Woodstock Never Ended
The Eddie Adams Workshop Tie-Dye Team was challenged to explore ideas of flux.
What happens to us as we age?
How do we handle titanic shifts in our lives?
Duke Devlin, 76, has experienced both. He descended with several-hundred thousand others onto Max Yasgur's farm for Woodstock in 1969, an event that changed him forever. But unlike the rest of Woodstock's attendees, he never left. He planted roots, got married, and opened a farmer's market. And he was an announcer for Woodstock '94.
It's been nearly 50 years since the festival. He's been clean of alcohol and heroin for the past 38. For a long time, he was a "site interpreter" at the Bethel Woods center for the arts, the site of the festival and the Woodstock museum. He retired from his duties there in 2015.
Duke watches a film in the Bethel Woods cultural center in Cochecton, N.Y. on October 6, 2018.
Devlin is still a well-known local figure, spending ample time at the museum, at various shops around town, and at the Bethel Woods Cafe, where he eats every morning.
As a gift for his years of service to the community, the nonprofit that runs the museum gave Devlin a trailer home to live in on the museum's property, where he'll reside until he passes away.
Duke's spirit never left the Woodstock festival. He belts the Allman Brothers as he drives on NY-15. He knows what buildings were where and when, what roads were once grass. His conga drumming is nothing short of virtuosic.
But he knows things are changing. He can't walk as far now, or for as long. His beard, once unruly, is trimmed. If you're lucky, though, you can still hear Jimi Hendrix's Star Spangled Banner radiating from his home.
Duke Devlin rests in the shed behind his house in Cochecton, N.Y. on October 7, 2018.
