It was with surprise that I read of the death of Merce Cunningham, 90, the dancer who changed the world of dance and art as well. For some reason those who have risen above the mundane seem to have everlasting life and we don't expect to hear of their death.

I had kept up on his many accomplishments through the years and whenever he came to Seattle it brought me back to my childhood when I had brief contact with this talented fellow.

He was born just a couple of years before I was Centralia, Washington just four miles from my home in Chehalis. One of my five older brothers worked on the railroad in the railroad center in Centralia and I loved spending the weekend with him as my niece Betty and I were pals in those days. We would go out in back of their house into the woods and play for hours until we dropped.

One day she told me that Merce Cunningham had invited all the neighbor kids to come to his place for a dance program that he was producing. He involved all the kids in his creations. As early as aged ten he was beginning his dance career by taking lessons but little did we kids know how far he would go in the world of dance. To me he was just the kid who lived down the street from my niece.

I really related to putting on such programs because in my own neighborhood of Chehalis I was the instigator of many a program of my own, setting up a circus on our side lawn at one time and organizing a library and checking out books at another time. But to know someone who took such talent and organizing ability to be honored in the New York scene seemed almost impossible for a kid from Centralia.

Now I know that nothing is impossible. I try to remember that as I near the age of 90 myself. To the family of this talented and energetic creator I say, "Nothing occurs in a vacuum. You were there for this young man and throughout his life. You can be very proud of him." The ripple effect of what he accomplished will never cease.