RIGGER, HUSBAND, TEACHER, FRIEND … by Scott Wilson & Ian Weedman HONORING THE LIFE AND MEMORY OF THE EXTRAORDINARY BRION TOSS It’s cliche to say that they just don’t make them like that anymore, but it’s been something we’ve heard often and from many sources in the days since Brion Toss passed away. Brion was a Renaissance Man, with talents and interests ranging across the spectrum of human endeavor. Walking into his eclectic rigging loft beside Point Hudson Marina in Port Townsend on any given day, you might indeed find him fabricating standing rigging and tucking splices for a customer’s boat, engaged in the traditional business of rigging. But you might equally find him working on lightweight, fire-safe ways to secure helicopter seats for the U.S. Navy, or drumming up a storm on odd bits of hardware with staccato and hypnotic rhythms he came up with himself, or demonstrating a manual of arms with his katana, or paging through the latest science fiction thriller. He did all of it with wit, wisdom, keen insight, and speaking 48º NORTH
and writing skills that put professional speakers and writers to shame. And all while serving as the most devoted husband on the planet; his love for and dedication to his bride, Christian, were the stuff of legend. There was no surer way to see a smile on that bearded face than to ask him for a story about her—and he had many. Sometimes, it seemed entirely unfair to the rest of us that all that love, wisdom, talent, and knowledge be fused in one mortal soul. And it makes it that much more unfair that mortality has now reached out and reclaimed that soul and all those talents. But underlying all those things, Brion was one other thing: a teacher. And because of that, those gifts will live on. He reached many people through his books, such as The Rigger’s Apprentice or Chapman’s Guide to Knots, or his famous
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