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Former
Kent JMC photo-journalism professor, Charlie Brill, could
be equally enthusiastic about the outdoors.
He
was a consummate runner, and he loved to go cross-country
skiing. Boats and boating were lifelong passions. He would
take off for the woods and lakes of northern Michigan, or
visit Native American friends at the Red Lake Reservation
in Minnesota.
When
Charlie retired in 1994, he and Jan continued to live in the
comfortable old house on Wolcott Avenue off North Mantua Street
in Kent. By 1996, however, they had packed up and moved to
Paradise, Mich. where life was a bit more simple and civilization
a bit more distant.
In
2000, a group of former Kent Stater, Chestnut Burr, and TV-2
alums were planning a 30-year reunion, organized around the
30th anniversary of the May 4 shootings. They invited Charlie,
who responded via a letter that was posted onthe
group's website:
"Thanks
for the letter and invitation. Sorry I don't have e-mail,
etc., but we are in the process of getting the tools to go
on-line. Jan wants to join the 21st century; I'd rather spend
the twenty bucks on fly fishin' gear and other toys."
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A
photo from Red Lakes Nation
Charlie
also noted in the letter that he was "running away"
to the Red Lake Nation reservation. He had been visiting
and living with them since 1965. Over the years, he took
thousands of photographs of the tribes.
They
were compiled into a traveling documentary exhibit, "Portrait
of the Chippewa," and into two books: "Indian
and Free" and "Red Lake Nation, Portraits of Ojibway
Life."
Charlie
talked of those friends often and documented their life
with stark reality and subtle beauty.
And,
he never did get online.
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Story
by Fred Endres
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