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Norb Blei & The Clearing

Photo by Don Emmerich.

When Norbert Blei died on April 23, it marked the end of an era for The Clearing and Door County. For 40-plus years, he was a “fixture” on this peninsula, including the 128-acre part of the peninsula that is The Clearing. His death also marked the end of an era for the community of writers that he taught, tutored, mentored, coached, guided, coaxed, prodded, edited, published and, most importantly, inspired for so many years.

To say that Norb was a “force of nature” at The Clearing, probably more than any other instructor, is an understatement. It will take a while for many of us to fully realize that we won’t see him again, walking down the flagstone path in front of the Lodge during his class week, head down, body bent forward and arms full of books and papers, or wheeling into the dining room at the last second, sliding into his chair at the south end of the courtside table, knowing that there are probably a thousand things on his mind, most notably the stack of student manuscripts he needs to read before day’s end, and that having to stop to eat was taking valuable time.

Norb usually taught his weeklong class at The Clearing in June, usually during the second week in June, and he was scheduled for that week – last week – this year. So many of Norb’s students were at The Clearing last week. They honored and celebrated him during their week of writing. (The class was taught by Al DeGenova, who was already scheduled to be Norb’s assistant instructor this year, and Susan O’Leary. Both Al and Susan are long-time students of Norb and both have served as Norb’s assistant instructor in past years.) Of course they missed Norb deeply. His absence left a huge void. That’s how much Norb meant to his students and how much his students meant to him.

Norb was completely devoted to the writing craft. Yes, he wrote, and prolifically, and still had, I’ve been told, one or two books in progress and several others in mind. These unfinished works are our loss. But as devoted as Norb was to his own writing, I think he was even more devoted to helping others write, helping them become better writers, and helping them publish their work. There are many “gems” in print – the works of his students and other writers – because of Norb.

Writing has become one of The Clearing’s main areas of study over the last few decades, and Norbert Blei was as responsible as any one person for this growth. He began teaching here in 1973. His was the only writing class that year. This year, there are nine weeklong writing classes at The Clearing, plus four one-day workshops.

Norb taught his weeklong class most years since 1973, making him, as far as I know, the instructor with the second longest tenure of teaching service in The Clearing’s history. Only Win Jones, who taught watercolor painting here for 40 years – from 1969 through 2009 – taught at The Clearing over a longer span of time. Norb goes back a long way in The Clearing’s institutional memory. He started teaching here when Claire and Dorothy Johnson were The Clearing’s Resident Managers, continued on through the 24 years that Don and Louise Buchholz were the Resident Managers, and then for the 13 years since Don and Louise retired. And he was planning to teach again this year. The fact that he will not be teaching this year, or ever again, will take some time to fully sink in.

Norb, as many people know, was a man of strong opinions and convictions. And he was not shy about letting those opinions and convictions known. So it was not unusual for Norb to be “at odds” with certain people. I was one of them. We had our differences over the years, and this, regrettably, in one particular case, resulted in Norb not teaching at The Clearing for two years. I was more to blame for this than Norb, something I have always regretted and of which I am not proud. But you can’t undo what’s been done or unsay what’s been said.

Fortunately, however, time really does heal all wounds, at least most of them, as it did in this case, enough at least for Norb to return to The Clearing, where he continued to teach, tutor, mentor, coach, guide, coax, prod, edit, publish and, most importantly, inspire his students. I think he’ll continue to do these things, if only in spirit, for years to come. That’s what great teachers do – they continue to teach even after they’re gone.

For more information about The Clearing, visit theclearing.org, call 920.854.4088 or stop by the Jens Jensen Visitor Center, located at 12171 Garrett Bay Road in Ellison Bay, open Monday – Friday, 8 am – 4 pm and Saturday – Sunday, 12 – 4 pm.

Peninsula Arts and Humanities Alliance, Inc., is a coalition of non-profit organizations whose purpose is to enhance, promote and advocate the arts, humanities and natural sciences in Door County.