John H Clauson~
fvsedna
2010-12-30 07:06:47
I am honored to have met & visited with a few times .. only briefly. John H Clauson of Pelican, Alaska. A pioneer of our profession... .
spike christopher
2010-12-30 19:40:44
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I believe this is a picture of John's boat and home in the back ground. The boat in front is the Duna out of Soldvia and belonged to Walt.
fvsedna
2010-12-30 22:00:12
Yes, the f/v Lightly...I have several photos of It moored here also & on the grid In town, unfortunately none of which are on my digital camera...they are all 35mm photos. Well, hopefully someone will pick up the torch & fix er' up & head for the grounds again...would'nt that be awsome..
Einar
2011-01-02 00:19:58
I am really out of the trolling community these days and I feel lucky to have seen this thread. I Googled and read the OBIT stories and called my mom so she could tell my dad. They would not have known without this post. Good Grief. What an ending.
THANKS for the post.
I will miss John a lot and I will kick myself til I'm sore for not keeping in touch with him. I met him in 1969 when I was 9 years old and he was AMAZING to me. He was similar in temperament to my grandfather, but young - like my dad. (meaning they were both 50 at the time) John did not see the world like other people do. LOOK at the Lightly! It's fantastic to buck the norm. My dad introduced him to me as "the original hippy". My dad gave him piles of grief for not conforming. I suppose it was light hearted. I perceived John the way all you no doubt did. What an amazing man.
I fished since 1969, but when I needed a land job for the wife I worked at Seattle Marine for 18 years and thus got to keep in contact with many of you - and in particular John. He would call to order the standard big orders for the house or scow or boat and he knew that I would hop in the car and buy what he needed or pick up stuff and consolidate it for the barge. So for 18 years it was monthly phone calls and yearly visits.
Each phone call would start with just a short sound that I can't quite describe. It was like he was warming up to speak, and I knew it was him. When I heard that voice I would flash back to listening to him chat on the radio. He was always delightful. One of the best shows on the air. He had a way with language that just hinted at how well read he was. I never heard him speak down to people. He seemed to elevate the people around him. He coined terms. And he used old terms in modern times. When I was getting my pilot's license we were as usual talking every other week I think as he was ordering small stuff, and he would always ask about my "Flying Machine License". At the end of each order ALWAYS we had the same ritual - I would ask "How fast do you need this?" And he would say - "Oh, just charter a 747 on floats."
And didn't he come up with the term "Buckethead" for Lingcod? Or was that Toivo? I forget. Whatever the source, those open mouthed drag chutes are sure "bucketheads".
In August 2001 my wife and kids joined me on their first trip to Alaska and we met dad in Sitka and he took us on the Agile for 10 days of joyriding. First time EVER. The plan was to go to Pelican because John and I had been talking about this. I was to radio him when we got close and he would run in to town. It would have been a great chance for my kids. Pelican hadn't changed the way Sitka had. It was like a Time Machine. Anyway my dad changed his mind once we left Sitka and we took a right and headed for Chatham instead. So I kept thinking "someday" my kids will meet John Clauson.
Life is funny I guess. When I left Seamar 6 years ago, it was sudden and I forgot to tell anyone where I was going or how to get hold of me, but worst - I somehow forgot to call John. Ever. And for that I will now kick myself til I am sore, and try to remember to keep in touch with friends.
Einar
When I was a teenager I met John when I rode on the mail boat the "Forester" out to Pelican in December of [I think] 1962. He came down to the boat and got a packaged-up part from the skipper of the Forester, Dave Reischl. Those two made quite a pair. Dave was always a person I looked up to and he said, "John Clauson is one-of-a-kind. He not only can fix just about anything - but if you describe the symptoms of an engine that isn't working right, he can tell you how to fix it yourself." I met John a number of times over the years in my own travels through Cross Sound from Juneau and saw the Lightly gracefully working north of Cape Spencer on many of those trips. John will be sorely missed by the troll fleet of northern SE Alaska.
scowwitch
2011-01-25 04:54:14
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Thank you, Andy, for starting this thread; I'd looked shortly after the accident, then hadn't checked back. It's been so long that I posted on here I don't think my account was any good, so I started a new one.
I'd lived in Pelican for 10 years before I really got to know John and Betty - when we got involved in the scow. For years I've said that, hands down, they were the best part of the deal! They lived pretty quiet lives, even by Pelican standards, and the scow was an excuse to spend some time with them. Every day during the spring we'd be down working on the scow and boat in the bight and then John would wander up to the house to read before lunch. I knew the poot on the conch shell was my cue to head up for some soup and a sandwich that Betty had set out. We'd visit and drink tea and then wander back to work.
He taught me so much over the years. Things like, "the best way to signal the operator (John) of the logging donkey is to JUMP UP AND DOWN EMPHATICALLY WAVING ONE'S ARMS" and it's important to keep up on things in world - even when you live in Pelican. Yes, Einer, he was likely the best read person in town. He read the New Yorker cover to cover each week among a BIG PILE of other periodicals. He knew how to pace himself and he was never driven by the almighty dollar. I remember hearing stories about how his coding partners used to be confounded at times when John would pull his gear - the bite was on, but it was a great day to paint the lineups into Surge or go beachcombing, so that's where he was headed. He was also the most forgiving person I've ever known - religious or not (NOT, in his case!) We'd have some major disagreement about something one day and the next he'd completely moved on - I hope I've learned a bit of that. He never held a grudge - even though he was also THE MOST STUBBORN MAN I'VE EVER KNOWN! We used to joke about having stubborn contests, but I always quietly knew I'd lose.
Yes, his voice was also a one-of-a-kind and that too will be missed. He used to marvel, Einer, that you'd always recognize his voice, "How does he know it's me?" I'd just laugh. One of my first years on the scow the genset broke down and I was trying to talk to him on the radio. His voice was so garbled that all I could make out was: mumble mumble mumble GENSET mumble mumble WATER PUMP. I'd reply, "yes, John, there's something wrong with the genset and I think it's the water pump. We went on like that for over an hour! I finally learned to lower the volume on the radio so I could understand him, or maybe I'd just finally spent enough time around him to speak Clauson. Anyway, Einer, I'm sure if there was any slight to forgive, he'd done it long ago, but he'd likely never have seen it that way. He always spoke very fondly of you.
I posted a bunch of pictures on my Facebook page -both old and more recent. I'll try to post more here as well.
Deb Spencer
Shoreline
scowwitch
2011-01-25 05:18:11
There will be a memorial service for John in Sitka (Betty is in the P-Home there) on Friday, February 4. It's a potluck at 1 pm in the P-Home chapel. Bring your John stories if you'll be in town. We're also planning a service in Pelican later this year - I'll post it here when a date is set. John's grandson, Carl, is planning a Viking sendoff replete with a flaming longboat full of things he'll need in the afterlife. I know I'll be contributing a roll of electrical tape and John's favorite stuffed mushrooms. We may try to have it after kings when the fleet is around and the cohos still small. Any thoughts on dates are appreciated.
scowwitch
2011-01-28 02:51:15
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fvsedna
2011-01-29 07:01:13
These are great shots Deb......the last shot looks like John was taking the scow home after the season.....
Andy~
...hows' Matt holding up this winter..?...tell him hello & I'm thinkin' of him..
salmon4u
2011-01-30 10:19:48
Thanks for all the great stories.. I've fished around Pelican for over twenty years and had seen John around.. a couple seasons ago in August there was a big blow, my wife was with me and we decided to go tie up in Pelican for a few days, .. John had the Lightly up on the grid and was working on some repairs.... I was glad I went over and said hello and talked to him, You just have to love what we do as trollers, the pioneering spirit we all share, What a cool guy.. designed and built his own boat, lived life like he wanted... he was struggling, doing the repairs on his boat, I offered to help if there was anything I could do.. but he said it was going ok ... but I knew it was the sunset for his trolling.......we went over and visited Rose and had a brewski. Here's to John and all the other great pioneers, not many left.
Hi All:
I, too, have appreciated the sharing of pictures and stories so far - hoping for more! Anyone who knows John and his story, or is hearing it for the first time, understands how much of a lynchpin this man was to the success of our northend fishery. I'm finding that talkative me can't even put to words yet what John meant to me. He is responsible for much of my early upbringing here at ATA and though I rarely had a chance to sit down with him, I treasured those moments, our phone time, and the notes and articles he sent. He was an amazing man and I'm grateful to have known him.
Dale
ATA
Hi All:
I'm going to take a risk that the photographer won't mind me posting this picture of John. It was taken by a deckhand of Carter Hughes (FV Radio) and is one of the best I've seen of Claussen. Thanks to Carter (and Sara Patten!) for sharing this with me, and now, us.
Peace.
Dale
ATA
scowwitch
2011-01-31 04:25:48
Here's a picture from John & Betty's 60th anniversary party in Pelican in 2006. I always marveled at the leather that the back of his neck had become in his 80-some years. I always figuredit was due to his usual uniform of halibut jacket and hat and the decades of rain that fell on his neck as he was leaning over his current project. I'm hard pressed to remember him EVER in raingear.
scowwitch
2011-01-31 04:42:10
One winter John decided it was time to get a computer - Betty had been bugging him since she'd taken a dos class at the school (in the 80s). He transformed a plant room into an office - the code room - and bought Betty her computer complete with satellite internet and a printer/fax/copier.. We had many conversations about what to get - what he wanted it to do, etc. As one lengthy conversation was wrapping up, John remembered one more thing and said, "Oh, and I want Google."! He got it all and he spent many hours online researching engines, tools, parts, etc. He definitely got his money's worth with Google! He even taught himself to type and was always asking me which finger hit which key. His brain never shut off - ever. He was always trying to puzzle something out or learn something new.
scowwitch
2011-01-31 05:09:46
These pictures were taken in November 2004 - the last time John took the Lightly logging.
scowwitch
2011-01-31 05:17:23
This is one of my favorite pictures of the two of us - taken on the day we shipped our first box of fish from Pelican to one of our restaurants in Indiana. Yes, Dale, I too love that picture of John on the scow. I think Carlos on the Mrs. Mac actually took it with Sarah's camera.
Einar
2011-02-01 18:32:35
Deb - Thanks for the pictures! Brings back good memories.
John's passing inspired me to record a fresh interview with my dad about his earliest memories of trolling and his first time to Pelican, but I only got some tidbits. The memory comes and goes. I've been scanning a bunch of photo albums and had his slides digitized too to help him remember. If any of you live near some old timers, I encourage you to record them talking about those early days, or just whatever they want to share. If you know of anybody down here in Washington who should be recorded I am happy to go sit down with them myself if needed. Anyways, thanks again for posting pictures!
Einar
drconrad
2011-03-16 03:55:23
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Deb
So sorry to hear about john's accident, I remember loading a barrel of anchor chain in his skiff, and him giving me directions. and the senior breakfast @ the community hall. Good times.