This morning, I found the following email from reader Tim in my inbox:
"There’s a lovely common garden next to a small converted church on Degraw between Clinton and Tompkins that’s tended to by a sweet older gentleman who used to walk 2, (and recently just 1), small dogs. I noticed a few small bouquets fastened to the garden fence last night, with a few additional ones today, and fear the worst."
Sadly, the news of Chris
passing has been confirmed. The flowers that have been attached to the entrance to his little paradise are not only a tribute to a beloved neighbor, but also for his wonderful garden, which he tended for many, many years.
"I know many people are saddened by the passing of this dear, sweet man, who created a magical oasis and shared so much beauty with the neighborhood," local resident Teri wrote to me. "My son and I would always pass Christopher's "Secret Garden" and sing 'The House at Pooh Corner' by Loggins and Messina. It really was a sweet spot of magic for all of us. I can't shake how sad I feel….."
passing has been confirmed. The flowers that have been attached to the entrance to his little paradise are not only a tribute to a beloved neighbor, but also for his wonderful garden, which he tended for many, many years.
"I know many people are saddened by the passing of this dear, sweet man, who created a magical oasis and shared so much beauty with the neighborhood," local resident Teri wrote to me. "My son and I would always pass Christopher's "Secret Garden" and sing 'The House at Pooh Corner' by Loggins and Messina. It really was a sweet spot of magic for all of us. I can't shake how sad I feel….."
Lela Nargi, a writer who lives in the neighborhood shared this lovely sentiment:
"Behind this fence and these flowers lies the garden of a gentleman. For the 9 years we've lived in this neighborhood, and for many more before that, Christopher tended this serene space—with sharp clippers for reigning in the hedges and never-quite-violent words for the squirrels that chewed up his lawn. We shared snippets of our life with Christopher through this fence on still Sunday mornings, and accepted ripe figs from his tree, and wondered to ourselves if we would ever be lucky enough to be invited into the inner sanctum, like no one else, ever, as far as we could tell. Now it is our abiding sadness to bid Christopher farewell. The grace and the poise and the beauty of the block go with him, try as we might to hold on to the vision of loveliness he created here."
Lela told me that Christopher was a "very proper Englishman", who was in his seventies and lived on Tompkins Place, around the corner from the garden.
"For the last 2 years, he had been waging a losing battle on the mildew that was infesting his hedge, and spent endless Sunday mornings clipping it back, hoping this would mitigate it," Lela writes. "The last time I saw him, he told me that a developer had been pressuring his landlord (always assumed he owned the brownstone on Tompkins, but apparently not) to sell the garden plot, and he was losing hope that he'd be held off much longer."
Christopher will be very much missed in the neighborhood. Wouldn't it be lovely for us to join together to purchase the garden and to open it to the community as a way of honoring his memory?
It is probably a fantasy, but yet...
Do you, dear readers, have memories of Christopher and his garden that you would like to share?
****UPDATE***
Just got and email from Rick Anderson informing us that there will be a memorial service for Christopher Adlington on this Monday at 2:00 pm at St. Mary's Church at 145 W. 46th St in Manhattan.
"Behind this fence and these flowers lies the garden of a gentleman. For the 9 years we've lived in this neighborhood, and for many more before that, Christopher tended this serene space—with sharp clippers for reigning in the hedges and never-quite-violent words for the squirrels that chewed up his lawn. We shared snippets of our life with Christopher through this fence on still Sunday mornings, and accepted ripe figs from his tree, and wondered to ourselves if we would ever be lucky enough to be invited into the inner sanctum, like no one else, ever, as far as we could tell. Now it is our abiding sadness to bid Christopher farewell. The grace and the poise and the beauty of the block go with him, try as we might to hold on to the vision of loveliness he created here."
Lela told me that Christopher was a "very proper Englishman", who was in his seventies and lived on Tompkins Place, around the corner from the garden.
"For the last 2 years, he had been waging a losing battle on the mildew that was infesting his hedge, and spent endless Sunday mornings clipping it back, hoping this would mitigate it," Lela writes. "The last time I saw him, he told me that a developer had been pressuring his landlord (always assumed he owned the brownstone on Tompkins, but apparently not) to sell the garden plot, and he was losing hope that he'd be held off much longer."
Christopher will be very much missed in the neighborhood. Wouldn't it be lovely for us to join together to purchase the garden and to open it to the community as a way of honoring his memory?
It is probably a fantasy, but yet...
Do you, dear readers, have memories of Christopher and his garden that you would like to share?
****UPDATE***
Just got and email from Rick Anderson informing us that there will be a memorial service for Christopher Adlington on this Monday at 2:00 pm at St. Mary's Church at 145 W. 46th St in Manhattan.
(photo credit: Rob Cowan)
.JPG)
