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I've been corresponding a bit with Linda Miller of the Huntington
Beach International Surfing Museum. She's told me some things about
Dick Dale that I was completely unaware of, but that really touched
me. As a result, I'm starting to appreciate Dick Dale, or should I
say, Richard Monsour, the man, much more. I'm posting a few
excerpts of what she wrote, with her permission, as I thought some
of you might be interested in reading this. Truly this man is an
enigma. How can somebody that seems so self-obsessed behave in such
generous and kind manner? Amazing. If you're interested, make sure
you read the whole thing, cause I'm posting it in the order I
received, and some of the most personal details are towards the end.
Linda writes:
Dick and I are best friends since he became best friends with my son
Scotty when he was alive....Ever hear of Scotty Miller the kid DD
dedicated his Cd Spacial Disorientation to with a write up in his
liner notes....Scotty fought a long hard battle with muscular
dystrophy with lot's of loving help from DD over a few years....My
husband who is Scotty's dad and I were dealing with this devastating
disease any way we could...My husband couldn't deal with it most of
the time but DD was there to pick up the pieces every time thus
holding this family together...I had a crush on DD when I was a
teenager hanging outside the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa but had
lost contact with him when he was dying of colon cancer...I thought
he had died but discovered thru Scotty he was very much alive so we
went to one of his concerts and when he came into the audience and
took note of Scotty it would develop into much more....I turned into
a lifelong friendship, helping us thru Scotty's toughest times, his
untimely death, a shaky marriage that he helped put back together
and a friendship that continues to grow ever stronger...DD is THEE
greatest humanitarian that ever walked the face of this
earth...Since he survived his bout with an incurable cancer that got
miraculously cured he has literally helped 100's of special needs
families like ours....Dick was instrumental in getting me a custom
made Martin guitar to accommodate my limited ability due to muscular
dystrophy....He recently saved my husbands life from a diabetic coma
by helping me figure out why he was acting bizarre and out of
control...DD is definitely the best friend this gal has ever had...
In another email, Linda writes:
we lost Scotty June 30th, 2002 but that was 13 months more than he
was expected to survive....We were told in May 2001during another
one of his numerous trips to the hospital that he wouldn't survive
the weekend because he was in congestive heart failure....We brought
him home and called Dick to give him the unfortunate news...We
formed a prayer vigil with friends & family, which of course
included Dick but 2 weeks went by and we miraculously still had
Scotty...It was at that 2 week mark that Dick said to Scotty, "Are
you going to wait to die or continue living and fighting as you have
always done in the past?" To which Scotty asked "Can I do that? Do
you mean I don't have to stay in bed and wait to die? Dicks
answer "If I have to come and help mom get you out of bed I will do
so." Then Dick went on to share what he learned from waiting to die
himself from the cancer he was told would kill him in 3 months at
roughly tha same age as Scotty...He said, "Scotty I studied every
religion and karate for the spiritual aspect of it, they all taught
me the same thing, to concentrate of living not dying and feeling
how you want to feel.....That's all Scotty needed and next day he
not only was out of bed but his nurse and her family took him to the
LA Zoo...Much to everyone's surprise he wasn't home when they came
to pray with him and they all shook their heads in amazement...Dick
called everyday to make sure his best buddy had what he needed and
Mom stayed strong thru it all so she could make it thru this
terrible ordeal...The thing that's most amazing to me is Dick has
been helping other families for years and never blows his own horn
about the humanitarin side of DD...We've met many of these families
so we know it's true and that's how DD's circle of family grows
cause he considers al of us family...He'll tell you he's sure all of
us and the many future families he will help is the reason why he
survived cancer and 5 other tragic episodes that nearly killed him
and continues touring to be able to do so....If you read the liner
notes of Spacial Disorientation you will read Scotty's excerpt but
the rough mix Cd was dedicated to Scotty at the Endless Summer Jam
Concert in Newport Beach in 2001...Scotty worked extensively with
Dick on that Cd to perfect it, giving DD encouragement and advice at
a time when Dick's father was dying....I'm happy to say both Scotty
and Dick's father lived long enough to see if produced...Scotty, me
and John were there when Dick debuted it at Omega Music in
Hollywood.....3013 is Dick's son Jimmy's song cause Jimmy was born
Jan 13....Scotty's favorite song on Spacial is "Walkin"....Silent
Night I told Dick needed to have a kleenex box issued with it cause
it's so beautiful...I have never heard Silent Night done as
beautifully as Dick's...Yours is a song he and his mom used to sing
to his dad but he forgot the words so Scotty found them on an old
remake Cd by Vera Lynn from England 1942 and gave it to DD but of
course after Spacial came out...Yours is a song written during the
war for soldiers going over sees with words such as Yours till the
stars lose their glory, Yours till the birds fail to sing., for I
was born to be just yours....When you know the words its a beautiful
piece...DD is one of THEE most sentimental guys you'll ever meet...
I've often said I should write a book about the humanitarian side of
DD so his fans and fellow musicians would know.
