A while back Jared and I had a conversation concerning a man he read about in a book, Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer. It is a bestselling non-fiction book accounting the adventures of Christopher McCandless. In his travels he came across, Salvation Mountain and it's so to speak, architect Leonard Knight. Thought the story was interesting but did not really look into it any further.
Then recently when looking at the pictures on a friends website, I saw pictures of this amazing place, Salvation Mountain, and I read the following about this interesting man:
Arriving in the Imperial Valley in the late 70’s, Leonard felt lead to share a message of a higher power; the idea that God is love. Quick to point out that he did not build (really a hill with a decorated adobe facade) for attention he maintains an increasingly ambitious project to complete the mountain.
The spry 72-year old is facing the inevitable question all Dreamers ponder -- "Who will remember me after I am gone?" He's been at it for over 20 years, and has much more to build at Salvation Mountain. But he senses some urgency -- that time may be running out. He does his work in the early morning, and then spends much of the rest of the day entertaining people who stop by. Can he find the time to "finish" it -- and will it survive his eventual passing?
He asks visitors to help in a letter-writing campaign to preserve the Mountain. "A lawyer told me the only way to preserve this thing in a hundred years is to have Congress protect it nationally. I'm on squatted land where I shouldn't be, anybody with money can take it down, anything can happen. How can I possibly protect it so your great grandkids can see it 80 years from now?" He shows a plaque from the Folk Art Society of America, proclaiming Salvation Mountain is, "worthy of preservation."
"I gotta get this thing known all over the place." Spread the word.
Leonard says he currently has more paint than he knows what to do with. I suggest providing a small cash donation instead, so, as he puts it, "he has something a little better to eat than paint."
Check it out........Leonard Knight, his story is fascinating:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Knight or http://www.salvationmountain.us/
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