Stories Of Kurt Cobain As A child 

                 Here is a letter to the editor of The Daily World- Aberdeen, Washington April 22, 1994 by 
                                     Larry Smith (Kurt Cobain's unlce by marriage) 


I would like to share some of the memories and perceptions I have concerning this unique, rare and original human being
called Kurt Cobain. I knew Kurt during his teen-age years in the period from about 1979 to 1984. I was in my mid-30s and
living in and near Montesano. My sister married Kurt's dad, Don, and also lived in Montesano.

My grandfather comprehended the intelligence and individuality in Kurt at a time when Kurt was being beaten down mentally
and physically. "Gramps" often told me of his respect for Kurt's tenacity and compassion even though he was in emotional
pain. Shortly before Gramps died, he had been talking about Kurt. He looked at me and said words to the effect that he
could see a nobility about Kurt that he had never seen in anyone in all his 70 years.

One time, Gramps invited Kurt along on one of our steelhead fishing trips. We were spread out a few hundred feet apart
along the Wynooche River. All of a sudden, we heard this horrendous combination of screaming, warbling and yodeling
from Kurt, who was upstream and out of sight. Gramps told me to run up there and help Kurt, who must have hooked a big
fish. When I reached Kurt, he didn't even have his line in the water. When I asked him what was going on, he just looked at
me with those piercing eyes and huge grin. He said, "Oh, I'm just trying to thicken my vocal chords so I can scream better!"
When I went back to Gramps to tell him, he just grinned and said, "It figures, We'll just let him be!" We can now say,
"Thank you, Kurt, for thickening your vocal chords!"

Kurt didn't fit the general mold of society in a logging town, and so he was beaten upon by people who didn't understand
him. One day I heard that he was in a fight a few blocks away. When I ran to the scene, the fight was over. However, I
heard from a friend that Kurt was assaulted by a burly, 250-pound logger type. Evidently, Kurt did not even fight; he just
presented the bully with the appropriate hand gesture everytime he was knocked down until the bully gave up. To top it all
off, Kurt just had that usual grin on his face!

A final footnote to this small remembrance of Kurt: A wonderful picture comes to mind of a rare, sunny day when I peeked
out the window into the yard. There was Kurt with some kind of contraption on his head. It resembled a tinfoil hat. He was
sneaking around the yard, followed by about half a dozen laughing toddlers. Kurt had the million dollar grin on his face, and
I could tell he was definitely in "nirvana." I guess you could say he was the "pied piper" of compassion.

I hope that these little examples of happiness will help to show that even though Kurt experienced pain in his teen-age years
he still did not let that pain stop him from loving life as fully as he could. We should never condemn Kurt for leaving us. We
should instead look inward and thank him for loving us enough to share his feelings. Let us learn that no amount of pain will
ever stop us from loving life. We must all maintain respect for the signifigance of our own lives, as well as the lives of
others.

Larry Smith Kurt's uncle by marriage


 Larry Smith (Kurt Cobain's uncle) posted these following stories on the Heart Shaped
                                        Mailbox Nirvana mailing list 


Here is a little glimpse of a happy side of Kurt. A measure of the kind of Man he was, even when he was about 15 years old:
Old Man Reeves was this kind of eccentric guy who lived on Sylvia Street in Montesano. He was a loner and kids used to
really give him a bad time, and do cruel things to him. He would come out on his porch and shake his fist at his tormentors
and scream profanities. We (myself included, when I was younger) just loved it. Sometimes kids would throw rocks and
break his windows or pull up his flowers (myself not included, thank goodness). He was know for a couple of generations
of kids as a real weird and mean guy, even though in actuality he was not. The tormentg went on through quite a few years,
and a new group of kids would take over for the old. Kurt, however, changed the tradition. When he was running around
with Matt Lukin (I think now of Mudhoney??), Kurt saw the usual group of guys giving Old Man Reeves a hassle. He
literally screamed at these guys to leave Old Man Reeves alone. He was so emotional about it (as only Kurt could be) that he
stopped these kids in their tracks. They just dropped their jaws as Kurt walked up to Mr. Reeves, put his arm around him,
and led him into the house. From that point on, Kurt had tea with Old Man Reeves quite often. The fact that someone was
becoming a friend with Old Man Reeves sort of took the "fun" out of tormenting the elderly man, and there was never quite
as much hassle for the guy. A simple story, but it shows Kurt's sense of humility, compassion, and individuality...(I am
describing this as I remember it. It was related to me by my friend Greg Moore of Montesano). If this stuff is interesting to
you folks, please know that I have a bunch of memories of Kurt from those years I knew him. I was NOT his greatest buddy
or anything, but we had some fun together. Although I was in my 30's at the time (1978 to about 1984), I can tell you that
he was an unbelievable kid. Absolute compassion. I miss him. 


"Gramps" (my grandfather) and I used to take a lot of hikes up the Wynoochee River headwaters into the Olympic National
Park. He was a great naturalist and it was a joy to be able to accompany him into the mountain meadows. 

When Kurt was about 13 or 14, Gramps and I were driving through Montesano on our way to the Wynoochee Valley uto
drive up to the valley head. Well, here it was, early in the morning, and Kurt was out walking up Third Street. Gramps
stopped the pickup and yelled Hello to Kurt. Kurt was lost in thought, so Gramp had to say something like "Hey Kurt! Wake
Up!" (I think that is exactly what he yelled at Kurt). I cannot forget that huge grin when Kurt looked at Gramps. He yelled
back words to the effect of: "Hey Amos! Wake up yourself!" (Amos was my grandfather's middle name, and almost nobody
got away with calling him that). Kurt told Gramps that he was out taking a hike up to Lake Sylvia State Park. Gramps told
Kurt that he and I were on our way up the Wynoochee for a little hiking ourselves. Gramps turned to me in the truck and
asked if we ought to ask Kurt, and we agreed that we sure should. But Kurt said no, he was just taking a short stroll, and
"thanks anyway". So, we headed down the street towards the highway. However, when Gramps looked in his rear view
mirror, he just started howling with laughter... when I looked back, there was Kurt, doing these sort of jumping jacks and
spinning around like a madman. He noticed that we slowed, so he motioned Gramps to come back. Typical of Kurt, he just
hopped in and said: "Let's go, Gramps!" "Hello Larry!" Gramps went back to his house and got another pack out of the
garage. I drove us up to the Wynoochee with Gramps in the middle and Kurt on the passenger side of the truck. I didn't
really talk much to Kurt, but he just jabbered all the way up the long, dusty drive up logging roads. I wish I could remember
more of the things he said. I do know he talked about the cows and how "slow" they were. Also, I remember him asking
Gramps why the Hell he didn't have a radio in the truck! 

So, anyway, we drove up the logging roads up into the start of alpine meadows on the National Park border. We put our
packs on, and Kurt immediately started bitching about his heavy pack. Hell, his pack was the lightest! I don't think he had
more than my extra stocking hat and Gramps extra coat in it. Also, a plastic water bottle and some candy bars. I think he ate
3 of the candy bars before we even got going. We started up through the timber up this very steep creek bed, with Kurt
sliding and stumbling all over the place. He just groaned and complained the whole way up through the timberline. I do
remember that when we broke out into the alpine meadows, Kurt was just stunned by the beauty. I distinctly remember his
yelling something like: "Holy Shit!" I do remember Gramps saying "Not bad, huh Kurt?" And, it sure was "not bad", with
the alpine flowers blooming, beautiful meadows, and little waterfalls. I went over to some trees to go to the bathroom, and
when I came back to where Kurt and Gramps were, Kurt was sort of "grazing" down on the ground, looking at all these little
flowers and eating dwarf blueberries. Gramps just winked at me and had this huge smile, and did one of those gestures
where you take your index finger and spin it around your ear to say: "He's nuts!" I don't remember too much more about the
hike, at least in the perspective of what Kurt did. We did go on up to Mt. Hoquiam, and I remember we had to do a lot of
waiting for Kurt; sometimes he would be a few hundred yards behind! You just weren't going to hurry Kurt, and that was all
there was to it! 

You know, the most vivid memory of this hike was on the way down through the steep trees after we dropped off the edge of
the meadows: we were sort of crashing and sliding down the very steep terrain. Kurt was off to my right side and I could see
he was just sort of looking up into the treetops as he was walking. I just cringed when he really hit hard into a big mountain
hemlock. I mean, he really smashed into it. He sort of staggered over to me with this stupid grin on his face and said: "Boy,
that kind of hurt. Got any more candy bars?" 

I hope this story makes sense. As I said, these little memories are not earth-shattering, but at least give a glimpse into the
essence of Kurt. I wish I would have kept contact with him for the past ten years, and not just because he became famous.
He was hard to track down, and I tried a few times. I always wanted to sort of just sit down and talk about Gramps to him. I
did write him a letter when Gramps died, but I don't think he ever got it. I miss the guy. He was so mellow and so
comfortable, and so unpredictabl A fun teenager and a brilliant mind.