Here is the text of a story on Brian we published today.



By SETH BATE

and TOD MEGREDY

Brian Redford will be remembered for his diligence and sensitivity, and for

being the 'genuine article,' friends said Friday.

Redford, the son of Walnut Valley Festival organizers Bob and Kendra

Redford, took his own life Wednesday after struggling for several years

with depression, according to family friend Rex Flottman.

Elkin Thomas, a festival performer, called Brian Redford a very capable

individual. "Brian was a very special and talented young man. The quickness

of his mind and the sensitivity of his manner was attractive. The times I

was with him were always busy times - festival times. But I always departed

from his company feeling good, as though the time together had been too

short."

For five years Redford had been director of operations for the festival.

Prior to that he was its grounds director. "Brian was one of those people

who worked behind the scenes to make the festival go," said

singer/songwriter John McCutcheon, another festival performer. "For

instance, when we did the first appearance with the Winfield Symphony at

the festival, he was the person who really made that happen by doing a

complete turnaround of the main stage area overnight to accommodate the

symphony the next day.

"Everything was ready to go for a 7:30 a.m. dress rehearsal with the

symphony. He was really responsible for making a lot of things happen."

"I just know that as far as diligence goes there weren't very many more

diligent people as far as getting the job done at the festival." said Wayne

Steadham, who has been involved with the festival for a number of years.

"He took responsibility on a real personal level. He had his oddnesses

about him, but he certainly was the genuine article.

"That's one thing I know about him. What you saw was what you got,"

Steadham said.

Redford, 38, was last seen at about 5 p.m. Wednesday, said Rex Flottman, a

friend of the family. His body was found early Thursday evening in a car in

a warehouse on Yeager Drive near 33rd Street in south west Winfield. He

apparently died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

A funeral is planned for 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the First United Methodist

Church in Winfield. A preliminary obituary is on page 6.

McCutcheon described Redford as a person who stayed in the background. "He

was the kind of person that people didn't get to know as well as Bob or

Kendra, who were much more 'people' people, but in a thousand different

ways he really typified the kind of people that really make the Winfield

festival happen.

"And perhaps like so many people who do these invisible, indispensable

things, he never knew how valuable he was because he didn't get the public

appreciation that the performers do, and the people like Bob and Kendra and

the (masters of ceremonies)," McCutcheon said.

"Maybe we can seize upon this sad opportunity to remember to pay respect to

those people. The Carter family said, 'Give me the roses while I live,'" he

said, referring to a song which goes, "Give me the roses while I

live/Trying to cheer me on/Useless the flowers that you give/After the soul

is gone."

Redford was a lifelong resident of Cowley County who had been involved with

the festival since its inception more than 25 years ago. "I saw him

actually grow up with the festivals, starting from when he was a pre-teen

all the way through his Scouting years and such," Steadham said. "Every

year he was a little more involved until the last four or five years when

he was one of the directors."

Beppe Gambetta, in a statement issued by his manager, Stephanie P. Ledgin,

said, "To hear about Brian's death saddens me from the bottom of my heart.

I hope that with the love and support of all the musicians, fans and

workers at the festival, that we can help the family to carry on in

remembrance of Brian.

"Bob and Kendra Redford, and most recently Brian, have all made me feel

like a real member of the family at Winfield since 1992. It is really my

second home," he said.

Brian Redford's survivors, besides his parents, include his wife, Gail, a

son, Kevin and a daughter, Kayla.

Tributes to Redford has been put up on the World Wide Web at

http://www.hit.net and http://homepage.midusa.net/~shorock/wv/wvmenu.htm.

His obituary can also be seen on the Courier's homepage at

http://www.winfieldcourier.com



-------------------------------------------------

"Nobody likes the man who brings bad news."

- Sophocles, Greek playwright, c. 440 B.C.

Tod A. Megredy

Managing Editor

Winfield, Kan., Daily Courier

http://www.hit.net/courier/

Voice: (316) 221-1100

Fax: (316) 221-1101

--------------------------------------------------