Remembering Chuck Brumley: 1940-2010

Chuck Brumley and I had what I like to think of as a Blue Moon friendship.

Blue Moon is a cafe and meet-up spot in Saranac Lake.

If you sit there long enough with a cup of coffee your head will explode with interesting conversations and encounters.

Chuck wrote commentaries occasionally for North Country Public Radio, but some of his best dish came in the form of quick asides and observations.

He had a hand in a hundred different things and was passionate about most of them. Here’s a small excerpt from the remembrance in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.

Chuck’s more serious and longer-lived pursuits included various construction projects, from banjos to rustic cabins, and for most of his adult life he led and/or played in jazz, folk, bluegrass and rock bands, variously playing trombone, banjo and bass.

He taught history for a time at North Country Community College in the Adirondacks, and he served on the boards of libraries and charitable and environmental organizations.

In addition to writing the first book-length history of Adirondack guides, Chuck himself became a licensed guide and started his own Adirondack tour company.

Maybe the thing Chuck and I shared most was our absolute love for Saranac Lake, a village that adopted us both.

(Chuck arrived in 1984; I didn’t turn up for another 15 years…)

In addition to being uniquely, even thornily himself, Chuck was also part of the woof and weave of this mountain town.

Now I guess he becomes part of that beautiful, organic not-here-but-still-here energy that happens uniquely in small, tightly-knit places.

Go here and you can hear Chuck’s voice again, talking about the things and the places that he loved.

If you have memories of Chuck, feel free to comment below.