as well as he did (and I’ll probably die trying)  — is he could be at once wild and responsible, at once reckless and grounded. He may be hootin’ and howlin’, giggling and surely weaving, but he always roared down the right path, finding the humor in even its darkest turns. By his example — not his words or his commands — he led many of down that same path. 

And still while on this path, and at one particular spot, he had a tendency to get in the way of some fast moving vehicles.

TWICE.

There’s humor in every thing…

Of course, our bane, our curse, is we now how have to live in a world without Russ Campbell. Ooof. But from what we know of the man, he wants all of us to keep having fun, and promoting love; he wants us all to be a little reckless, a little wild as we peel down the path.

To gather the strength to do this, to live without Russ, I’ve been thinking back to that day riding shotgun in that old T-BIRD. Maybe it will help you, too. I was a little kid and having a rough day and he took me on a long drive around town and he leaned over and looked at me and said in that voice,

“MIGUEL, whenever I get down I just try to remember: There’s humor in every fucking thing, you just need to look for it, and you’ll find it. Sometimes, it’s the only thing that’ll pull you through those tougher times.”