Calling all angels

Issue No. 153 — Silverton cemetery on line 1 ☼ Leaf peeping in Leadville ☼ The bridge between life and death

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Sep 15, 2024 - 10:59
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Calling all angels
Colorado Sunday Issue 153: "Calling all angels"

Good morning, Colorado Sunday pals!

I’ve probably mentioned it to more than a few of you, but after spending way too much time using COVID as an excuse to stay home, I made a pledge earlier this year to say “yes” to invitations, no questions asked. This is how I found myself in the audience of a stand-up comedy show centered on grief. I didn’t expect to laugh as three comics did bits about aging, aging parents, chronic illness, divorce and death. But I did. A lot. I also felt a kind of lightness as I absorbed that grieving can take many forms, some of them extremely unusual.

Nancy Lofholm’s cover story this week examines an extraordinary take on grief, in which a Silverton woman who could see her own death coming from cancer arranged a way for her friends, family, neighbors and total strangers to process their losses in an old-fashioned British phone booth marking her grave.

Hillside Cemetery overlooking the town of Silverton. (Hugh Carey, The Colorado Sun)

I have long enjoyed wandering through cemeteries in Colorado’s colorful old mining towns. It’s a revealing way to bring history to life — nowhere more so than in Silverton’s Hillside Cemetery.

Hillside is the final resting place for mining-era residents whose gravestones tell quite the engraved stories of a small town’s wild beginnings. Silverton’s early-day residents were stabbed through the heart, murdered by dynamite, frozen, felled by dropsy, crushed by collapsed mine tunnels, and taken by “lead poisoning” — a euphemism for being shot.

It’s a great place to ponder Edgar Allen Poe’s line about the boundaries between life and death being, at best, shadowy and vague. It’s also a cemetery that makes me laugh for its off-beat epitaphs and its jumbled aesthetic. Tombstones have slid down the steep slopes of the cemetery like run-amok sleds and ended up tipped toward the surrounding San Juan Mountains at crazy angles.

So, when I heard there was now a bright red, British-style phone booth perched on a Hillside slope above the final resting place of the town’s mining-era prostitutes, my interest was instantly piqued.

The story behind that phone booth turned out to have humor and pathos just as I suspected. It has international tentacles, small-town controversy, a devoted dog from beyond the rainbow bridge, and is a gift for an entire town.

Read on and find out why calling up the dead may not be as wacky as it sounds.

READ THIS WEEK’S COLORADO SUNDAY FEATURE

Another week, another vast range of territory covered by Colorado Sun photojournalists. Here are a few of our favorite recent images.

Mike Deminco, left, and his wife, Beth, fish the Rio Grande below Creede on Sept. 6. The Rio Grande has been designated a Gold Medal stream by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, meaning that it consistently produces trout over 14-inches long. (Dean Krakel, Special to The Colorado Sun)
Participants in a meeting to organize opposition to plans to expand a gasoline storage facility close to Dupont Elementary School in Commerce City filled out sticky notes expressing their concerns about the plan Sept. 7. On Thursday, the owner of the tanks withdrew its request for a permit to add five tanks to the 20 already there. (Claudia A. Garcia, Special to The Colorado Sun)
Canals linked to irrigation systems deliver water to corn fields along Larimer County Road 15, near the Little Thompson River on Sept. 7 in Berthoud. (Tri Duong, Special to The Colorado Sun)
Reya Roussel, who lives next door to a man accused of murdering a woman during a shooting spree in the Arista neighborhood in Broomfield, speaks to reporters early Thursday morning. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
A young child peers from the snack bar window before the start of “The Garfield Movie” on Thursday night at the Star Drive-In Theatre in Montrose. (William Woody, Special to The Colorado Sun)
Even when the high-elevation aspen trees haven’t started to change, a bike ride or hike along the the banks of Turquoise Lake near Leadville is a joy. (Jim Charlier, Special to The Colorado Sun)

As Colorado’s leaf season begins — current forecasts say the next two weeks are supposed to be stunning — Leadville is a great spot for outdoor activities among the aspens and a great meal in the evening.

For cyclists, the 12-mile Mineral Belt Trail that circles the city offers great views for fall colors. Sections of the trail are easily accessible from town for hiking or running, too. During the winter, cross-country skiing is an option on the trail, as is nearby Ski Cooper for downhill skiing.

A hike along the banks of Turquoise Lake is another alternative with less elevation gain. Also consider fishing, kayaking and camping through Oct. 1 at the U.S. Forest Service recreation area.

The Leadville Train is another way to take in the autumn scenery on a two-hour ride that starts at the historic red brick depot at 326 E. Seventh St.

There are plenty of short-term rentals available in this historic mining town. And the Delaware Hotel, in business since the late 1800s, is being renovated by new owners.

When it’s time to dine, Quincy’s Steak & Spirits offers filet mignon Sunday through Thursday and prime rib Friday and Saturday. Meals come with salad, baked potato and bread. For a more diverse, modern menu, check out Treeline Kitchen; reservations are recommended.

EXCERPT: Take the dynamics of the mother-daughter relationship. Now superimpose them across the spiritual divide between life and death. That’s where Cynthia Swanson’s latest book, “Anyone But Her,” begins — with a conversation from beyond the grave in which a murdered wife expresses her misgivings about the woman her husband has begun to date. Add in dual timelines — 1979 and 2004 —and you’ve got a multi-layered mystery.

READ THE SUNLIT EXCERPT

THE SUNLIT INTERVIEW: The theme of loss echoes throughout Swanson’s book, but the theme of persistence describes the process that went into writing “Anyone But Her.” It’s always interesting to peek behind the curtain and glimpse the creative process, and Swanson offers insight into the challenges along the way. Here’s a slice of her Q&A:

SunLit: What did the process of writing this book add to your knowledge and understanding of your craft and/or the subject matter?

Swanson: I learned persistence! I rewrote “Anyone But Her” completely, top-to-bottom, five times. I’m talking huge changes to plot and structure; this is not counting the numerous interim revisions I did to ensure everything was accurate and well written within each of those versions. The process was incredibly time consuming, but I don’t regret any of it.

READ THE INTERVIEW WITH CYNTHIA SWANSON

???? LISTEN TO THE PODCAST WITH THE AUTHOR

A curated list of what you may have missed from The Colorado Sun this week.

There was a lot of gray wolf news in Colorado last week, and not all of it was good. (Jim Morrissey, Special to The Colorado Sun)

???? Let’s start by clearing the wolf reintroduction decks. On Monday, Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced it had captured all six members of the Copper Creek pack blamed for predation on a Grand County ranch and that the adult male had died as a result of deep puncture wounds on a back leg unrelated to the capture. CPW also said they’d found a new source for wolves to continue the reintroduction. That same day, biologists received a “mortality signal” from the tracking collar on a different male. On Friday, CPW said it had a deal with the British Columbia Ministry of Water, Lands and Resource Stewardship to capture 15 wolves between December and March and bring them to Colorado. But will Canadian wolves be too nice to survive in Colorado? Stay tuned.

???? In a week of hold-my-beer news, a man driving a big truck at high speeds over Trail Ridge Road, with cops in pursuit, hit a Toyota sedan, injuring three people, and then ran off barefoot and shirtless. A guy was arrested for starting the Alexander Mountain fire west of Loveland and he’s also accused of impersonating a wildland firefighter. And a Mountain View town councilman allegedly shot a Dakota Ridge teen in the face at 4 p.m. after the kid jumped a fence to ask a homeowner for permission to take homecoming photos at a hobby ranch near Conifer.

???? Xcel Energy showed up at the Public Utilities Commission asking for a fat supplement to its budget for helping businesses green their operations. But how did the program run through most of the $94 million ratepayers are already on the hook for? Turns out cannabis growers signed up for aid in droves, Mark Jaffe reports.

???? One of the big losses for schools during the COVID pandemic was apparently respect for showing up for class. Erica Breunlin reports on how Colorado districts are trying to “renorm” attendance.

???? People through-hiking the Colorado Trail or taking it on in sections know they need to plan their water sources carefully. Shannon Mullane caught up with one researcher hiking the trail who found herself dry and miles from the next reliable water. It got her wondering about high-elevation climate change.

???? Good news! Denver’s dining scene got one more Michelin star. Olivia Prentzel reports on the winner of the big honor.

???? When the state helped fund and finance a big dam improvement project, people downstream of Rio Grande Reservoir near Creede thought the deal included plans to time releases of water to benefit fish and recreational users on the river. Jerd Smith reports that’s not exactly how it worked out.

???? Wow. Boulder and Estes Park really are on the short list to host the venerable Sundance Film Festival. Jason Blevins has been reporting on the possibility since it was just a hint of an idea.

Thanks for the time, friends. Speaking of which, time is running out to get your tickets to SunFest 2024, set for Sept. 27 at the University of Denver. Not sure it’s for you? Check out this story by Tamara Chuang, featuring two of the people who will be on her panel about artificial intelligence, to get a sense of how things will go when we get together to talk about what a better Colorado might look like.

— Dana & the whole staff of The Sun

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