by Tara Munro on Saturday, May 22, 2010 at 12:27am ·
For those who don't know him, "Space Man Bruce" was a prominent figure in the streets of Seward in the 70's and 80's. He was accepted by many and shunned by a few.
Robert Bruce Facer (aka Spaceman Bruce) traveled from Valdez to Santa Cruz (where he remains alive and well today) in a series of kayaks. It took him 18 years. He now wears shoes.
Here are some excerpts from an email I got from from a wonderful gal whose name is Irene, who knows Spaceman Bruce....very cool. Thanks Irene!
From Irene:
~C.W., a former cannery worker who now lives in Anchorage, has a wife Diane studying Chinese Medicine in Santa Cruz, CA where some of his family has relocated. He and Diane were at a seaside bar having a beer when he noticed a guy walking the beach that looked like Bruce. Diane said there’s lots of homeless people around here that look like him. CW ignored it at first but then decided that really WAS Bruce. We had all been wondering where he ended up or if he was still alive. Grace (Mag’s sister) saw him in Sitka and my sister Jeannie saw him in Ketchikan in the 90’s so we knew he built an outrigger from a kayak and was going traveling. J said he was also wearing shoes, a miracle in itself. At the time we thought he was writing a book about his travels but he said no.
....I went to San Francisco to visit with some friends a few days.....we had a goal: a HUNT for SPACEMAN BRUCE!
First we went to the boat harbor to look for Bruce & found his boat, a very unsafe and unseaworthy looking thing. Unbelievable that he made it so far. Then Eric inquired at the Harbormasters and they told us he always wears a big hat with feathers in it. Next we went to the “Mall” which was an outdoor shopping area. We call those plazas where I’m from. Malls are indoors. Anyway, while I was sidetracked by a mermaid in a store window Eric found him!
He was sitting with another fellow and B had his own guitar and little bongo drums. Hair was still long and matted, mostly white now. Had the hat with the feathers on. His face looked really smooth and nice and he was smiling! He gave me such a warm greeting and was so happy that people from Seward remember him and care about him. He was very peaceful looking, although a lady cop type person kicked us out of the bushes we were sitting in and so we moved to another spot of trees in a parking lot! She also kicked some kids out so it wasn’t just picking on the homeless.
B asked if i wanted to get high and I declined. So I went to sit with him and his friend, at first E&C hung around away from us but then came and sat down. B told his story and it involved 2 or 3 boats. They kept falling apart or getting too beat up from the trip. At first he tried to walk down to the Lower 48 but Canadian Customs wouldn’t let him through due to his having no money and a pot bust in the 60’s. So he decided on the boat idea and nobody stopped him. It took him YEARS, I forget how many but something like 18. He’d stop and fish and smoke it to have it for later. On the way he broke his foot and the doctor told him he had to wear shoes. He had an Xray and when he didn’t wear shoes they took another and showed him how his bone was moving further apart and he needed shoes to be like a bandage to hold the bone together, so he was convinced and wore shoes again. Although he was barefoot as usual when I saw him. ( He didn’t really remember how I used to butter his feet at the Seward Bakery in 81 but he said he knows he would have really appreciated it! Made me laugh.) He also showed me his bald head under the hat, but really long on sides.
He also declined chocolate, which he used to love in Seward. His friend took some! He said he couldn’t eat sugar anymore because he had a heart attack a few years ago. He went to the hospital and they went in through his thigh and put a shunt (or stint but I think he said shunt) up through the big vein in the thigh to get to his heart and keep things open and flowing. His shirt was open ( as usual) and tan and I didn’t see a scar so that’s why he explained the vein thing. He and his friend seemed very companionable and like they shared a sense of humor and understood each other which was very nice to see because he seemed so lonely in Seward. He’s in touch with his father, who bought him a new boat along the way.
He also used to be suffering from cold a lot and now he was tan and warm and just looked so much happier and more peaceful. He said he was Amish so could not allow photographs but he wouldn’t stop us if we took one. So we didn’t do it. I know CW took one but it was probably by surprise so he wasn’t looking all soothed like he appeared to me. We hugged a few times and Eric said he was closing his eyes at one point like he really was appreciating it (I’m betting people think he’s too dirty to hug so he probably doesn’t get much human touch which is sad) and another hug he had his eyes open and E said he had a wonderful look in his eyes. So i felt good about that. Jeannie warned me about fleas but not a problem!
He has an address to pick up mail so I think there are things set up for the homeless there in Santa Cruz. Still he was in court for public camping in Nov. so it’s still not easy. While because of his Amishness as well as American Orthodox Church (he sent me the pamphlet that I THINK he wrote, our favorite line is “Civilization is an exploding haircut.” he doesn’t believe in motors or cars or any kind of travel like that. But somehow computers are Ok so he had e-mail and we are e-mail pals now. So far we’ve each mailed each other one package each. He owes me a painting of an angel (i mailed him the art supplies and some other stuff, he mailed back religious pamphlets and the plans for the temple he wants to build but needs funding from a local church)
I never call him Spaceman and despite being Bruce in AK, he is Robert in CA. He says his name is Robert Bruce Facer and he knows where people are from depending on what they call him.
When I asked him if he wrote the religious pamphlet ( The cover was a scripture verse in his handwriting) he wrote,” The pink booklet has a lot of people whom have received one in the mail (the possibilities are endless believe me) and I live by it strictly and it never ceases to amaze me. I did not write it, I was only the recipient but I would guess that the number of creatures, human and animal, children and other folks who kicked in to be quite long. That is just a guess, but the Lord Jesus might be one of them, perhaps the book was a miracle. I only recall getting some copies on the birthday of Saint Theresa of Lourdes, standing in the print shop with my arm in a sling from having broken it a couple of months before, and traveling back to my place near the rugged coast of washington state and looking up in the sky and seeing a comet. I guess it was Hale Bopp but anyway it was a surprise and the timing was different.” ( I think he did write it. He said it was written under Hale Bopp earlier)
About asking his religious beliefs: “ I was trying to be a Priest in the Jesuit Order but after ten years or so I decided that what God wanted me to be was something far different so i spent a few more years building a nice Temple much like the one described in the book of Exodus around chapter 26 I decided that whoever designed it must have been Amish so I am now Amish to the extent that we do not cross the Atlantic Ocean and as such we are prohibited from circumcision, cutting live trees and castration of animals. The Amish pyramid is a high one and those at the peak do not even use the wheel, but most do and keep horses as well, but they are very rich as a heritage from when they were only staying off the railroad which my Great Grandfather was a mechanic for for many years, so I have a late start but I am very close to the top in some ways, albite very poor from my heritage. The further you travel, we believe, the poorer you get. At lower speeds this can translate to something as innocent as rotten weather, but at greater distances the price goes up.”
I love hearing his unusual views. I asked him to tell me what he thinks Heaven is like, etc. and we have fun conversations through e-mail.
He said he was in Bellingham for awhile.... It was just great to find him and see him so much happier and healthier and that he has at least one good friend despite being a little ‘off’’. His friend is a homeless guy. I like having him in my life for some reason, you never know what he will write or send.~
Here's an article I found online dated 4/17/10 which references Bruce.
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_14904062
Recent photo Robert Bruce Facer (aka Spaceman Bruce) in Santa Cruz, CA (borrowed from the "I worked at Seward Fisheries" FB page)Traveled by kayak (several) from Valdez to Santa Cruz....it took him 18 years to get there. (borrowed from the "I worked at Seward Fisheries" FB page)This is how the folks in Seward, Alaska, remember Bruce from back in the day. (borrowed from the "I worked at Seward Fisheries" FB page)
Photos courtesy of a couple of folks who know him on the "I worked at Seward Fisheries" group on FB