Thursday, November 15, 2007
We sit. We laugh. We look jovial. We share a quiet moment. He tears up a bit. I do as well. “I’m one-third this man’s age,” I think to myself. “Yet he’s livelier than I am.”
People pass, and give us strange looks. We continue to talk; his voice makes everything he says sound quote-worthy. More people pass. Some roll their eyes, while others smile at the man whose beard rivals that of Santa Claus and whose wardrobe makes one feel pity toward those who are color blind. He just takes it all in stride and keeps coming back to the message of the Little Engine That Could—I think I can, I think I can. I call him a societal transistor; he seems to like that.
I’m speaking with White Owl, or Jimmy Neil Tucker, or Saul (as he’s known in Kansas City). Whatever you call him, it doesn’t matter. It’s still him.
I consider White Owl a societal transistor. You may see White Owl and strike up a conversation with a stranger about him. He makes people meet other people just by existing. He makes connections; there’s something important to that.
We spoke for two hours, shifting from place to place as buildings and rooms closed. This man is no jive turkey. He’s seen a lot. A previous student at KU and a Vietnam War veteran, he now does research on Agent Orange for a book he’s writing, in-between going to classes for free as an elderly person. Most individuals know White Owl as the man who hangs out on Wescoe Beach yelling, “Wake Up!”
“I hope I create that in people; the ability to think for themselves, not for me. I am not a leader. I am just a messenger to wake them up. That’s what my wake up is about,” White Owl said.
I had always thought it was to get people in motion to go to class; I seemed to have this man all wrong.
Contrary to what some students believe, he’s not homeless. He’s well read, well versed in biblical texts, he’s not a pusher of drugs or ideals and he loves those who dislike him.
“I don’t care what they believe. I just want them to believe in themselves,” White Owl said.
He’s a staple of the University as much as say the Campanile. He represents what higher education is supposed to be about: thinking, learning, acceptance and ideas that stretch outside of the box.
He told me several stories, ranging from beating prostate and brain cancer with frankincense, myrrh and prayer, to Russian double agents threatening his life, to attaining doctoral degrees in music at Oxford—whether the stories are apocryphal or true is not what matters. What matters is the message he sent me. I left my meeting with this man feeling sure that I could do anything I damn well pleased.
I felt inspired.
Here’s a class of 2009 gift idea: a statue of White Owl on Wescoe Beach with this quote from White Owl etched below: “It’s not about me, because then where’s the hope if I’m gone? Find it in yourself, realize that you have more power than you ever knew.”
Stewart is a Wichita junior in journalism.
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