What's happening., December 10, 1987, Page 5, Image 5

REMEMBERED
Paul Bestler
tty Karen Irmsher
p
aul Bestler died December 1, in the home his friends had
rented to help care for him while he battled mesothelioma,
cancer of the pleura—the sacs which contain the lungs. He
was 42.
He was perhaps best known as one of the prime organizers
and sustainers of the Growers Market food-buying coop, but his
other contributions to Eugene’s alternative community are in
numerable. Several hundred friends gathered Sunday morning,
December 6, at the Growers Market Building to share memories
and pay tribute to his life. It has been proposed that the building
be renamed the Bestler Building.
“He was certainly the most generous person I’ve ever known,
not just to institutions, but to individuals,” says long-time friend
Al Coddington. “Paul has helped so many people in so many
ways in .this town.” His first memories of Bestler go back to the
early 70s—of a hippie with a long red ponytail, rototilling peo
ple’s backyards in exchange for a dinner.
Bestler had been in Eugene less than a year then. He was born
in Richmond, Virginia. The time spent at Wabash College, in
Indiana, earning a B. A. in Economics and Political Science had
only confused him about his life direction. When he graduated,
he was immediately drafted into the Marine Corps for three years.
The year he spent in Vietnam as a Marine supply clerk only con
fused him further.
He married Ellen Weaver in 1968, and when he finished his
stint with the Marines, they pooled their money—a whopping
$1,200—and spent a year traveling, mostly by thumb, in South
America and Mexico. He and Weaver separated when the trip
was over. She came to Eugene, and he traveled around some
more. Six months later, he piled all his worldy possessions on
a motorcycle and moved to Eugene too.
Traveling in Latin America, he said, jolted him into focus.
He decided he wanted to become a political activist and that
Eugene was a good place to do it.
“It was 1971 and a lot of people were angry and I was too.
I just wanted to change the world,” he says.
Typical of Bestler, he wasted no time. On his fifth day in town
he spoke at a public hearing. Downtown merchants were trying
to make laws against noise, dogs, bikes, sitting on the grass, etc.
on the mall. He disagreed with their priorities. He soon found
himself an active member of two groups, both considered radical
and subversive at the time: the Eugene Brigade, which published
The Auger, an underground newspaper; and the Council of the
Poor, which he characterized as “serious revolutionaries—peo
ple who thought violent revolution might be necessary.”
It was through his work with the latter group that he became
involved in setting up Growers Market. The idea was to cut out
the middle man so that people could buy food directly from food
suppliers, thus cutting the cost. Operating out of a rented build
ing at Third and Lincoln, in December of 1971, 19 families
ordered food. By the summer of 1972, the volume had grown
to 350 orders.
About that time, the Market separated from the Council of
the Poor to become an autonomous organization. As the organi
zation grew, its size and economic impact was seen as threat
ening to the “powers that be.” It was burglarized, spied upon,
plumbing was cut off, the building was padlocked by the sheriff,
and the city asked their landlord to evict them. These problems
were solved by buying the current building at 454 Willamette.
Bestler played a major role in getting together the funds for the
down payment, selecting the building, and handling paperwork.
At its peak, in 1975, the Market processed over 500 orders
weekly. Now it limps along at 20-40 orders a week, but the build
ing still serves as a gathering place for social change activists.
It also offers low-rent office space to such low-budget, high-ideal
groups as McKenzie River Gathering, Citizens Action for Lasting
Security and Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides.
Bestler said that after about five years he saw that his activism
had centered on “mostly self-help stuff-things where people
without the ability to do something have organized and managed
to do something bigger than they could have done alone.”
He also helped found the first Community Garden (1972),
McKenzie River Gathering (1976), and Genesis Juice Co-op
(1977). As treasurer of the White Bird Medical Clinic and OUR
Credit Union boards, he helped transform both of these finan
cially troubled and poorly managed organizations into financially
stable, respected community institutions. He also guided peo
ple through the process of building their own homes through
classes at LCC. In April of 1986, the Voluntary Action Center
selected him as one of 11 Volunteers of the Year.
“He was extremely creative,” says long-time friend Ronna
Friend. “He had wonderful ideas about how to make things work,
from cars to organizations. And he had a strong sense of fair
ness—of treating people fairly and of being treated fairly.” Any
situation where a problem existed, he would search for solutions
in which all the participants would feel good about the outcome,
she says.
live years ago, although already experiencing recurring bouts
of chest pain then diagnosed as pleurisy, he was working
60 hours a week to help 21 low-income families build their
own homes. That was through a federally funded program called
Homestead Self-help Housing. At the same time he continued
to serve another 10 hours a week on the boards of OUR Credit
Union, White Bird, Growers Market, and McKenzie River
Gathering. “I never could let go of anything,” he mused. “Once
I got involved, I stayed involved.”
This pace finally took its toll on his health. Al Coddington,
who worked with him on the housing project, believes Paul finally
pushed himself too far during this time period.
His friends agree that he habitually pushed himself too hard
and often forgot to take the time to just relax and enjoy himself.
This took its toll on close relationships. Marion Sweeney, a close
friend and former sweetheart, says she was often kept waiting
for hours while he stopped to fix things for other people when
he was supposed to be meeting her.
Bestler, who never remarried, said that for him Growers
Market served as his main family base. When he decided to battle
Paul Bestler
his cancer through a diet of supplements and fresh-squeezed
juices, although doctors offered him no hope, he turned to that
family for help. He asked Ronna Friend to set up the situation
he would need while he went to a cancer clinic in Mexico to
receive instruction in the diet. Friend said she didn’t need to spend
much time as organizer. Once she got the word out, people quick
ly divided up responsibilities.
When he returned from Mexico, the belongings he needed had
been moved into the house his friends had rented for him. He
liked the atmosphere of the rented house better than the house
he owned on Augusta St., located too close to 1-5 and filled with
10 years of the clutter of his life—too many reminders of un
finished projects, he said. One window of his new bedroom faced
on a backyard thickly bordered with vegetables and flowers
through the summer and fall.
Although he had envisioned lazy walks by the river, he rarely
left the house. He wanted to put all his energy into healing
himself. His friends came in, four shifts a day, to squeeze the
juices and provide other help. The day before his death, he still
spoke of the possibility of getting well.
“He was really angry about dying,” says Friend. “He fought
it all the way. He didn’t want to die.”
After his death early Dec. 1, a steady stream of people drop
ped by the house to pay their respects.
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