video April 10, 2010

John's Celebration April 10, 2010: In Chris's Words

In Chris’s Words (April 12, 2010, New Canaan Library)


I am Chris Randolph, John’s daughter. I want to welcome all of you here today on behalf of my family. I know my dad would be very pleased to have you all here. He always called the library his second home so it is very fitting that we meet here in this room where the book sale has been held for so many years. My dad loved the library. My mother used to say that when she asked him to help her with chores at home he would basically say “later Ruth” and head out for the library. I want to thank the library and the staff for being such a warm and caring community for my dad and for lending us this room for today’s celebration. We feel honored to be here today to remember him.

For those of you who don’t know, my dad fell in late February. He had seizures in his arms and had blood in his brain. He spent 10 days at Norwalk Hospital and died of general organ failure. His heart was down to 20% of its capability and he was very weak. Fortunately, my brother Reed was able to get here in time from Arizona and my mother Ruth visited the hospital. I also had the unlikely good fortune to be able to bring my dad’s cat Tosca to the hospital. She totally knew she was on a mission of love and lay in the hospital bed with him for several hours. I put her tail in his hand and he knew she was there. My dad was not in pain and we followed his wishes that he not be kept alive artificially.

In the last 10 years, instead of moving out of their home, my parents made the wise choice of staying in their house in spite of their frail conditions. For the last year or two, they had the most incredible group of home care workers watching out over them: Laly, Kate, Soila, Norma, Andrea, and Patty. These women are angels and they were and continue to be unconditionally loving and kind. We are so happy that my dad had the joy of new friendships and tender care. Even though it took some convincing, my parents finally joined Staying Put in New Canaan, an organization that helps keep the elderly in their homes, and it was one of their wisest choices. Donna and Jane are the most amazing support system I could ever have wanted for my parents and I thank them from the bottom of my heart on behalf of my dad.

I think I am right in saying that my dad had a wonderful run in retirement. It lasted almost 20 years and he spent it exactly the way he wanted to. He made weekly visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which he loved dearly. He enjoyed chopping wood and transplanting small saplings and did this right up to the end. Until his eyesight deteriorated, he was a huge reader, read an enormous amount about Islamic art and culture and history in general, as well as authors as diverse as Isabel Allende, Jorge Amado, Willa Cather, Edna O’Brien, and B. Traven. And he was always at the library volunteering his time with the book sales until the very end. I would have to say that the NC Library played a huge role in keeping my dad alive and happy.

My dad was a wonderful friend and mentor. We shared a love of art and a love of books and the excitement of entering new worlds on the page. Most of who I am today I inherited from my dad: my artistic sensibility, my facility for language and writing, my green thumb, and my convictions about freedom, justice, and human rights.

In the last 10 years of his life, my husband Khader and I spent a lot of time with my dad. We went to museums together and dropped by many of the Book Sales here. My dad was always caring and supportive toward us. He cheered us on in all of our entrepreneurial endeavors and enjoyed hearing tales of our travels and adventures. He was always honest and generous, positive and kind-hearted. In spite of his frailty and serious loss of vision, my dad was an amazingly good sport and a model of selflessness and courage.

At his job at Polychrome, he was known as the company cynic. A colleague wrote him: “the role of cynic is one you have rightfully earned. Being the voice of discontent is a responsibility you carry for all Polychrome employees and customers. How else can unhappiness or mistreatment be identified and eliminated if we are all silent?”

And then there was my dad’s sense of humor. It often made me roll my eyes but it was a unique part of his character. He was honored by such groups as the Devil’s Advocate Society and Bow Tie Wearers United. In the town of Yonkers he was wanted for bad puns, verbal abuse, excessive use of hyphens, impersonating Abraham Lincoln, raiding candy jars, disturbing the peace with raucous laughter, and matching striped bowties with checkered shirts.

John's Celebration April 10, 2010

I Dream a World

I dream a world where man

No other man will scorn,

Where love will bless the earth

And peace its paths adorn.

I dream a world where all

Will know sweet freedom’s way,

Where greed no longer saps the soul

Nor avarice blights our day.

A world I dream where black or white,

Whatever race you be,

Will share the bounties of the earth

And every man is free,

Where wretchedness will hang its head

And joy, like a pearl,

Attends the needs of all mankind—

Of such I dream, my world!

Langston Hughes

John grew up in Montclair, NJ, and went to the Loomis School in Windsor, CT. He spent time during the war in France, England, and Germany. When he came back, he met his wife-to-be Ruth Ratner. Their first date was a Duke Ellington concert. In 1957, John and Ruth moved to New Canaan. They settled into a modern house in the woods, and John spent many joyful hours tending his trees and plants, and creating gardens.

John worked for Polychrome Corp. in Yonkers for 30 years as Advertising Director. He worked with an amazing group of colleagues who he remained close friends with well after retirement. John loved his job. He was an incredibly hard worker and had a high moral and ethical standard for every aspect of life. He brought a wonderful sense of humor to every situation and co-workers still reminisce about his comic antics.When John married, he didn’t fully appreciate art. His wife opened his eyes to painters like Paul Klee and Jackson Pollock, and John was hooked. He studied painting with Carlus Dyer at the Silvermine Art School. John’s painting style was very unique, perhaps influenced by two of his favorite painters, Mark Tobey and Morris Graves. He painted with casein paints and used mostly palette knives, rarely touching a brush. He liked texture and layered patterns. In the 1960s, he began to do photography, setting up a darkroom in the bathroom, and studied at Aperion Studios with Paul Caponigro in the early 1970s. He was inspired by Ansel Adams and Edward Weston and his subjects were rocks, ice, reflections in water, bark, rusted hinges, and weathered facades of old buildings. It was at Haystack, an art school on Deer Isle in Maine, that he discovered weaving. He was studying photography but on sunny days noticed a group of weavers at their looms, which had been set up outside on the decks with a view of the ocean. This made a great impression on him and when he returned home he built himself a 6-foot loom on which he created a number of lovely woven wall hangings. This adventure in weaving ultimately led him to basket-making. Instead of just weaving traditional basket shapes, John created original basket sculptures and wall hangings, with a look akin to native Indian and tribal arts. He created these wonderful pieces until his eyesight was too weak to continue.

After he retired from Polychrome in 1991, John became a volunteer at the New Canaan Library. He used to say the library was his second home. There might be chores to do at home, but John was usually at the library sorting books, drinking whatever coffee was in the community pot, and hobnobbing with the staff. He volunteered for 19 years and in November 2009 the Book Sale was renamed the John Randolph Book Sale.

If the library was John’s second home, the MET Museum was John’s church. For years, he faithfully drove into NYC to visit the museum. His favorite exhibit was the Islamic collection and he described seeing it as “visiting old friends.” Even when he could no longer drive, he made monthly trips to the MET via the train and taxi.

Remarkably, John never complained and greeted each day with a positive attitude. He was a special friend to many and we will miss his presence.


Let the beauty of what you love be what you do – Rumi


John's favorite things

* Cat lover especially Razz Tazz and Tosca.
* Chopping wood and transplanting corkbarks and grasses.
* Great sense of humor.
* Listening to right-wing radio to know what the opposition was up to
* Classical music. Favorite piece: Verdi’s Requiem.
* Jazz especially Duke Ellington and company
* Maine
* Art and the Metropolitan Museum
* Favorite book: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
* Islamic art and culture
* Baseball (in the early days) especially the NY Giants and Willie Mays