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June 20, 2011 - NYC
It is with great sadness that I write this, but of our friend Clarence Clemons is gone! We all have suffered a great loss. The music world, the fishing conservation world, and the world of true souls who care lost a big one. Clarence will be remembered by the world at large for being possibly the greatest Sax player that ever lived, certainly in my lifetime, but there was another side of him that many did not know because he quietly did his thing. We at the Fishermens Conservation Association know what that thing was; fishing and giving back.
Through his participation in the Redbone and FCA Manhattan Cup tournaments he helped raise tens of thousands of dollars to " Catch The Cure " for Cystic fibrosis and fishing conservation alike. He did this without fanfare and without using it for promotion, he did it because he cared! Bigger than his physical appearance was his heart, and he used his horn to sound a call for others to chip in and help out. Without question he was one of the most gracious, and down to earth celebrities, never mind stone cold rock star that we ever had help out our causes. I am honored to have guided him, and to know that he " would do whatever Capt. Frank needed" for the cause. To have hung out with him as a friend is something that I still never really get over. I am truly sad, but my friend Capt. Gary Ellis ( Redbone Founder) reminded me today of something else Clarence said, and that was " as long as I have breath to blow my horn, I'll be happy"
It seems that his time here has passed for that to happen and he has moved on. Well miss him, but I'll never forget him blowing Tenth Avenue Freeze Out on the docks of Chelsea piers with the Hudson river flowing by.
- Capt. Frank Crescitelli
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