In Memory of James Hagerty

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Yesterday was a downday in more than the usual way. We received confirmation that our friend and neighbor in Questa, James Hagerty, died in the early hours of the morning a couple of days ago. Instead of a regular post, I'd like to write a few words in his memory.

James was a key part of the Pinnabette Mountain story. He was, in my understanding of things, a true 'mountain man'. Although small in stature, he was large in character. With the wrinkles and creases in his face, he presented an almost timeless quality, and expressed a wisdom that only a life well-lived could exhibit. He had a wry smile that made you wonder just what mischief he might have been up to.

He had some strange habits. He bragged about how he could shift his truck into neutral and coast almost all the way down the mountain onto the paved road, and that he saved gasoline money that way. Although publicly he worked with us to improve the road, privately he said that he liked it the way it was - that it kept things private up on the mountain. He had a very good point.

James fiercely defended his beliefs which almost always involved a conspiracy of sorts, and strongly argued that aliens were not only at Area 51, but in and around the northern New Mexican mountains as well. He believed that so strongly I was coming to think that he had met them. Maybe he had, I don't know.

Hagerty was also a musician and Joan and I both loved to go hear him play. Whether by himself at Black Mesa Winery, or on the sidewalk at the John Dunn shops, or with his son in the Jacob and James quartet at Eske's, he was always a delight as he picked at the guitar or sang longingly of the women in his life, or of the muddy road. We will miss those performances.

He was a friend and neighbor to us, but to others he was much more. I especially grieve for Lewis Anderson who has lost someone very close and dear to him, probably his best friend. That kind of loss is tough and this passing will not be easy for him. I hope Andy knows that others feel his pain, even if not to the same degree.

James came to our house for dinner on several occasions. Time not being really important to him, he sometimes arrived an hour early. He would sit at the counter, watch us cook and drink a glass of wine. He never did eat a whole lot, but he was always a good person to talk to. And he was always welcome.

In Memory of James Hagerty, the Questa Mountain Man.

(17.1.31)

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Comments

[Micket]

the loss of a friend strikes home.
Thank you for sharing these word in memory of your friend. I would have like to have heard his stories, aliens and all. More than that, I would have enjoyed his music. RIP

[Carolyn Anderson]

Thank you
What a lovely memorial to James. It brought tears.