Geoffrey MacLean

(20 June XLI/2006)

it is with heavy heart indeed that i pass on the news of the passing of jeff wilson / geoffrey maclean, as he has fallen in battle against the dread cancer.

i will miss him greatly. -dd HL Sylverstone the Traveller

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Thoughts from a fellow Sergeant.

He was a fighter - a Sergeant - a Squire.
He was a lover - you saw it in his eyes when he looked at Patti.
He was a friend - by lending a hand, an ear, or a shoulder to lean on.

He made you smile - with a song, a smile, a laugh.
He made you think - with his ideas, his knowledge, his teaching.
He made you duck - from an axe blow, or a sword, or a spear.

He thought big - with his gur, his pavilion, his castle.
He gave his time - at work week, on retinue, just about anywhere.
He was Geoff - The Baron, The Bard, My Friend.

God bless you Geoffrey - I will raise a toast to you.

Sergeant Cyneric Bearson of the Clan McBean

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Geoffrey Maclean was one of those larger than life types that find a true home in the SCA. The Clinton Castle , Bath houses and Showers are amongst his legacies. So however were the nightly parties at his encampment all through work week. Clinton work week will go on but it can never be the same. Rest well my friend.

In sorrow and grief

HL Sargeant Yeoman Gallant Colin Mackay of Balmaghie

(in reply to a query as to how Geoffrey died):

Cancer of the Kidney. A number of us have known for quite some time that the prognosis was grim, but Geoff fought as long and as hard as he could. He had hoped to be well enough to make Clinton work week and war and was apparently concerned that a motorised scooter would be out of place and sought permission from Mistress Maelen to ride that during Clinton! That was the true sprit of the man, more concerned about others than himself even on the most trivial of matters even at the grimmest of times.

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my friends

As many of you have heard, Geoffrey MacLean lost his battle with cancer. It is a very sad time for Lions Gate and we will be respecting him as his family wishes. There will be a memorial held him.

Lions Gate has lost a friend, for he would give up his right arm for you.

Lions Gate has lost a sergeant, and he was Aurora's first.

Lions Gate has lost a piller, someone who not only built, but could be the foundation on which you built things.

Geoff didn't merely befriend you, he challenged you, he made you think, he pushed the traditional limits to find out how far we as a group could go. There are people in the SCA who blindly follow, and Geoff was never one of those - and the SCA was the better for it.

and now we his passing we are poorer.

Devin
Baron of Lions Gate

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(20 June 2006)

Last night, after Geoffrey had passed, Davin and Banjo were talking about building a bridge at the Clinton site (with permission from the site owners, of course) wherein all of Geoffrey's friends would bring in a slab of granite to contribute to the memorial. I don't know if this idea will come to fruition, but I thought it sounded cool. I'll see if I can find out more from Banjo.

And, of course, a party/wake is a great idea.

I'll miss the Captain of my Guard. He did so much for Davin and I, both in the SCA and out of it. And Patti...what a brave, beautiful girl she is. Her strength astounds me. And Cornelius, a kind of second father at Geoffrey's bedside, it broke my heart to see him lose a second squire. But there was also something amazing and wonderful about his steadfast vigil at Geoffrey's side, where I saw the bonds of fealty and friendship blur into something transcendent.

Forgive me. I'm not articulating my thoughts well.

I'll miss Geoffrey.

Groa

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I am thoroughly lost for words. This year's An Tir/West war would have been the 21st anniversary of meeting Geoffrey Maclean. He and I drifted together, apart, together... you get the idea. We never lost touch. We fought both with and against each other both in the SCA and out in the mundane world. Several times I had difficult and probably dangerous tasks to perform in a professional capacity and not once did he even hesitate. He's a good friend and I miss him.

Cairbre

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Geoffrey MacLean was newest Captain of the Queen's Guard, when he leaned into me at Twelfth Night and said, Hey, wanna be a guard? He must've been reassured (or appalled) by my delighted grin.

That marked the beginning of our friendship.

For the Queen's Guard for that reign, Geoffrey made these fabulous braided leather baldrics, and we all wore them proudly--and he, just as proudly, donated to the Kingdom to be used in other reigns. Turns out that he could make just about anything, using any number of materials--things like tents and castles and rooms and beds and leatherwork of all sorts. He built a household, full of fun-loving, amazingly-talented people. He built relationships and friendships that inevitably withstood the test of time. He believed in leaving legacies (like gers and bridges and songs) so that the world might become a better place.

He was one of those knights-in-shining-armour that helped me that memorable Snow Crown, when I drove a new-to-me trailer and blew out *three* tires. He was my lifeliine and sanity when I got stranded on the road, miles away from anywhere. Got us to safety, got us to where I could get someone to repair the tire(s), got us back on the road and on our way to the event. (My girls

• still* talk about that...)

Geoffrey was talented. Loved music. Loved to play his guitar and sing ballads. Loved to sit around a fire, relaxing with friends, after a long day of service (whether on retinue, at Clinton, or working on projects).

Geoffrey was amazing. He knew everyone, and if he didn't know them, he knew someone who did. He knew where booze could be found at the end of a day, or propane for heat or light in the dead of night. He knew where tools could be found--even tools not his own. He could find *any*thing, if the need was there. If someone needed a hand, Geoff would wade in, fix/repair/remove/whatever, and inevitably would leave a situation better than he found it.

Geoffrey loved to laugh, and loved nothing better than sitting around, telling stories, laughing that great belly laugh of his. We could stand behind the thrones, doing the proper retinue thing, and could tell there was foolishness or a joke making the rounds because of Geoffrey's quietly evil chuckle.

A strong man, with strong opinions. One might even call him a tad colorful.

 Didn't always agree with him, but I always listened.  Didn't always 

understand his point of view, but I respected it, nonetheless.

A couple of years back, Steffano made him a Saint. Wouldn't ya know--Steffano was right.

Finally, Geoffrey had a Lady. She was the best thing in his life. He was a strong man, with strong opinons and convictions and a strong love for this amazing woman. As incredible as Geoffrey was, Patti was his inspiration.

Geoffrey/Jeff was chivalric and strong and honorable and loving. Constant and true, a good man, a great friend, a strong Squire, a stalwart Sergeant--he was among the best and brightest AnTir could boast of. He had everything going for him, except time.

And it's our loss. He's gone for the nonce, but not in the slightest degree forgotten.

Here, then: To absent friends: His Excellency, Baron Geoffrey MacLean, aka Jeff Wilson.

Laurin

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I got asked today what Geoffrey was like by a mundane. So I used the only reference I could think of. I described him, specifically his music, as being like John Lennon. Something that brought people together, no matter where they came from.

See, many years ago, at a Clinton, he was teaching a bohram class and I took it.

Years later, while I was labouring, I had a CD with "Steffano's Wake" as the last song I listened to before we went into the hospital. It ended just as we pulled up. We forgot to bring the CD in.

When our son was just a few weeks old, I asked [Geoffrey] to sing it and why and he made light fun of "not wanting to know about it." I don't think he realized how his song helped me get through. I was able to disappear into the song instead of into the pain. And he had fun with that rendition, mocking Steffano while singing it. Everyone laughed. My son slept.

And I'll be damned if I haven't been able to get that song out of my head all day!

Aeric was shocked when he got the news from me, to say the least. I was in tears when I had it confirmed.

Gorram it. I'll miss his music!

Lady Yolanda de Guelph MI Artiste of Gryphonshold

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May I one day have the ability to put people at ease like Jeff could, and the strength to be an unconditional, patient friend to others the way Jeff was to Nick and me.

Early this spring, as the news of Jeff's illness sank through us, we prepared for the long winter that is watching the health of a friend change course. His cancer slipped in purposefully and without warning shots or spared punches.

As we floundered around, looking for the courage to overcome self-centered worry about "acting like idiots around the sick guy", it became clear that Jeff would show us himself. He would tell us how to survive the cancer in him, and how to weather the fears it brought us.

He normalized it for us somehow, in a way very few could have, and he did it even while we were still embarrassed for failing a friend with our discomfort. I got messages on my voicemail saying "Yep, I¹m playing the 'cancer card', YOU WILL make time to come over so we can grill some meat..." In calling out the thing we were so intimidated by, Jeff made it much less of a 'thing'. We followed his example and got back to the important reasons to enjoy the company of friends in this life...

He and Patty both have been our confidants and our 'come over in pajamas' neighbors, our source for Canadian coke, and our competitive grilling opponents (Last year, we bought the same grill ‹ Jeff quickly handed our butts to us with his grilling prowess... Sampling the proof of someone¹s being better than you at something never tasted so good...We told him he could out-grill us any time he wanted to, because as he always made enough to share...) Every once in a while, he¹d also let us help him back, though in the end, the balance was still tipped heavily on his side ‹ he was better at helping than we were.

I met Jeff at Pennsic. His thoughtfulness at the moment we met changed everything... He said hello, then gestured in the direction of someone standing nearby, saying, "M'lady, I¹d like to introduce you to someone..." One thing led to another, and I¹m about to marry the man he pointed to that night.

As I write, most of my family is in the air, flying here to attend the wedding. The ceremony will begin, my father will walk me down the aisle, and a brass quintet will play the traditional song. Nick and I, in our hearts, will be hearing the music of a familiar guitar instead.

Melwyn

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Geoffrey Maclean and I were friends. He and I always had incredibly interesting conversations. The phone would ring and he would say, Geoffrey Maclean here and I have an issue to discuss with you. And we would discuss it right then and there. The ins, the outs, the rights, the wrongs, the differences of opinion, we discussed it. And we solved it. He would make a suggestion and I would make a suggestion and we would come up with a solution that had the best interests of all at heart cuz it was never about us. We just loved discussing issues. And then we would laugh.

He always had a beer for me and I for him when we met at any event. We would sit, discuss, then carry about our duties knowing that we had each other's back. That was very comforting. Even when we were diametrically opposed on an issue, we had each other's back.

I received a phone call about 3 weeks ago and it was Geoffrey. He said, I am not here to raise any shit, I just wanted to talk to you. I have cancer and I have been given a couple of years to live. I asked him how he was and he talked about his lady and the game he so loved. You know, he said, I am not looking at quantity right now, just quality and I plan to make the next couple of years the best ever. We talked a little more about things and I asked him if there was anything I can do for him. He said you already have, you are my friend. I smiled and said thanks, that definitely goes two ways. There we were, the two of us, straight up, no bullshit, telling each other how it is. Wow.

I was filled with disbelief when I first heard of his passing today. My previous training has taken over and I will deal with this when I am ready but I know my friend now has "top" watch so I feel comfort in that. I will never forget him.

Master Ljotr Einarsson OP OL
Seneschal
An Tir