A dear friend died in May, 2010. He was so supportive when his close friend and our friend Ray died and during Shari’s illness and death soon after. The fact that he died so soon after they did seems surreal. But he loved to laugh and he loved the outdoors. He took to the Appalachian Trail in Spring of 2009. He sent out the pictures you see here when he returned.
There remains the matter of the skunk. Before he died, he gave me permission to post the video (see below) on this blog, provided that I identified him by his stage name, Raoul McCool. He sent out the video to friends who knew his secret identity with this note:
“Please recall that, among the photographs of his Appalachian Trail hike that he sent to you in May [2009], were several that clearly showed [Raoul] in close conversation with a small black and white striped creature that many of you correctly identified as a skunk. Unfortunately, [Raoul] was profoundly saddened to learn that some of you expressed doubt as to the authenticity of the said skunk. Some of you went so far as to opine audaciously that the said skunk was, in fact, a stuffed skunk that [Raoul] had carried with him for some 50 treacherous miles over the mountains. Some of you even stated that you would not be convinced of [Raoul’s] near supernatural ability to psychically commune with our little tuxedoed terrorists of the terai unless you saw a video of him conversing with an real independently moving skunk.
Well, you nattering nabobs of negativity. Cast your doubting eyes upon the attached video file, oh ye of little faith, and thence go forth and doubt no more.” -Raoul McCool
Goodbye Raoul. You were a good friend and you made us laugh. We will all miss you terribly. Especially the skunk.
Ornamento 
Thankyou so much for this posting. I recall when George had shared the above video (btw does not show here) and as a result allowed me to relish and enjoy the humor of Raoul. I am hoping that you can re-post the video?
After mailing you, the video appeared.
George probably found out the link wasn’t working. 🙂
Dear Martha
I knew George over 30 years ago when we were both backpacking vagabonds in Nepal. For some reason today he crossed my mind. So, i googled him.
It made me gasp to come upon his in memoriam page.
I tried leaving a comment on the page, but it has expired.
But all that i read about him in the other comments is the same George I remember. Loving, kind, intelligent, gentle and funny. So, thanks for the pictures and the video. Yep, I think that’s him.
Maybe he was just popping in to say hi. And give me a laugh.
I know he had some deep spiritual leanings, and I trust that he is now abiding in their experience.
Namaste George. Taschi delek.
Lynn,
I’m sorry this had to hit you by surprise. There is a long list of people who miss him. Take care.