NO ONE DIES

" No One Is Dead" written by Allan Priddy.

Allan Priddy was a larger-than-life man, as amazing as the folk heroes in tall tales he told around campfires. A glacier in Antarctica is named after him, a fitting tribute for a man whose heart was as big as a mountain range.

He was a master builder, a woodcarving artist, a dynamic story teller, a compelling writer, an inspiring teacher, and a humanitarian. From the Arctic Circle to Antarctica, he shared his expertise, teaching carpentry, camping and hunting skills, and wilderness survival. He volunteered countless hours leading Boy Scouts, teaching older adults, raising funds for the homeless, and building Habitat for Humanity homes. He lives on in the gifts he gave of himself to everyone. Gifts that are still giving. Here’s his story “No One Is Dead,” written on 11-17-2017.

No one is dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away.

It is a profound thought that whoever or however you touch the world would keep on rippling across life, like the ripples caused on a pond by a pebble.  But the truth is those ripples do radiate out in a course of time and have more and more energy the farther out they travel.

So what if your profound impact on the world loses a little bit of energy as each subsequence generation passes it on.  Still a person should not fret or stew about that impact losing energy in each subsequent generation it is passed on to. What matters is how many lives you’ve impacted directly.

It was said about school teachers: teach one apple but each apple has many seeds.

I would love to think that all of us send ripples in all directions.  These ripples touch others here and there and may miss you or others.  These ripples continue to radiate farther out, no matter how many people they touch or miss.

I, for one, know that I helped build 13 Idaho Habitat for Humanity homes, and I helped make a better home for all these families.  But to this day I have never heard back about any of these families, though I know in two of the houses there are now infant children who must be the children of the children who lived there when I built the house.  The ripples of life are still radiating out.

Years later, you go into a business and hear someone say, “I took your Class 25 Years Ago.” I used to teach survival so I must conclude that they have survived at least 25 years— hopefully, in part, because they learned how to survive from me.

I sort of think ripples are passed on to your children, grand-children and great grand-children.  But for me I chose not to have children, I believe there are enough screwed up kids in the world without me adding to it. 

But I would like to say I helped some of my students. I taught survival to Idaho State University Geologic Field Station Students for 30 years. I’ve taught Primitive Survival at Rabbit Stick (A gathering of Survivalists teaching their ways in Idaho). For 40 years I taught students to be better carpenters. I have been involved with Habitat for Humanity, where I’ve run crews for over 20 years, always leading and teaching.

Those ripples we cause in the world will not always be obvious but that doesn’t mean they are not there. Nor should we quit trying to send positive ripples out into the world. 

(Note from the transcriber – Allan’s ripples still resonate worldwide – from pole to pole, Iceland to Idaho he has been influential in thousands of lives, and subsequent thousands of other lives, with subsequent actions and interactions.  Yes indeed, he still lives and is not dead.) 

Transcribed by Cathy M. 2/8/2022