Remembering Clarence Petty

Clarence Petty passed away Monday evening. I met him a decade ago, when he was already marching into his mid-90s.

When he died at his home in the St. Lawrence Valley, he was 104. (Listen to Adirondack Explorer editor Phil Brown’s remembrance here.)

He struck me at the time as one of the vital human links in the Adirondack Park. He’s a link between the local community and the broader culture that loves these mountains.

He’s a link between the visceral and experiential — no one walked and paddled more miles inside the Blue Line than Clarence — and the thoughtful and even intellectual.

He’s a link between the old bones of the Park (spending summer days in the Cold River Country with the famous hermit Noah Rondeau) and the ambitious new conservation spirit (advocating for conservation of Follensby Pond).

Obviously, Clarence was controversial at times; not everyone — probably a small percentage of his neighbors — shared his vision for how the Adirondacks should evolve.

But I don’t know anyone who questioned his integrity or his earnest love for this landscape.

Do you have Clarence memories? Comment below.