{"id":1974,"date":"2010-03-25T10:10:18","date_gmt":"2010-03-25T17:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=1974"},"modified":"2020-04-29T15:10:20","modified_gmt":"2020-04-29T19:10:20","slug":"wild-child","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wild-child\/","title":{"rendered":"Dan Fogelberg"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; width: 100%; height: 450px;\" src=\"\/\/e.issuu.com\/embed.html?backgroundColor=%23d2d2d2&amp;backgroundColorFullscreen=%23d2d2d2&amp;d=201003aprsmaller&amp;hideIssuuLogo=true&amp;pageNumber=42&amp;u=portlandmagazine\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h1>Wild Child<\/h1>\n<h3><strong>Like many of us, Dan Fogelberg came up here to look for something. His wife, Jean Fogelberg, shares what he found&#8230;<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>April 2010<\/p>\n<p><em>Interview with Jean Fogelberg<\/em><br \/>\n<em> By Robert Witkowski<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-1989\" style=\"margin-left: 6px; margin-right: 6px;\" title=\"fogelberg\" src=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/fogelberg.jpg\" alt=\"fogelberg\" width=\"331\" height=\"331\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/fogelberg.jpg 331w, https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/fogelberg-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/fogelberg-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 331px) 100vw, 331px\" \/>What first drew Dan to Maine?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dan\u2019s first wife, Maggie. They were coming back from Europe\u2013she\u2019d taken ballet lessons in Blue Hill when she was young, and she said, \u2018You really need to see Maine.\u2019 He just fell in love with this place. Dan wanted an island. The realtor, Vance Gray [of Downeast Properties], told him, \u2018You don\u2019t want an island!\u2019 Then he saw the old sea captain\u2019s house on Deer Isle. It had grass coming through the floorboards, and he fell in love with it. He said, \u201cWill you take a check?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>His spending so much time here was a secret, wasn\u2019t it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dan guarded it very closely. Our house looks out on Eggemoggin Reach. Fans knew he lived in Maine, but for 25 years no one knew where. It wasn\u2019t until after he died [on December 16, 2007, following a courageous and soul-searching battle with prostate cancer] that the <em>Peoria Journal Star <\/em>contacted someone on the island, and they accidently gave it away. It\u2019s not a secret anymore.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You\u2019d been a guitar player and vocalist yourself. Are you still performing?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No. That was another life.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What do you do these days?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Mainly projects for caregivers. I work with the Blue Hill Memorial Hospital. I have a blog, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dontloseheart.org\" target=\"_blank\">dontloseheart.org<\/a> [named for his song recorded December 1996]. I\u2019m working on a pamphlet for caregivers. The focus is on the patient; the person with them doesn\u2019t have support. I often hear, \u2018We don\u2019t know what to say to them.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><strong>So you still live on Deer Island?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I could never move to\u2026well, anywhere, really.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us about Dan\u2019s quest to find <em>The Wild Places<\/em> in his life, and in his heart.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>He found them on the sea, in a series of boats that ended with his 36-foot <em>Minstrel<\/em>. \u00a0He loved that boat. He was sailing her right up to a month and a half before he died. On a whim, he even sailed alone to one of his doctor\u2019s appointments in Boston\u2013all the way from Deer Isle. Did I worry? Yes. Did I tell him? No.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What coves and islands off the coast carry living memories for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Our last cruise together was incredible. I had a new camera, and Dan wanted to take a couple of weeks to visit all of his favorite places. We took our time and let the wind and currents decide which way we\u2019d go. We went to Seal Bay, Frenchboro, Northeast Harbor, Southwest Harbor, Holbrook Island, Isle Au Haut, and Vinalhaven. We\u2019d set the anchor for a few days and go gunk-holing for hours in the dinghy. I was constantly shooting, from our feet in the cockpit to eagles and cormorants that seemed to be posing just for us. I didn\u2019t, however, take any photos of Dan. I promised not to, since the cancer drugs were taking their toll. It was a magical cruise, and for the first time I was the one who wasn\u2019t ready to go home.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Take us sailing with Dan. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is from his logbook, in 1994: \u201cAfter two nice days of daysailing to get my chops back, headed out to my favorite anchorage\u2013Seal Bay, Vinalhaven. Sailed wing on wing down Reach with NW breeze. Across Jericho. Motored through D.I. Thoroughfare (as usual) against light W. wind. Sailed across W. Penobscot and ran out of wind at 6 off Bluff Head. Motored to my usual spot and had a nice dinner of crabmeat pasta and salad. Never been here this early, but I\u2019ll have a full six weeks of sailing before tour starts in September.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Which of his songs speaks to you about his wild places the most?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Reach\u201d, although he wrote other songs specifically about his time in Maine: \u201cThe <em>Minstrel<\/em>,\u201d \u201cIsle Au Haut,\u201d \u201cCome To The Harbor,\u201d \u201cReach Haven Postcard,\u201d \u201cMountains To The Sea,\u201d \u201cFor A Carpenter\u201d (written for his friend Bryan), \u201cWindward,\u201d \u201cMagic Every Moment,\u201dand \u201cSong Of The Sea:\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Soundings taken at the edge of darkness<br \/>\nThe widest silences the heart can ever hear<br \/>\nYou can steer to the stars along your lee<br \/>\nSet you bearings to the song of the sea<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us some of his very small and endearing (or infuriating!) traits.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Living with Dan was a joy for me. If I had to think of one \u201cquirk\u201d that bothered me, it would have to be his habit of sightseeing while driving. As his head turned, so would his hands, and we\u2019d start drifting toward the center divider. I\u2019d say \u201cTack!\u201d and he\u2019d steer to starboard.<\/p>\n<p>I always accompanied him on the road; we just loved being together and couldn\u2019t even imagine being apart for days, much less months.<\/p>\n<p>In Maine, our routine was totally different. We\u2019d have breakfast and turn on his old Realistic Weatheradio and listen to the maritime forecast. Dan dubbed the new computerized voice \u201cSven,\u201dso Sven would tell us what kind of weather to expect, and we\u2019d plan our days accordingly. If Sven made any mention of sun, Dan would go to the store for provisions. I\u2019d help him carry everything down to the dinghy, then either row out to the boat with him for some cruising or a day sail or give him a kiss and a <em>bon-voyage<\/em> push.<\/p>\n<p>In rain or fog, we\u2019d tack our way across Maine to go antiquing or run errands, or we\u2019d stoke up the wood stove and read. In the evening, we\u2019d turn on the radio and listen to classic rock, NPR, or baseball or football. We didn\u2019t have television, so when Princess Diana died, we heard it on the radio. By 2001 we had a phone, so on September 11 we were on the back porch drinking tea when my father called to tell us that a passenger plane had just hit the Twin Towers. We had no images flashing over and over on a screen, just the sun shimmering on the water, so we turned on the radio and then sat there trying to imagine the unimaginable.<\/p>\n<p><strong>He seems to have been enchanted by the eternals here\u2013gulls, beauty, the sea, solitude, things you can\u2019t measure<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Dan refused to get a phone at the house in Maine for the first 15 years or so (and this was before cell phones), so when he was here he was totally cut off from the hectic pace of the music business. The only time the office in Los Angeles could talk to him was when he\u2019d drive to a pay phone and call them. He loved that, and being on the ocean only enhanced the feeling that he was out of reach. He was such an introspective, private person. That introspective nature allowed him to write the incredibly personal, philosophical songs he was known for. But the fame he gained from those songs meant that he would be in a different city every day, perform in front of thousands of people, and watch while the songs he poured his heart and soul into were either celebrated or torn apart by critics. So the time he spent \u201cout in the world\u201d was incredibly intense, and physically and emotionally draining. The time he spent \u201caway from the world\u201d had to be equally intense, and physically and emotionally healing. And he could only find that in the wild places.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Was he a night person? Did he write at night? Tell us about seeing him \u201con the phone\u201d with the universe he was so sensitively trying to understand up here.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Completely a night person. \u00a0We were never in bed before 2 a.m. At night he liked to read and listen to music. He\u2019d lie on the couch with a book and listen to classical music on the radio and take notes about pieces he liked and was going to order.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us some examples that illustrate just how ridiculously talented he was<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Ridiculously talented is very apt. Dan played a one-man show at Carnegie Hall when he was 27. He loved all kinds of music, and wrote and recorded songs in many genres: ballads, rock, blues, folk, bluegrass, Latin, jazz, country, and medieval. He played acoustic, electric, lead, rhythm, slide, and bass guitars. He also played piano, electric keyboards, banjo, hammer dulcimer, mandolin, bowed psaltery, sitar, and autoharp. On his last two CDs, he sang every part and played every instrument. He sold millions of recordings: one triple-platinum, four double-platinum, three platinum, and two gold albums. He was a talented portrait painter, illustrator, and photographer, as well as an amazing chef. Oh, and he did a James Mason impression that would slay me every time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us about his favorite public sailing destinations and waterfront restaurants in Maine, so we can feel him with us when we stop there.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dan sailed single-handed as far south as Boston, and as far north as Nova Scotia. But his favorite places to sail were the waters between Tenants Harbor and Englishman Bay. You could be cruising in any of these waters with him and point out a small island and he could tell you the name of the island, why it was named that, and its history.<\/p>\n<p>His favorite anchorage was Seal Bay, Vinalhaven. He also loved Roque Island Harbor. For dining, he liked mooring in Burnt Coat Harbor on Swan\u2019s Island, where Kevin Staples would come out in his dinghy with his dog standing in the bow, and take Dan\u2019s order for lobster dinner. They\u2019d talk for a while about life and music. Most of the time, \u00a0Dan cooked onboard. He\u2019d make meals like linguini and clams with a green salad and a glass of red wine. It was amazing what he could create in that little space.<\/p>\n<p>For special occasions, we\u2019d get gussied up and go to Arborvine in Blue Hill, where Beth would always welcome us warmly. In Camden, The Waterfront, or Cappy\u2019s for chowder, then down the hill to their bakery for coffee and pastries. On Deer Isle, the old Fisherman\u2019s Friend; then in later years to Lily\u2019s Cafe.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us the most courageous and inspiring thing he said, toward the end, that we can learn from\u2013whether it\u2019s life, music, health, spirit, love, or beauty.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The most courageous thing he said towards the end? That would have to be the songs he sang on <em>Love In Time<\/em>. He started recording the album right before the cancer diagnosis. The courage and determination it took to return to the studio over the next two years and finish the album, despite discomfort and drug side-effects, and knowing they were the last songs he would ever record, is astounding to me. The CD ends with a hauntingly beautiful chord that\u2019s eerily similar to the chord that opens the first song on his first album, <em>To The Morning<\/em>. Ask any long-time Dan Fan and they\u2019ll tell you, this is Dan telling us, life goes on. That, \u201cThere is really nothing left to say but come on morning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.addthis.com\/bookmark.php?v=250&amp;pub=portmag\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: 0;\" src=\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/lg-share-en.gif\" alt=\"Bookmark and Share\" width=\"125\" height=\"16\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/about\/contact-us\">send us your comments<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Interview with his wife, Jean Fogelberg.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,943],"tags":[234,239,235,127,238,236,237],"class_list":["post-1974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-personalities","tag-dan-fogelberg","tag-deer-island","tag-jean-fogelberg","tag-maine","tag-mainer","tag-music","tag-musician"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1974"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18384,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1974\/revisions\/18384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}