I just heard my friend,
Coconut Grove legend Allan "Jellyfish" Aunapu, has weighed anchor for the last time. What a
warm, generous person he was, a tie-dyed sailor filled with child-like
wonder.
When I met Allan in 1974, he was charging down the Grove's Matilda Street on a
10-speed bike, his head held high by a neck brace.
Stopping him I had to ask, "Did you break your neck riding this bike?". He
proudly answered, "Uh huh!".
Finding it hard to slow down, he died in his final biking accident three days ago. I imagine, as usual, he had a smile on his face and and his next adventure on his
mind (he was a planning to ride his bike to New York).
Allan's life was filled with all sorts of high-speed escapades. When he passed last Thursday he was six-weeks short of his 80th birthday.
The son of a motorcycle racer had a need for speed. He showed up
at our place on his latest crotch rocket two years ago, in the rain. He assured
me at the time, "I've only taken it up to 109 but I think it'll go
faster". When I'd say, "Slow down, that's crazy, we want you here for a long time" he'd couldn't hear me. Crazy, dangerous thrills were essential to him.
When we spoke two months ago he was recovering
from his most recent accident. "I totaled my bike hitting a curb but
the one I replaced it with is pretty quick too!", he bragged.
Who do you know who wore the same clothes for fifty years? Allan's
choice was tie-dyed overalls. As I walked with him at the 2006 Oregon Country
Fair he was mistaken for Wavy Gravy repeatedly. When
he laughed and said, "No, I'm Allan" they were sure it was
another one of Wavy's jokes.
(At a reunion of the original King Mango Strutters two years ago)
In the 80's he drove a tie-dyed dune buggy. He
called the total effect, "Hippy camouflage", invisible to the police.
Woodstock? Of course he was there. Allan, being part of the stage crew, became friends with many of the concert's performers. He taught David Crosby to sail.
"Jelly" was a joy to be around, ever-smiling, optimistic, with many
sailing stories to share. His buddy, Bobby Ingram, swore Captain Allan
could navigate a boat in his sleep, "I was at the helm, far from land,
lost at sea in the early 70's. Aunapu woke up next to me, glanced at the
stars and said, 'Head east now. We'll be in Miami tomorrow ". "He was right!", Bobby added, "lost no more".
Like Bobby, Allan was a talented musician. He was the star of our
parties every time he picked up a guitar and played "Zombie Jamboree". *
Early on I asked my easy-going friend about his "Jellyfish" nick-name. He replied with a smile, "I've
got no spine and go with the flow".
As an attorney, I represented Mr. Aunapu in court several times. When
he was busted for riding his bicycle on I-95 he explained it was the
fastest way to get through Miami. When a cop ticketed him for driving
an overloaded vehicle, he told the judge, "It's true we had ten people
in a car built for five but we were having a party, it was fun, and I
was driving safely".
Defendant Allan J. Aunapu was found not-guilty on both occasions. I got paid in mangoes. Judges love him because he was both entertaining and absurdly honest.
When we started the King Mango Strut parade in 1982 Allan had to be in our silly procession. I could always count on him to play a role that no one else
wanted... like being Michael Vick's killer dog. In his late 60's, he crawled the entire
parade route pretending to be an angry pit bull. He growled, barked and "pissed" on the roadside audience who, of course, loved him.
Jellyfish had
been in dozens of our silly parades when he tried to participate in last
December's Covid-induced virtual version. Unfortunately, tech problems got to him,
"I can zoom on a motorcycle but not on a computer", he concluded.
How lucky I am to have been his friend. If you see a shooting star
tonight, Captain Allan is probably at the helm, seeing how fast it will go.
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Below, you can open the link to a short tribute to Allan, the first captain of Pete Seeger's sloop, "Clearwater". Allan was so proud of the ship as well as his son, siblings, his extended family, and his many friends. "Jelly" was planning to drive his electric bike to the annual Clearwater reunion in New York when he left us.
https://www.facebook.com/sloopclearwater/videos/465797014620075
*___________________
Hear Allan's version (2016) of "Zombie Jamboree",
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92oWyVgouNA
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"Clearwater's First Skipper id Dead" article in the Times Union,
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Clearwater-Sloop-s-first-skipper-is-dead-at-79-15954751.php?fbclid=IwAR03rT_z7enblL9oxrJp34E_2asPxRv3jbZY_LNN8ztnzThb-VPzD_lJyK0
