I visited with Val Govig the other day, June 18, 2021.
She is a wisp of the woman she once was. Down to ninety some pounds, white graying hair, so weak she has to be fed. It’s a far cry from the beauty she has always been.
Several months ago she began having seizures. Doctors determined there was a tumor in the front of her brain. It had been there, growing, for forty years. Now it was affecting her motor functions. It had to be taken out. The question was in which side of her head would they go? Either way, she would loss some function.
“It takes Mom a long time to now form words.” Her daughter Kari told me.
In the time I sat and visited with her she only uttered three: three sounds? Three words?
I asked her if she knew who I was. She looked at me with clear eyed and cogent and said, “Yes.”
I showed her several pictures.
One was her receiving the Ediken Award.
Another was my 21 foot Cody kite sequestered in the pit of the Plim Plaza Hotel at Ocean City during the first AKA convention.
It wasn’t until I showed her the photo of Bill Tyrell’s 450 square foot parafoil that flew that same day on the beach north of where I was announcing that she made any sound. It was a babble of recognition. This was the photo that she put on the reprint of Clive Hart’s book, “Kites, An Historical Survey.”
Reggie Morris is holding the leading edge
Ray Merry is coming around behind Reggie
Carolyn Staples is in the background (yellow windbreaker)
Gray Marshall is lying on the ground (I think)
Peter Lynn is holding the back tether line
Gerard VanderLoo is between Ray and Reggie (I think)
I had little to tell her about kites and kiting. I did tell her what I had been doing in the last few years. I told her of my travels in the steps of Richard Halliburton and of going to the Mayan area with David Stuart. I spoke of David’s ability to read the glyphs on a Mayan stela like I would read a newspaper, seamlessly translating into English after reading it in Mayan.
At that point, Val said the only sentence she said in my hour and a quarter visit. “Great stories Rick.”
She listened attentively. Her eyes were alive.
But then her eyes began to close. She needed to rest.
I inducted her into The Rainbow Warriors as an honorary member. I took the stamp Corey had made and given me and had placed the seal upon a strip of pillow case I had carefully cut for the purpose. It was the neatest hachimaki headband I ever did as a warrior. All others had been ripped moments before the kite rokaku battle, usually in the back of a van while drinking beer.
There’s a long history to all that. I don’t know how much of that was understood by her at that moment.
I spent the night at Kari’s house with her and her husband, Steve. We talked about all sorts of things. I slept in Val’s apartment, surrounded by mementos and pictures, many of which I knew. In the morning while Kari made coffee I told her of the graduation picture tucked in a crisscross band board. I said to Kari that the young gorgeous woman was a spitting image of Val’s other daughter Dana.
Kari smiled and said, “that woman is my twenty year old grand daughter, Angel.”
Kari and Dana were around during the heyday of The Maryland Kite Society and the forming of the AKA from a mailing list started by Bob Ingraham and formed into an organization by Val, but they were not active participants. Both Mel and Val would mention with pride whatever their daughters were doing, but it was separate and apart from kites.
There was a time, a brief time, where Kari came to help Val with the magazine, Kite Lines.
I remember well being in Detroit at the AKA convention that Pat Gillgalan had organized. I remember standing on a street corner with Dom Jalbert as he stood close to me and said, “Riick, Riick. You know there is really only one kite. One kite that stays nailed to the sky!”
I thought, “Yes, yes. I know Dom.” I nodded.
“And that,” Dom said triumphantly, “is the parafoil!”
It was at that convention that, knowing Kari had had a child, I asked her how old her baby was now. Kari has an unflinching way of looking at you. Her delivery is often with little or no change in timber or cadence. She looked at me an in that plain deep voice said that her baby was now seven.
When I reminded her of that incident she told me that baby was now forty.
I ran my mouth way too long that morning. I left late. But it was good.
Kari and Steve live in the area where Steve grew up. It is rural: corn, blueberries, wheat, squash, cucumbers are all part of the environs.
Val is in a nursing home. Kari goes to visit most days (every day?)
She would love to have things to show her mom.
Maybe you have a picture. Hopefully, one of you and Val together. A little vignette of what Val has meant to you. How she affected your life. Remind her who you are, hopefully she knows. Kari says there are good days and bad.
Maybe it’s a video. Some story of kiting. Something about KiteLines. Send it to me and to Kari.
I will try (maybe) to assemble all into a memory album. Kari will show them to her mom.
Time is not on our side. Don’t delay.
As I left the nursing home and drove back to Kari and Steve’s I rolled the windows down. It had been hot, but was now cooling off, at least in the shady parts of the ride. A threshing machine that had stood idle on my way to see Val was now back at its task. Golden brown dust was churned up behind it. What it was threshing looked like dried out grass a foot and a half high. Steve confirmed it was wheat. They planted in January then no rain came, then a deluge. It stunted the growth. Such is the discussion in a place like this. It is a cycle. A cycle that reached back eons in time.
The awful truth is on her doorstep. She is happy. She is grateful. She knows.
Don’t delay.
I can be reached on Facebook or at rfk at rickkinnaird.com
Kari Honeycutt can be reached at honeycuttkari at gmail.com
Rick Kinnaird
Photo Credits to Ted Manekin. Except my selfie with Val and the one he is in (probably Lisa Hayes, his wife took it.)
Thank you for writing this Rick. I have such fond memories of all things Kiting with the Govigs. So many great Kite Festivals, flying, Mom and Dad judging and cookouts after or on other weekends. Such a fun part of my childhood and something I’m happy to say my Grandkids enjoy too. Sending prayers and love to Val and her family.
Thank you Rick. I have great memories of Mel and Valerie visiting my little kite shop on their way home from China. Had to be in the early ‘80’s.
I always can hear her beautiful voice when I think of her.
Thank you Valerie for all the years if your wonderful memories!
You are a national treasure Rickboy. While i fought with her relentlessly over editorial decisions, and disagreed on so many things, i liked and respected her. Mel was one of the most professional and seasoned travelers i’ve ever had the pleasure of traveling with. All of this great kiting history, and where it has taken so many of us.
How fortunate we all are to have people like this in our lives.
Aoxomoxoa
Val is a neat lady. I always sought her out when she might be around. She had an incredible influence on me through her work as editor of Kitelines. I was sorry when she moved from Baltimore because I knew I probably wouldn’t see here again.
Bless you, Val.
Val & Mel hired me for brief time in the early 90’s. I worked as a staff editor & writer. Mostly remotely from Belleville, Ontario. Going down to Baltimore for some weeks as each issue of KiteLines was coming into focus. I stayed at their home during those times.
I learned so much. We were transitioning the magazine to desktop production using Quark Express. I would do some illustrations in Adobe Illustrator, especially for construction articles. I wrote some things. Sport kite reviews most typically, like Dean Jordan’s X-1.
I would write something. She would edit it. I would lick my wounds and carry on. I learned that there’s always room for improvement. I’ll never run out of words. No particular arrangement is so precious to not take the advice of a perfectionist like Val.
Mel and I twice made trips out to KTA. Once in Vegas. The other time in Florida. He was a seasoned traveler. I was a 20-something tag-along.
One time, a few years later, we were visiting on the occasion of the Smithsonian Kite Festival. Eric Curtis and Anne Sloboda were there, too. We took a number of pictures in the KiteLines office staging parabears like they were taking over.
I very much doubt that Val ever knew what an impression she made on me back then. For that I am deeply sorry.
I don’t know Val, but her life sounds very interesting. I only knew you briefly as that red headed boy. Your words are eloquent for a dear friend. As a Hospice volunteer, I wish we all could have friends and memories like yours and Val’s.
Thanks Rick, it is wonderful. And thanks for gave me e-mail.
I met her at 3rd AKA convention in Seattle. Also met many others Like Dom, Stormy, Ianuzzi, Bevan and so on. Since I stayed in Checkley’s house, I met a lot of people. I corresponded with Valerie many times mostly article on Kite Lines. She always wrote me with her beautiful writing. Always sincere and prompt. I have many pictures but I do not think I can post here.
My favorite memory of Val was coming back from the Detroit convention and the major issue of where we would stop to eat. Val was adamant in not wanting to stop at a truck stop which meant that Bill and Mel made sure to stop at a truck stop. Val sputtered and laughed and had gravy on everything. Sorry that bright light that is Val is dimmed but think of the memories playing in her mind. Thank you for sharing the news.
I remember getting a call from Val before the first East Coast Stunt Kite Championships, asking me to write an article about the experience for Kitelines. I did, and that writing experience helped me throughout my technical career. Thank you Val, for the opportunity to create and the gentle editing of my masterpiece 🙂 .
I only met Valerie once, when I was an invited flyer at the Maryland International Kite Expo (Women in Kiting) in 2000. Prior to that, we had exchanged a number of emails related to contributions to KiteLines magazine. And what a magazine it was!! I’ve hung onto all the issues I acquired over the years.
Meeting Valerie was a memorable experience … a lovely lady and FUN, too! When Karen Burkhardt purchased a rack of colourful leggings from a boardwalk boutique in Ocean City, Valerie was happy to don a pair and join in the merriment on the beach — the Sisterhood of Snazzy Spandex!
Despite the many miles and the international border between us, Valerie has had an incredible impact on me and so many others, worldwide. What a legacy. Much love and respect!
I met this sweet lady when Kari and Steve move her down to North Carolina. What an elegant lady. Absolutely stunning at her age. Sweet, smart, and beautiful.
I had the opportunity to spend some time with her. We went to lunch and to a little thrify store. We had a nice time. When we got to Kari’s and Steve’s, she told so many stories of the days with the kites!
What a precious time I will never forget. Thanks Mrs. Val! I love you sweetheart.
Beautifully stated, Rick.
Val brought me and countless others into the joys of kiting through her splendid publication. She became a good friend and we had many impassioned discussions about our common interest in kites.
The kiting world is grateful, Val. Thank you.
I had so many good memories, I reary get back
soon!!
I just saw Rick’s post about Valerie. I met the Govig’s at the MKS retreats. Because I worked for Doubleday, I think Valerie felt we were kindred spirits. Well, we both love books and kites and history. I loved that Kari brought her Mom to the last few MKS retreats so that she could still be part of it all. She is a treasure!
When I was AKA Regional Director, I got to help Roger Chewing organize Women in Kiting for the Maryland International Kite Festival. It was so much fun. We had a tent just for the Women in Kiting where people could stop by, talk & meet the ‘Women in Kiting’ from the organizers and publishers like Valerie & Margot Brown; to kite makers like Kathy Goodwind and Tanna Haynes and Barbara Meyers; to organizers like Sue Mason and Robyn Gardiner; to sport kite competitors like Sherri Arnold and myself. It was a splendid weekend of multi-generational kite experiences and participants.
At various AKA conventions Mark & I would at least have a lunch or 2 with Valerie, or we would give Valerie a lift to some part of the event or other. I always loved talking with her.
Please tell Valerie we love her and she is in our thoughts.
I love Valerie, for her beauty and charm. She has been a wonderful friend and her passion for kitting will forever be remember as those that have formed the foundation of the AKA.
Thank you compa Rick for kind words and for always being there when our friends need you.
Love to you my dear friend…”vuela con dios amiga”
When I opened my kite store in Georgetown, The Kite Site, in 1976, I quickly made the acquaintance of all the hardcore kitefliers in the area, including a sweet, beautiful woman named Val (and a crazy red-haired guy named Rick).
Val persuaded me to help underwrite her new magazine, and gave me two lifetime subscriptions in exchange for the donation. I gave one of them to my father, a veterinarian in Glencoe, Illinois, He kept the current issue in his waiting room for years, and I’m sure it elicited both puzzlement and interest, among the usual reading fare of medical offices.
Val also encouraged my idea oft selling kitemaking supplies, and I believe The Kite Site was the first store in the county to do so on a mail order basis. I took out full-page ads for years in Kite Lines magazine, to promote the business and help support her efforts. She and Mel were wonderful people, as were all the members of the kiting community that I’ve ever met. I haven’t really been much involved with kites for a long while, but those times still live with me.
And BTW, Rick, the guy in the second picture with the reddish hair and beard is Phil Cline, who started a kitemaking business in his basement called Kites, Kites, Kites.
What a tremendous influence you have made on so many lives. Thank you for your guidance, powerful display of intelligence and supporting humanity to shine through in such a culturally rich historical/artful/scientific/playful manner. (I still have all my Kitelines going back to the 1970s!) Thank you for Truly Caring and never forgetting us, encouraging us to carry on, to reach new heights. You have always pushed us forward into life. You look so peaceful Val. Love forever. Give my love to Mel. Thank you Rick.
Before social media there was Kitelines. I saw the world of kites reading the magazines. I also learned about kite making workshops and attended my first MAKR 20-some years ago. A few years ago I attended an MKS workshop and my roommate was Valerie. What an honor! And that fall we roomed again at the AKA convention in Ocean Shores. I am blessed beyond words for her many influences in kiting and her friendship.
Wow. This has left me without words. I still remember, sitting down to eat at the MKS retreat in Westminster. I had my oldest daughter with me. At the time she was 3, maybe 4. Valerie sat with us and said something to my daughter. What it was I forget. But my daughter responded with “well, actually….” Valerie got such a kick over such a little girl using such big words.
Val introduced me to kite world when I received thirty years of kite magazines from her when I said I wanted to learn about it all. She has always been so gracious, kind, humorous, and encouraging. Love to you Val. You have added so much to my life in the past twenty two years. Thank you. Xoxo, Tz Lee
Val is exceptional. She brought knowledge, grace & charm to everywhere she went. I was always so impressed by her. I hope she received even a fraction of the joy she brought to everyplace she went. I never saw her without that incredible smile.
I didn’t know her as well as i would have liked, and that is truly my loss.
Val was always kiting’s most elegant, graceful, and pleasant contribution. Her smile lit up every room she entered. Kitelines magazine has been a significant recording of kite’s recent history. She and Mel did us a great service recording kiting’s current place in history. For which i will always be incredible grateful.
Val is one of the best people in the kite community. She led my family and I into many new areas of kite flying through her love of books which she shared with us. We spent good time on the field also and will always treasure her visit to our humble kite event when she relocated to NC. Thanks Val for making us better.