My dearest, oldest friend John Lindholm, left us April 15, 2017.
I am heartbroken. We were all set to drive down to NC and see him the following week.
Born in Sweden, John spent his life just being ALIVE. He had raced motorcycles, kept old VWs running, could fix anything, for that matter (Once, while boating to Block Island, the Lucas alternator in my little boat fell apart, and John said, "no problem, when we get to Block, I'll go the the junk yard and find an old alternator and put it in. And he did just that.) He flew small planes, rebuilt boats ("there is nothing made of fiberglass that can't be fixed!"), had been a professional photographer, scuba dived, and lived aboard his sailboat FENIX (yes, it had been severely damaged in a fire and he made it rise from the ashes). He then lived aboard the second Fenix, a 42' Gulfstar, in the Caribbean. Brenda, in the photo, was constantly at his side. John was a graduate electronics engineer and ham radio operator (KA2SAV). We all studied for, and received, our ham licenses at about the same time c. 1984. We spoke via ham radio most days, even if only for a minute or two. He was a volunteer firefighter. He was the first gravlax maker I knew. Skinny as a rail, too. He survived a death-defying incident in his boat where he was entrapped in the engine shaft and had to be rescued by the Coast Guard and West Palm Beach firefighters 40 miles offshore. He spoke half a dozen languages and could joke in all. A great teller of tales, a raconteur extraordinaire. I can't recall that I ever saw him lose his temper. An amazing 89 year run. The most interesting person I've ever known. I will miss him sorely.
