November 20, 2005

 

I like to believe that most of us take time to give thanks for the good things in our lives, particularly during the Holiday season.

With that in mind, I’d like to thank everyone who came to our shows in 2005. I hope you felt it was time well spent and that we sent you home, smiling. I’m also grateful for the continued dedication of our Wolf team. Whether musician, technician, tour manager or agent: each of you made the past touring season enjoyable and rewarding once again. The enduring loyalty of our supporters and the camaraderie and professionalism of our team, are a combination rarely found in the world of rock, especially after all these years.

        As a personal note, I’d like to say I’m also grateful that so many Americans and others, responded to the need created by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. At a time when there seems to be so much division in our country, it was heartening to see that we haven’t lost our capacity to care about the victims of misfortune. Now that 2006 has arrived, I hope that we will not forget them as they struggle to rebuild their lives.  

 

        In my last couple of notes I mentioned that Jutta and I have formed “The Maue Kay Foundation” a charitable non-profit entity that supports individuals and organizations engaged in the protection of wild life, the environment and human rights, and that much of our Steppenwolf memorabilia will be auctioned off, with the proceeds going to the foundation. Well the time has finally come. If you’d like to see what we have to offer, click www.ebaylinktobeplacedhere.com and you’ll find various items for sale. Right now we are in the midst of our third auction of collectables, with more to follow in the coming weeks. The response so far has been excellent. Charlie Wolf will continue to send E-blasts to those on his Wolf Pack list, to announce each auction. If you acquire any of the items for sale, you may wish to know where your money will be put to use.
Click www.mauekay.org  and you can view video clips, images and information about our school projects in Cambodia and Tanzania, the Elephant orphans in Kenya and several other entities the foundation supports. Jutta and I feel ourselves drawn more and more towards the positive life forces whose efforts on behalf of the greater good are an inspiration for us, and for that I’m profoundly grateful. Something said by a boy named Nkosi Johnson, who died of Aids in South Africa at age 12, has become a daily reminder for me. When asked how he could manage to smile or find joy in life when he knew he would die soon he replied:

“Do all you can with what you have, in the time you have in the place you are”

Until we see you once again.

Stay wild