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  "Tears in Heaven" Written by Eric Clapton & Will Jennings Performed by Rich Charron Do you have any pictures, videos, or personal stories of or about Mare that you'd like to share with us? Please contact Rich. Just Posted (08/21/08): A note from Fran and from her brother Bunk! |
| MARE TO BE REMEMBERED THIS SATURDAY For those of you who wish to commemorate the life of Marilyn (Mare the Maid) Gordon-Corwin, we are pleased to announce a life celebration party will be held in her honor, this Saturday, at one of her favorite spots; the outdoor verandah of the Tap Room at Dubsdread City Golf Course. This will be a very informal gathering of family and friends who will come together to share memories and photographs and throw back a drink or two in remembrance of Mare. Dress is casual. No suits allowed. A private area has been secured on the Verandah. The group will have a dedicated outdoor bar and server, and light snacks will be provided as part of the minimum required catering buy. Bar tabs and lunch tabs (should you care to dine) are the personal responsibility of each attendee and donations will gratefully be accepted to defray the mandatory costs associated with reserving the space. At the conclusion of the Life Celebration, those who care to, may join family and other friends, as they take the short drive over to Rollins College Campus where the ashes will be joined into the Lake, from Dinky Dock, in accordance with Mare’s wishes. If you would like to attend the party at Dubsdread, it is important you kindly R.S.V.P. to WANZIE prior to 11 AM on Saturday so the facility can be properly prepared. MARE’S LIFE CELEBRATION
Saturday October 18, 2008 2 PM - 4 PM Dubsdread City Golf Course 549 West Par Street (1 block east off Edgewater Drive) Orlando, Florida 32804 |
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WELCOME ... to the living memorial to our dear friend, Marilyn Gordon-Corwin. Or Corwin-Gordon. Or Gordon. Or Mare, Mare the Maid, or even Miss Mess Mare! She was known by many endearments, answered to many different names, but was the same, unique spirit to us all! Mare was one of those people that you always consider one of life's constants, a part of each of our lives that we never thought for one minute might someday not be here. No matter the direction or life journey that we all seemed to take, we could always re-connect back to earth, the very foundation of life and our inner-spirituality, by simply dropping by for an organic respite within Mare's company! As Jeff said above, she almost always had a "drink in one hand and her cigarette in the other ...", neither ever prevented her from sharing her worldly philosophies, her hippie-take on contemporary issues, or her well-read and, more often-than-not, very astute opinions on earthly matters! For those who didn't really know our Dear Miss Mare, it may seem that she was more a mess than an intellectual giant. Don't be so misled by her physical premise! Mare clearly enjoyed her journey through her earthly life, but navigated within her own set of parameters. As a love-child of the 60's, she never let loose her grip on the notion of peace, love, and happiness! And let's not forget about sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll. Although as Mare moved into the 90's, the sex stuff became much less important to her. Though Mare had run into some rough times here in Central Florida a few years back and headed north to live with family, it was always good to keep in touch. Mare loved the Internet. She couldn't get enough. It was her window and door to the world and she sucked every bit of bandwidth that she could get out of her archaic Macintosh computer, with it's snail-like 14.4k dial-up modem. She never let her Flintstones' version of an Internet connection slow her down. In fact it's as if she felt more comfortable moving at those speeds just as she did her old black and white TV's. Why ruin it all with color and quality sound! I always admired Mare's ability to live in the world by her terms and how she never really took things too seriously. She was very opinionated, but at the end of the day, you do your thing and she'll do hers. It's that free spirit that I will always miss and smile just a little bit when she crosses through my thoughts. She certainly loved her music and was easily one of my biggest fans. I am composing a piece of music for her and will post it here just as soon as it is complete. In the meantime, I've recorded a version of Tears in Heaven, made popular by one of her favorites, Eric Clapton (see music player above). I don't personally know for sure whether there is a heaven or any place like that, but if there is, I'm sure that Miss Mess Mare is looking down at all of us, grinning, with that cigarette tucked into the corner of her mouth, one had wrapped securely around a glass of wine or beer, and the other giving the world her middle finger! We miss you already Mare! - Rich  VIDEO Just added! This is a quick video clip of Mare from Michael Wanzie's Christmas video that we all made back in the early 90 to mid 90's. Many of Wanzie's friends had all chipped in to buy him a VCR for Christmas (boy, he's got some great friends). David Dorman and I borrowed a video camera and went around videotaping his friends sending a special holiday greeting and we loaded the tape up into his new VCR. It was fun, but a lot of work! Anyhow, this is Mare's greeting. The video is kind of old, but you get Mare in all of her glory! Enjoy ...  (Quicktime movie file)
Do you have any pictures, videos, or personal stories of or about Mare that you'd like to share with us? Please contact Rich. WELCOME || FRIENDS || ANNOUNCEMENTS || VIDEO || PICS PICS All of these images have been submitted by friends and family! Credit given when it is known. If you see something mis-identified, please let us know right away! Do you have any pictures, videos, or personal stories of or about Mare that you'd like to share with us? Please contact Rich. Here's a little hidden treasure that
Mare did not share with many people. She seemed very shy about
sharing them, no matter how many times so many of us assured her that
they were absolutely beautiful. Well, we didn't have a chance to
ask, so we took it upon ourselves to share them with all of you.
I hope you agree that they really are extremely beautiful, while
sharing with so many of us a part of her life long before many of us
had the good fortune of knowing her.
 CLICK TO ENLARGE! Do you have any pictures, videos, or personal stories of or about Mare that you'd like to share with us? Please contact Rich.
WELCOME || FRIENDS || ANNOUNCEMENTS || VIDEO || PICS We'll have details about a memorial event in Mare's honor soon. Please check back soon! FRIENDS Please submit your stories, thoughts, prayers, or otherwise, by sending an email to Rich. We'll get it posted ASAP! Please include your name (at least your first name) and your location. Bunk, Tallahassee ... On the 19th of October, 1944, a
massive hurricane called "Pinar del Rio" slammed into the Florida Coast
at Sarasota and made its destructive way across Central Florida. By
October
Fran,
North Carolina ... 21st it
had entered the Atlantic at Jacksonville leaving in its wake 300 dead,
$10 million in damage, a ruined citrus crop and my sister Mare. From
that time on, my mother often defined Mare's life in terms of the
hurricane that accompanied her birth.It's tempting to push that hurricane metaphor when speaking of Mare. She was certainly as difficult to ignore as a category three, and her direction and force were unpredictable. For those of us lucky enough to have been in her path, there were lessons to be learned if we were attentive enough to notice. From her I learned that the Universe -- or The Source -- or God -- or Whatever knows what you need and will provide. If you don't get it; you don't really need it, so let it go. Things like TVs, cars, computers, houses and so forth would come to her unbidden. I recall, as an example, that after her recent return to Florida, she was plotting how she might get a driver's license. Her old license had been suspended when she let her car insurance lapse. While this problem was playing in her mind, an envelope arrived from the State of Florida. Inside was a brand new, shiny Florida driver's license. She couldn't account for this since she had not contacted anyone in the State. I simply assumed that the God of Motor Vehicles noticed that she probably could use a license. Some people feel that we find the teacher that we need when we are ready to learn. Mine blew in from the Gulf of Mexico right behind a killer hurricane. Who woulda guessed? I will miss her. -- John Hanlon Marilyn Elizabeth Hanlon and I
met at Orange County Vocational School in 1963. She was there because
she had been ill and didn't get a chance to finish high school and I
was there because I had taken college prep courses and didn't want to
go to college. Somehow we met and found out she was one day older than
me and she became the keeper of our age. Our friendship of many years
began and I nicknamed her Mare. She told me years later how much
she liked it...that it made her feel special.
I was a bit more of a daring person than she and the people I associated with were not quite what she was use to. Mare was very straight and mainstream. I know that's hard to believe, but she was about as square as a cube. We had quite a few adventures while in school. Afterwards we still saw each other, but I ended up going to Maine for awhile, it was either that or get a job. After I got back I found out that she had gotten married. She worked pretty hard at being a dutiful wife. But her first husband just couldn't be unsquared. Mare just wanted more than to be a suzie homemaker. And more adventures were on the horizon. Our lives were intertwined for many years. And really her physical demise has not ended anything. One of my granddaughters is name MareLynn Elizabeth. We were her family in North Carolina not by blood, but by choice. -- Fran Becky Fisher, Orlando ... Mare "the maid" Gordon was a
wonderful, complicated person who was my one time next door
neighbor. She was a friend. I knew her for nearly 18 years
and she was quite a character. Funny, spiritual, depressed,
burdened, loving (to many others, but not so much herself). She
was often fun to hang out with, and I had some good times with her in
her "Sandford and Son" style homes. I let her babysit my daughter
on a few occasions (day time only). She had one really fun
dress-up session with Kyla that she would talk about for years to
come. I hired her to clean my house a few times, but she had such
severe ADD, not a lot would get done. She would be in my home for
8 hours or more. No dusting, vacuuming or tidying was
accomplished; nothing that I needed to have done. My
refrigerator, however, would be spotless! (and smell like
Pine-Sol) Oh, well. I loved her. She thought of me as
a balanced person (even at my worst). Everything is
relative. She made me laugh. I will miss her.
-- Becky Fisher Having
known Mare for about as long as anyone, there are many memories to
relive.
What a blast she could be. What a pain in the ass she could be. How insightful, intuitive and loving she could be. How irritating, demanding and a general nutcase she could be. But Mare was Mare and those of us who knew her had a love for Miss Mess. I remember staying up all night, literally, drinking beer and wine and smoking and singing at the top of our lungs ... over and over and over again to" Danny's All Star Joint " by Ricki Lee Jones then going to breakfast at Brian's on Orange Ave., completely "pan-fried", to quote Mare. She helped me move on more than one occasion and me her. I looked after her bird and she kept an eye on my sh*t as needed. To her capacity she was there when you needed her. I'm sure I won't be alone in feeling sadness, and also feeling an inner smile when thinking of Miss Mess Mare the Maid. Rest in Peace, Mare -- Brian Davis Jeff Horn, Orlando ... I met Mare 18
years ago through
our mutual friend Brian Davis. Like Brian - Mare was very much a
free
spirit and I found that appealing, and in Mare's case, oftentimes
fascinating.
I always felt I was born ten or twenty years too late as I wished I had more "hippie" influence and no friend of mine provided more hippie influence than Mare. I've never known a person who seemingly had so little and yet had so much. Not only did Mare have a lot of knick-knacks and memorabilia she also had a wealth of knowledge and was always willing to sit and converse with anyone willing to spend the time with her. Though not a musician she was our own Joan Baez-Janis Joplin-Rickie Lee Jones. With a drink in one hand and her cigarette in the other there wasn't a spare hand for food but Mare's priorities were already in-hand. One time at a party hosted by Brian he left several hours into it and departed with a couple of the attendees to go to the disco [P.H.] without inviting the few others still there, which included Mare and me, so upon our departure from Brian's apartment Mare said "I'll show him to be so rude" and she picked up a couple of bottles of vodka to take with her and as we were leaving she accidentally dropped them at his front door causing a mess. Assuming she had done it on purpose, and not believing me stating otherwise, Brian insisted that she must have thrown the bottles at his door and he refused to speak to Mare for weeks following the incident. I think I finally made some headway with Brian by insisting, "Would Mare really have thrown away good liquor?" Another of my favorite memories of Mare was our going to the Parliament House and her drinking for free each time - picking up people's full drinks that they had left on the bar while taking a spin on the dance floor. I will miss our "Miss Mess Mare" and long cherish the memories of this most unique and wonderful person. My heart-felt condolences to Elaine Ewen Wood, Rev. Wayne Wood, and John Hanlon. -- Jeff Horn Elaine Ewen Wood, Jacksonville ... My favorite Mare story has to do with the time we all went to Theatre Downtown to see Rich Charron, Doug Bowser, and Michael Wanzie in a show called THE HEAD. In this show, Michael played the part of a disembodied head, being kept alive by a mad scientist. Michael’s body was mostly beneath stage level so it appeared as though he was merely a head sticking out Please submit your stories, thoughts, prayers, or otherwise, by sending an email to Rich. We'll get it posted ASAP! Please include your name (at least your first name) and your location. Please contact Rich. We'll have details about a memorial event in Mare's honor soon. Please check back soon! We'll have details about a memorial event in Mare's honor soon. Please check back soon! |
of a
life-sustaining box too small for his body. Charles Cooper drove Mare
to the show just after she had smoked a good deal of pot, with a flask
of Jagermeister in tow. The two of them drank like mad 'till curtain
time. By the time the show started, Mare was “Pan-Fried” and seated
front-row-center, and talked through the entire show as though she were
sitting in her own living room. She apparently didn’t care much for the
play and in a completely quiet moment, she yelled out, loud enough for
the entire audience to hear, "When can we leave? I have to go home and
kill myself." I actually remember that story often and have a
brand
new laugh every time. In fact, I was just telling Michael that when I’m
blue I’ll purposely call that incident to mind just to make myself feel
better, because I can’t think of her saying that, and not laugh.