PERSONAGES 9 – EDDIE OSBORNE

I welcome 2022 with this Blog about my dear friend Eddie Osborne! Many of you personally know Eddie and those of you that don’t will want to meet him.  Thirty two years ago Eddie and I met at a friend’s house at about 1:00 a.m. Jim and I were playing a game called Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of Lounge Wizards off of a floppy disk when through the front door appeared Eddie and another friend of mine. Eddie became a friend that evening! I wasn’t living in the ‘burg then but when I would return to visit I would see him, usually at Players Restaurant where he was the waiter extraordinaire!

A self-described farm kid, Eddie was born and raised in rural Missouri.  In 1969 he graduated with 18 classmates from Chilhowee High School.  That same year the Viet Nam War was raging and like many young men of that era he was faced with the very real possibility of being drafted into the army.  The first year of the draft lottery his number was 3 and to preclude induction he joined the United States Navy in January of 1970. His first duty station was Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.  Located eighty miles north of Seattle, Washington he remembers it as a beautiful Island but a very small community. One year later he was transferred to a ship being built in Long Beach, CA with the eventual homeport of Norfolk, Va.

His life underwent a profound change in 1976 when a friend asked him to be her Lamaze coach! That experience helped him realize at that point he no longer wanted to be a part of an organization that took people’s lives and applied for discharge as a conscientious objector. His application was approved and he was honorably discharged in October of 1977.

He stayed in Norfolk working in restaurants and as a stage hand at the Virginia Opera Association. Making friends in the community he joined the Ghent Arts Festival Committee serving in many capacities for the Festival. He soon became the Maitre’d at the renowned Hotel Chamberlain and was good at it and liked it. Finding his niche in food service he also served on committees for the Harbor Fest which saw the Tall Ships arrive in 1976, and also the Waterfront Festival where he met Ray Charles. He says that these events were more gentile and sophisticated than Woodstock with cocktails not cocaine. These events hosted over 100,000 people every year and Eddie served as stage manager and announcer and realized he could perform!

Eddie says that he was born in Missouri but grew up in Virginia! However in 1984 he returned to Missouri and quickly moved to Warrensburg.   In 1990 he thought about returning to Virginia but because of the words of two very influential women in Warrensburg he stayed – both said, “please stay, this town needs you!” and stay he did.  Many know him through his employment in the hospitality industry at Heroes, Players, the University of Central Missouri and Powell Gardens, others will know of him from other aspects of his life.

In 1996 Eddie developed, produced and hosted an internationally listened to radio program for KCMW (later KTBG) Radio located at the University.  Named THE ECLECTIC CAFÉ, the show aired for seventeen years. His programming included music that many people had never heard before – noting that it was music for the Mind, Feet, Heart and Soul. I remember often seeing the group Saffire-the Uppity Blues Women perform in Madison, WI and when I told Eddie about them he shared he had worked with them early in their career and already had their CD’s!

Others know him from his involvement in our cultural community.  A life-long patron of the arts Eddie first produced his “Concerts in the Courthouse” in 2009 when the Johnson County Historical Society hosted the traveling Smithsonian exhibit “New Harmonies:  Celebrating America’s Roots Music.”  The concerts were held in the county’s original courthouse (circa 1842).  This historic building was the site of 1870 trail over the shooting of a dog made famous by George Graham Vest’s impassioned closing argument in the case (https://www.warrensburg-mo.com/591/Old-Drum). 

He chose the Courthouse as the venue because of the proximity to the exhibit and how the acoustics of the building lent itself to an intimate connection between the performers and audience.  The concerts were presented without amplification and the venue was lit with the judicial placement of candles and mirrors. 

Although currently postponed due to the pandemic, the concert series has expanded to minimum of 12 performances over a six week period.  Continuing his theme of “music for your mind, feet, heart and soul” he brings in performers from multiple genres whose music supports that narrative.  He raises money privately to pay performers and offers the concerts to the community free of charge.  Any freewill donations are accepted and donated to the historical society.   Beginning with the first concert in 2009 the series has in the years since presented 185 concerts and donated over $6,000. 

Now retired, he reflects on a life that has been shaped by the sum of his experiences how he’s thankful for all of them.  In his essay “In praise of the imperfect life” he wrote “while my life hasn’t turned out as I thought it would and other than the discomforts du jour it’s been pretty darn good.”

In pre-pandemic times Eddie would host monthly get-togethers at his home.  These events came with a few simple rules for his guests.  He required you bring a sense of humor, an opinion and tolerance for the opinion of others, the beverage you wish to consume and most importantly you don’t have to agree, but you do have to be nice.  He would invite people who didn’t always know one another for an evening of good food, thoughtful conversation and good natured jocularity. Eddie modeled his gatherings after those days of us gathering at our friend Maurine Achauer’s house for salons of the present (homage to Perle Mesta of course)  When I asked if it was possible what guests he would he invite to his salon he shared authors Kurt Vonnegut and Tom Robbins along with musicians Bob Marley and Claude “Fiddler” Williams. 

He is thankful to be a part of our community, having been able to create and develop his own community – meaning everyone is welcome. He would tell his twenty-one year old self to be appreciative of affirmation but don’t let it become a need. Like his friend Morris Collins once said,” let the life I lead speak for itself” and Eddie follows that advice!

…and he is one of the most authentic people I have ever met! Thanks for being my friend!