The Cowboy Counselor
He was part of a group of my campers when I served as a counselor in the 1980’s, and he went on to many and illustrious (if I can use that term) years on staff. The Greg Turk (or just Turk, as he came to be known) inspired dozens, if not hundreds of archers, wrangled horses and coaxed these large animals with confidence and coolness, and looked nothing like the 9-year-old boy that was my camper in 1985. That boy was a bit pudgy, and a bit clumsy. (I feel I can make that characterization having fit the exact description as a 9 year-old myself.) But even at that age, he exuded a cowboy ethos of calm. He was a boy of few words who would grow into a man of maybe even fewer.
Turk was an awful correspondent. If he got back to you, it was a surprise. I think he had a smart phone, but never bothered to find out what was “smart” about it. In the last few weeks of his life, his phone blew up with texts, a result of me reaching out to his Camp friends and letting them know that Greg was dying and that he hoped to hear from them. “They’re ruining my phone,” he told me. “Tell ‘em to call.” But, as his lifelong friend, fellow camper and staff member, Dan Moroney shared, “He could light up a room when he walked in.” He made everyone feel comfortable.
Part of that magic may have been the fact that this pudgy 9 year-old boy grew into a very handsome man. During one of the years he worked at a dude ranch in Arizona, the TODAY show did a segment at his place of employment. The lead correspondent took a shine to him and invited him to spend some time that summer with her in the Hamptons. He spent half that summer rubbing elbows with super-models, hedge fund titans, and folks that often appeared in People Magazine. Oh, to have been a fly on that wall! He returned to Camp with great stories, and a real appreciation to be back amongst us regular folks.
I am not sure I ever knew that Turk was a horse guy. He had led archery for years, coached baseball and other landsports, but also harbored a secret love of horses. When he asked to come back to Camp and work with the horses in his 2nd or 3rd year, I was surprised. He was a tireless advocate of what is known as the “gentle method” of training and even arranged for one of his mentors to put on a clinic at Camp and work with our herd. Turk went on to build a life around horses and horseshoeing, working at dude ranches and then as a traveling farrier. As you might imagine, it was a tough life and very physically demanding. He was charged, bumped, and bruised countless times, but he kept going back.
When I shared with our online community that Greg was not well, our message board lit up. “Man, I learned a lot from that guy.” “What a good dude - he taught me so much.” Several of his Camp friends were able to visit him in the last month. He didn’t ask that they come. In fact, he asked that they not. But when they showed up, he picked up right where they left off with Camp stories and memories. Unable to really talk about the future, they talked about a wonderful past and in the moment, that seemed more than enough to let a person know he was loved and will be missed.
Safe travels my friend.