Categories: People

The Euell Gibbons I Knew – Part II

If you have not read Part I, please read it first.

We ended Part I with the fact that “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck was based on the life and experiences of Euell Gibbons.

Euell left home at the age of fifteen for the Northwest. Once there, Euell wandered, supporting himself by working at odd jobs and foraging. It was while he was in Washington that he met his first wife – yes, contrary to Wikipedia, he had two wives – Anna Swanson. He described their years together as The Days of Wine and Roses because they both had drinking problems. Euell’s drinking binges were brought on periodically, and were always preceded by one of his great bouts of depression. He could go years without a drink, but once the depression set in, he was drinking. This was a life-long problem.

Anna bore him two sons, but they were divorced by 1944. When Euell’s draft number came up during WWII, he applied for “alternate service” because he was a committed Passivist, and spent two years as a carpenter, making ships for the soldiers.

Euell moved to Hawaii after his stint in the army, and became a beachcomber, finishing his high school education and attending the University of Hawaii where he earned his degree. It was while he was in Hawaii when he met his second wife, school teacher Freda Fryer. She bore him no children. They taught on Maui until 1953 when they joined the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and moved back to the East Coast to teach in the Quaker Schools. Euell was a committed Passivist, so the Quaker life agreed with him.

In 1963, they moved to a farm in Troxelville, Pennsylvania, where Gibbons continued writing his books until his death in 1975. He died of a ruptured aortic aneurysm , a known complication of the Marfan syndrome (genetic disorder of connective tissue) that he was born with.

His Grape Nut commercials introduced him to millions of people, resulting in his appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and The Sonny and Cher Show. These appearances resulted in more book sales, which was where Euell made most of his money.

There was a side to Euell that few knew about. He believed, as Jesus taught, that charitable gifts should be done in absolute secrecy. And Euell was enormously charitable, but family members were sworn to secrecy in his world-wide benevolence. I will respect his wishes except for one, and the reason is because it proves that Euell knew what he was writing about in his books.

With his own money, he gathered up samples of wild plants and sent them to Penn State for nutritional evaluation. He knew what was in every twig, weed, and pine cone! So if you’re lucky enough to get hold of one of his books, you can be sure about the safety and the nutritional value in everything he writes about.

Euell was a complicated, passionate man who always fought for the “little guy”. He made some mistakes along the way, and definitely had his share of weaknesses – don’t we all? – but he was a people person who genuinely loved and was loved in return. I will always remember Euell Gibbons.