Very sad to learn of the death of local musician and all around great guy John “Mudbone” Dieckman. John played guitar and pedal-steel with many local bands, and I knew him best from his days with Kenny Gunn and The Pistols. Who can ever forget The Drunker I Get, The Better They Look,  John’s stirring version of Tulsa Time or the whimsical Crabs? John also loved softball and was a free spirit. I remember one sultry summer day in the late 1970’s when a bunch of us teens were playing a pickup baseball at the field between Kenmore East and Brighton. It was one of those scorchers where the weather guys were telling people not to exert themselves too much, and a dust-devil or two swirled down Eggert Road. I looked up through the dripping perspiration and saw John in the distance running down Eggert RD from his apartment several miles away. That was John, exerting himself. Back in the day John wore his hair long and had a very 70’s mustache. Combined with his gigantic frame the whole look was quite imposing. He was larger than life.

Fast forward to 2008…

John was very fond of my father, and his dad and mine were in the same nursing facility. Mudbone would stop by and talk with my dad for hours. My brother Dick and I thanked him profusely, and John said “Don’t thank me! I enjoyed it!” This past summer our fathers died within days of each other, and we were able to offer solace to one another. Three months later and now John is gone. He will be missed by legions of people whose lives he touched.