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Deep Cove Road update
Darwin’s proposed development plans for Raven Pub site rolling along
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Chatter around the Cove
Windsor class of 1992 reunites, longtime owners of For Pet’s Sake at Parkgate retire
September 2017
9900 Circulation East of the Seymour River
Unforgettable friendship: marbling Mann’s brain by MARIA SPITALE-LEISK Kevin Dubois doesn’t recognize his best friend. Trapped inside John Mann’s body is an unbridled energy. Dubois was drawn towards it. We all were. You’ll have to excuse me, I’m not at my best I’ve been gone for a month, I’ve been drunk since I left These so-called vacations will soon be my death I’m so sick from the drink, I need home for a rest ... Take me home! Spirit of the West challenged you to not tap your toes to that up-tempo tune played in watering holes from coast to coast in the 1990s. You lost. Dubois, a longtime Deep Cove resident, was a fan of Mann before he became famous. Maybe it was because they were both artists but, for whatever reason, the two just clicked. The Squarerigger Pub, near Ambleside Beach, in the early ’80s was the setting. Dubois watched as Mann and these young fellows jumped on stage and created this energy that he couldn’t describe. “They were the real thing,” says Dubois of Spirit of the West’s early days. “As soon as they started to play you were taken in by them.” In those days Spirit of the West toured from one end of the North Shore to the other and everywhere in between. Dubois was a fixture at their shows. The iconic frontman’s girlfriend, Jill Daum, just happened to be friends with Dubois’ girlfriend, Erian Baxter, owner of Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak. Soon the foursome was inseparable, spending many summer days at a special spot up the Arm, where the boys would go skinny dipping. Seal Point is what they called the spot but geographically the cabin was located just before the old powerhouse. “Yeah,” says Dubois with a laugh and a nostalgic sigh. “I’ve got a lot of stories. There’s ones with clothes on, clothes off.” The friends were back on the water paddleboarding in Deep Cove recently. But it was different this time.
Dubois’ voice softens. “It just sort of showed me how quickly his decline was,” says Dubois. His fit friend, by outward appearances, struggled to control his body on the board. Dubois stepped in to save him at one point. Mann has early onset Alzheimer’s. Less than 10 per cent of people diagnosed with dementia are under the age of 65. Mann was 51 when he found out he had Alzheimer’s in 2014. As his neurodegenerative disease progresses Mann is losing his identity, his agility – his ability to move people with his music. Some days he can’t even speak. But Mann hasn’t lost his spirit. Dubois did an awareness walk for Alzheimer’s recently with Mann. Suddenly, a Spirit of the West song blasted from the loudspeaker to start the event and Mann perked up. “And John just flew into full-on dance, gyrating to the music, just absolutely incredible,” says Dubois. “So he still has that in them.” Before Mann was given his devastating diagnosis, his brain was a sparkling source of life and creativity. Dubois, a professional painter-printmaker, says he was honoured when asked to capture the essence of his longtime friend in a brain sculpture for a special art installation in Toronto. The Telus Health Brain Project aims to use art as a vehicle for conversation and start a public conversation about brain health and bring awareness to diseases like Alzheimer’s. Selected artists took blank brain sculptures and teamed up with famous Canadian personalities including Mann, Kurt Browning, Wayne Gretzky and Peter Mansbridge to put their ‘minds’ on display. The blank brains were transformed into beautiful, energetic and thought-provoking pieces of art. “Jill asked John, ‘Who would you like to represent you?’ And John said ‘Kev,’” says Dubois of how he came to be a part of the project that’s close to his heart. “I was absolutely honoured and joyful and elated that John would honour me that way. I would do anything for John.” The art project also afforded Dubois
Deep Cove artist Kevin Dubois has marbled the brain of his best friend and Spirit of the West lead singer John Mann for an art project which aims to bring Alzheimer’s awareness. PHOTO SUPPLIED JENNY WALTON
the opportunity to spend some precious time with Mann. The two friends sat around his studio in the spring, while Dubois drew Mann. He burned through many canvases, not wanting to miss a single crease on his face. If he was to do a caricature of Mann, Dubois says he would LD WI N S Y A MO ALW SAL BC
highlight his big blue eyes, which can’t hide Mann’s enthusiasm for the world. “John’s an engaging, interested, compassionate, knowledgeable, genuine and all-around accepting person. So he see Mann page 3
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