Caleb Schaber

Caleb David Schaber (March 23, 1973 – April 17, 2009) was an American artist and journalist best known for his participation in the Seattle Monolith project at the beginning of 2001 and his run for mayor of Seattle later that same year.[1]

Caleb Schaber
Caleb Schaber and the Seattle Monolith
Born
Caleb Schaber

(1973-03-23)March 23, 1973
Niles, Michigan
DiedApril 17, 2009(2009-04-17) (aged 36)
Gerlach, Nevada
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of Washington
Known forPainting, sculpture, and music
Websitehttp://calebschaber.com/

Early life

Schaber was born March 23, 1973 in Niles, Michigan.[2] He attended school at the Gifted and Talented Academy in Fairplain and enrolled at Lake Michigan College at the age of 16.[3] He graduated Lake Michigan College in 1991 and moved to Seattle in 1993.[4] He enrolled at the University of Washington in 1995 with a major in anthropology and a minor in art, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2002.[3]

Life in Seattle

Shortly after moving to Seattle, Schaber did a cannonball off the 167-foot high George Washington Memorial Bridge while intoxicated.[4] He broke his spine and spent nine days in the hospital. A steel rod was used to repair his back. He is one of only 30 people to have survived the 15-story plunge into Lake Union from the bridge.[5]

While studying for his degree at the University of Washington, he wrote for the school newspaper The Daily. One of his articles was titled "Flatulence is natural – free a fart".[6] Many of Schaber's articles generated responses from the readers.[7]

Schaber was a bartender for the Blue Moon Tavern and while he worked there he painted images of the presidents above the urinals in the men's room. Schaber said, "We called them the Presidential Fountains. People could go in and cast their ballot."[2] He enjoyed modern art. He owned a custom-built guitar made from an old bike that was showcased at Make magazine's Best of Maker Faire 2008. He owned an art car and was involved with the Burning Man group of artists.[8] He worked on the political news show Deface the Nation with Jeff Pearson.

The Seattle Monolith

Early on New Year's Day 2001, a monolith mysteriously appeared on Kite Hill in Seattle's Magnuson Park.[9] The monolith was similar to the one in Stanley Kubrick's movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. There was no indication of how it got there or who put it there. The event made front-page news in The Seattle Times'. The media dubbed the object the Seattle Monolith as the news traveled across the United States and other nations.[9][10]

On January 3, the monolith disappeared as mysteriously as it had appeared.[10] The monolith was later found on an island in the middle of Seattle's Green Lake. Schaber came forward as a spokesperson for a group called Some People, who created the monolith, stating they had installed the artwork but didn't know who moved it to Duck Island.[11] The group wanted help to retrieve the artwork and asked for permission to have it reinstalled at Magnuson Park.[12] Schaber became a bit of a celebrity during this period and remarked that "We're just pleased that we were able to send a positive message out to the world from Seattle."[4]

Race for mayor

In April 2001, Schaber declared his intention to run for mayor of Seattle.[13][14] Although he did not believe he would win, he took the race very seriously.[2] He felt the police department should have cops on the beat in local neighborhoods. He supported the Monorail and he thought the city should have a permanent tent city for the homeless.[2] Gus Hellthaler, owner of the Blue Moon Tavern, helped with Schaber's campaign.

Combat journalist

In 2004, Schaber traveled to Iraq as a combat journalist embedded with the Nevada National Guard. Schaber covered the war on the front line. Schaber spent ten months covering the war in Afghanistan when he was embedded with the Indiana National Guard in 2006.[15]

Death

On April 17, 2009, Schaber died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Gerlach, Nevada.[16] Schaber had been suffering from post traumatic stress disorder for several years. Memorials in Schaber's honor were held in multiple places across the country, including:

  • Buchanan, Michigan
  • Reno, Nevada
  • Seattle, Washington
  • San Francisco, California (Ocean Beach)
  • Gerlach, Nevada (Frog Pond)
  • Austin (Dead End)

Legacy

A scholarship in Schaber's name was established for the study of visual arts at Lake Michigan College.[3]

A biographical feature film (which originally began as a co-written treatment in 2007) based on Caleb's life, times, art, writing and videography during the recent Iraq and Afghanistan wars has recently resumed pre-production after a period of mourning by the filmmakers, who were longtime friends of Caleb's before his untimely passing. Through the telling of his life story, the filmmakers wish to celebrate Caleb's DIY spirit as well as offer an empathetic, entertaining portrait of a complex individual whose way of life raised as many eyebrows as it did spirits (both in the bottle and with sentient beings) around the world. Along with the feature film, a book Caleb was working on is also slated for completion and release.[17]

See also

References
  1. Beason, Tyrone (December 31, 2002). "The Seattle monolith: an odyssey". The Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: Frank A. Blethen. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Archived from the original on September 28, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  2. Brodeur, Nicole (April 24, 2001). "What inspires Caleb to run? 'Real people'". The Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: Frank A. Blethen. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Archived from the original on September 28, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  3. "Caleb Schaber 1973 – 2009 – Obituary". Tributes, Inc. 2009. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
  4. DeBell, Sara (2001). "The Man Behind the Monolith". Seattle Press on Line. Clark Internet Publishing. Archived from the original on May 1, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  5. Raley, Dan. "Life After the Fall". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Seattle, Washington: Roger Oglesby. ISSN 0745-970X. OCLC 3734418. Archived from the original on March 10, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2010.
  6. Schaber, Caleb (October 8, 1996). "Flatulence is natural – free a fart". The Daily. Seattle, Washington: Kristin Millis. OCLC 19464732. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  7. Martin, Michelle (1997). "Caleb Schaber no Hunter S. Thompson". The Daily. Seattle, Washington: Kristin Millis. OCLC 19464732. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  8. "The Best of Maker Faire 2008". MAKE. O'Reilly Media, Inc. May 9, 2008. Archived from the original on July 3, 2011. Retrieved June 20, 2010.
  9. Higgins, Mark (January 2, 2001). "Anonymous monolith brings a landmark movie to mind". The Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: Frank A. Blethen. p. A1. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Archived from the original on September 28, 2012. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  10. "Seattle's mystery monolith disappears". London: BBC News. January 4, 2001. Archived from the original on March 7, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  11. "Mysterious Seattle Monolith Reappears on Island". ABC News. New York City: American Broadcasting Company. January 5, 2001. Archived from the original on January 29, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  12. Martin, Richard (January 5, 2001). "Monolith to make Magnuson encore". The Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: Frank A. Blethen. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Archived from the original on September 28, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2010.
  13. Murakami, Kery (May 7, 2001). "Running for mayor when you're unknown, it's an art". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Seattle, Washington: Roger Oglesby. ISSN 0745-970X. OCLC 3734418. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
  14. Anderson, Rick (September 12, 2001). "Election daze". Seattle Weekly. Seattle, Washington: Ken Stocker. ISSN 0898-0845. OCLC 17527271. Archived from the original on June 13, 2011. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
  15. Brodeur, Nicole (February 19, 2006). "Painting a picture of danger". The Seattle Times. Seattle, Washington: Frank A. Blethen. ISSN 0745-9696. OCLC 9198928. Archived from the original on June 22, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  16. King, Tim (May 3, 2009). "Combat Photojournalist Suicide: The Price of Conflict is Too High". Salem-News.com. Salem, Oregon: Bonnie King. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  17. Barron, Susan. "Eighty Feet Tall". EightyFeetTall.com. West Oakland, CA: Susan Barron. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved April 5, 2012.
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