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  #1  
Old 5 Jun 2013
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Eric Haws has passed away
It saddens me to inform you that,

Eric Haws from Westfir Oregon passed away May 4, 2013 from Cancer. I spoke with his Wife Gail yesterday. He hosts the Tynda Rally at his estate in Oregon every year, it has been cancelled this year of course.

Eric has traveled to many many countries on his Moto's with Gail. He will be missed. I've only known Eric for a few years but I can't say I've met a kinder Gentleman. I was proud to know him
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  #2  
Old 6 Jun 2013
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What a great shame to hear that. I had the pleasure of meeting Eric and Gail in Peru in 2000/2001 and at a Tesch meeting in Germany. He was a really great bloke. My sincerest condolences to Gail and his family.

RIP
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  #3  
Old 6 Jun 2013
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WOW! What a sad news!
Also we had the pleasure to meet Eric & Gail but in Argentina,first back in 2002 visiting “La Posta del Viajero en Moto” in Azul for their 10th Anniversary, we rode together for a few days visiting other towns on the pampas, then back in Buenos Aires for few dinners and we finish storing his bike for few months in some opportunities more, giving us the chance to meet him again few other times and hear all his stories like how was ride the Siberia… (I think still having his VHS about…)

We first heard about Horizons Unlimited and the Help Communities from him…

He was a true bike TRAVELER, one of the good old ones, a nice buddy, un buen hombre. He left many friends in common. He will be missed a lot.
To Gail if you are reading our more sincere condolences for you and the girls…

RIP

Javier & Sandra
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Last edited by javkap; 17 Jun 2013 at 19:27.
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  #4  
Old 17 Jun 2013
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That's sad. I've only made it to one of their events and I was hoping to make it to this years. I hope Gail is doing well.
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  #5  
Old 17 Jun 2013
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I have been in touch with Eric since the early-mid 1990s, talking about Siberia.

Had the pleasure of meeting both Eric and Gail in Australia in the mid-late 90s to cement our common passion for motorcycle travel in Siberia.

To have had the guts to do what he and Gail did in the 1980s when it was still the Soviet Union is well beyond cool. He was the first to ride the Road of Bones. The first to ride the Western BAM. He was a real pioneer. A Hall of Famer.

Sad news indeed.
Last edited by colebatch; 18 Jun 2013 at 10:01.
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  #6  
Old 18 Jun 2013
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Eric & Gail Haws
We have been so engrossed in our travels we missed this very sad news. Having only enjoyed one Tynda Burning Moto Man gathering and the pleasure of meeting these beautiful people it is a very sad day to hear this news. Our condolences to Gail and family. Ken and Carol.
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  #7  
Old 18 Jun 2013
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We had the pleasure & honor to be guests at Tynda's Rally in 2008

Eric & Gail gave us the feeling of being home and welcome

He was a gentlemen for sure and we laughed a lot about his sense of humor

We will miss him ... RIP

Thomas & Andrea

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  #8  
Old 18 Jun 2013
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Eric Haws
I never had the pleasure of meeting Eric, we traveled the same places but at different times. But I remember people in Siberia showing me pictures of Eric and Gail. Friends in Argentina talked about Eric and Gail. And a friend in Brazil talked about the idea of a "Moto Zimmer" a room in your house free for passing motorcycle travelers, he told me it was Erics idea.

My condolences go to Gail.

RIP

mika
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  #9  
Old 18 Jun 2013
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Here is a nice article about Eric and Gail....

ERIC AND GAIL HAWS WORLD TRAVELLERS
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  #10  
Old 18 Jun 2013
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Phone Guy,

I note with sadness that their iconic website seems to be gone. It makes me realise how non permanent digital information can be, if no-one is hosting it ... or if the host passes away.

Please when you speak with Gail again, please ask her to forward detail of their travels for someone to host all that information and pics, even if she no longer wants to. Their rides are totally worth saving. They are part of adventure motorcycling history.

I would gladly host their travel reports myself. And I am sure hundreds of others are too. But a non personal site is better. That way its not subject to someone passing away or someone not having the financial ability to upkeep sites.

People used to say digital information is there forever. This has just made me realise it isnt. Its only there as long as someone wants it there and pays for it to be there.
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Old 18 Jun 2013
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If the Haw's don't mind, you could probably download it from Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine and host it yourself.
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  #12  
Old 19 Jun 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by colebatch View Post
Phone Guy,

I note with sadness that their iconic website seems to be gone. It makes me realise how non permanent digital information can be, if no-one is hosting it ... or if the host passes away.

Please when you speak with Gail again, please ask her to forward detail of their travels for someone to host all that information and pics, even if she no longer wants to. Their rides are totally worth saving. They are part of adventure motorcycling history.

I would gladly host their travel reports myself. And I am sure hundreds of others are too. But a non personal site is better. That way its not subject to someone passing away or someone not having the financial ability to upkeep sites.

People used to say digital information is there forever. This has just made me realise it isnt. Its only there as long as someone wants it there and pays for it to be there.

If someone wants to collect the information, we can easily host it here. It would be a shame to lose it all.

Grant
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  #13  
Old 25 Jun 2013
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Devastating news
Stefan (coyotetrips) and I are devastated. We have been so engrossed in buying a house and moving, we kept putting a visit down to Westfir on the back burner - it was always going to happen "next month." Learning this news today - it's beyond the word "sad."

I threw together a blog tribute, linking to some of the photos we've taken at Eric and Gail's over the years and explaining how Stefan met them (in Greece) back in 2006.

Also found this article from 1992 in the Seattle Times about their world record for traveling across Russia.

I want to call Gail, but am too much of a blubbering idiot right now to do so.
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  #14  
Old 26 Jun 2013
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This is desperately sad news. My wife, Emily and I were lucky enough to spend several days at Gail and Eric's beautiful home in West Fir whilst on the American leg of our round the world honeymoon almost exactly two years ago.

It felt strange to write to a complete stranger and ask for a place to stay but so many of those we'd met on the road insisted that it was totally normal. We had only intended to stay the one night but within minutes of arriving we were being gently told that we would staying for several days longer - it was hard to say no!

The sheer warmth and idyllic setting of their home, their lovely dogs, not to mention all of those 'residents' who helped keep the place running in return for a spot of land to live on were a testament to his generosity of spirit.

We left West Fir, after several incredible days very much inspired, and with a better idea of how we wanted to live our lives.

A cliche it might be, but in this case, a very apt one - the world's a poorer place for his passing.
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  #15  
Old 30 Jun 2013
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Unhappy Sad News
Having been away, I'd missed the sad news about Eric's passing.

As everyone has said, he was truly one of the greats with his passion for motorcycle travel and his passion for sharing whether it was his house and garden each year for Burning Moto Man (a great event) or sharing his own and other people's adventures and experiences. He was such a giving person.

Eric, Gail and friends using Thelma's topbox as a picnic table



Eric will be sadly missed by many people, most especially his wife Gail and their daughters who happily helped out each year with cooking for the mobs who would descend on his house.
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