GHS

John Walsh As I Knew Him - a Eulogy

Editor Andrew Casteneda

I knew a guy once. A fire breathing, movie star, director, writer, stuntman, legend guy once. He carried the name of John Walsh and I knew the name. Oh I knew the name well. He’s not dead - just graduated - but I guess in our student context, the two aren’t so different.

You, dear reader, have probably heard the name before, but what do you know of the name? You might know the name who ran for Homecoming King and almost (and should’ve, depending on who you are) took the title. You might know the name - the crowd was supposed to be shouting “Seniors! Seniors!” but instead they cheered the name.

His name.

John Walsh.

I recognize the fair chance that you, dear reader, don’t know the man so well. Not a lot of people do. It’s an easy name to know, but to understand, that’s a different game. He’s quite a character, that’s for sure, but his character traits are defined - shrouded - by a whole lot of undefined. That’s how it used to seem to me at least.

I know this guy, a senior guy, who knows the name but not too well. Guy’s only had maybe one run-in with The Name, but a moving, memorable run-in. The Name turns a corner in the hall between third and fourth, sees Guy, grabs Guy on the shoulder; The Name and Guy barely know each other but The Name says to Guy, “Guy, you’re a good man.” Guy doesn’t know what to say but he never even gets the chance - The Name had slipped away like the some kind of Jesus he is. His words, though, they stayed. Those words stuck with Guy and stuck they did for a very long time.

John Walsh, as I knew him, was good at that kind of thing - saying, doing the things that linger; leaving a mark. A memory.

I saw him breathe fire at a party once. It was an ability of his he’d informed me of a year prior, yet honestly I wasn’t quite sure if I believed him or not. But oh - he can breathe fire - I’ve seen it with my own eyes. People were dazzled by this feat. I know I sure was. He was the star of the show, absolutely flawless in his ability.

But I remember later that night, talking to him in the hall, he said with a smile, “I think I may have burned the hair off my arm.”

Thinking about it now, he did that kind of thing a lot. He would perform his theatrics, drawing the image of a flawless mystery man, yet he would always tell me more of the story either prior or after.

I remember after the One-Act Regionals Competition, a good majority of the cast celebrated at McDonald’s, John and I included. It was an okay time; people said their goodbyes as they slowly filed out. John Walsh, however, did something a little different. He nudges me on the shoulder, says, “I think I’m just gonna hit ‘em with the ol’ Irish Goodbye.”

I was a stranger to this term. I didn’t know what to expect. Part of me was anticipating some big, John Walsh, extravagant salutations, but no. Without words, he made his exit through the backdoor and I watched him leave. I watched that door for a long time, anticipating something - anything - but there was nothing.

As the definition of “Irish Goodbye” slowly crept into my mind, a wave of slight sorrow came in tail.

See, John Walsh had already graduated by this time. His performance that day would be his last excursion at Gloucester High School ever. I knew there was a fair chance I might not ever see the guy again.

Until a couple days later - I think Wednesday of that following week. I was walking to my parking spot and there he was in his, clear as day, sitting atop his Camaro.

For the longest time, John Walsh had been trying to get me to accompany him on something he called a “Spirit Quest”. He didn’t say when, didn’t say where, didn’t really define what a Spirit Quest was exactly either; he just said, “Hey Andrew, I think we should go on a Spirit Quest sometime.”

I didn’t know what it was but I knew I was down. Whatever was bound to happen, I had my trust in John Walsh.

That day, that Wednesday, is when I reached something I swear was centimeters off from enlightenment.

I really can’t define a Spirit Quest too well. I’ve tried to explain it to many people but they never quite understand it. I, myself, still don’t quite understand it.

The Spirit Quest morphed my image of John Walsh into nothing short of Jesus Christ himself. I actually told the man, as we zipped down the windy highway with the Camaro top down, “I think you’re Gloucester Jesus, John.”

Yet also, there were these little consistencies which reminded me a lot of myself. There were a lot of instances during the Spirit Quest which made me think John was as much a passenger on the quest of adventure and the unknown as I.

My image of John Walsh now is somewhere between those two poles. Both incredibly godly and incredibly human.

I have a lot of respect for the guy. I still really look up to him. However I end up in the near future, I just hope I end up as something remotely close to John Walsh.

John Walsh is supposed to leave Gloucester on March 26th for the Appalachian Trail. He is going to attempt hiking the entire trail, from Georgia to Maine, in six months or so. I may never see him again.

If there’s any mystery man I know who could complete such a feat, it’s John Walsh. I know he can do it.

John, wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, I wish you luck in your endeavors and I hope all future holes you dig are always the right holes. Hope you find what you’re looking for, bud. We all do.