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Chiplis Repoetry – foto by Smith

I wonder if Jeff Chiplis is related to Lazarus, especially considering how fast he’s rebounded from being gut shot.

Our first report was that he was stabbed early Saturday morning on the 12th — not true, he wasn’t stabbed but shot. Later Saturday we read in the news he was shot in the head, which scared us, but this also was not true. We learned the facts when we visited him in the hospital Sunday the 13th and found he’d been shot once in the leg and once through the small of the back, the bullet exiting through his abdomen. He couldn’t talk because of the ventilator blocking his mouth and looked pretty bad but gave us a thumbs-up as we left, so I felt vaguely hopeful about his recovery.

They stopped allowing visitors for a couple days so they could operate, but I saw him again on the 16th and was amazed how much he’d improved. He was weak and tired but talkative.

Then lady and I returned to visit Sunday morning the 20th and found him out of bed, sitting in a chair, talking away like the Chiplis of old, even walking around the floor a couple of laps to show the doctors he was ready to go home. We were absolutely flabbergasted — from near death to weak and weary to bopping about like nothing’s wrong in a week. He’s gotta have Lazarus genes in him, or super-mutant blood, or maybe he munches Phoenixes and salamanders and has absorbed their regenerative characteristics.

Whatever. Tuesday the 22nd he went home, after ten and a half days in the hospital.

Here’s the latest batch of news links about it all – the first has a video of Chiplis being interviewed by Channel 5 TV. Too bad an artist has to get shot to get press in this town — and even then there wouldn’t have been near this much news if Jeff hadn’t been so popular and important to the community.

Tremont artist shot in attempted holdup speaks out
newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/tremont-artist-shot-in-attempted-holdup-speaks-out

Artist recovering from shooting in Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood stays in good spirits
blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/06/tremont_artist_stays_in_good_s.html

This one was the main article on the front page of the Plain Dealer:
Shooting unnerves Cleveland’s Tremont neighborhood, but it remains among city’s safest
blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/06/shooting_unnerves_clevelands_t.html

Cleveland: Local Tremont artist speaks out for first time after shooting
wkyc.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=138347&provider=top

Tremont Shows Solidarity in Wake of Shooting
wcpn.org/WCPN/news/31172/

Shooting of artist Jeff Chiplis after ArtWalk unsettles Tremont area
blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/06/tremont_artist_jeffry_chiplis.html

Shooting of neighborhood artist leaves Tremont down but not out
cleveland.com/morris/index.ssf/2010/06/shooting_of_neighborhood_artis.html

Local Artist Talks About the Night He was Shot
fox8.com/news/wjw-local-artist-talks-txt,0,2768788.story

Shooting of Artist in Tremont Latest Incident of Violent Crime in the Neighborhood
clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2010/06/21/shooting-of-artist-in-tremont-latest-incident-of-violent-crime-in-the-neighborhood


star Chiplis – foto by Smith

end of this particular chiplis chapter

3 Responses

  1. Wow.. what wonderful news. And what a speedy recovery…

    This brings a big smile. The Universe is good.

  2. I’ve been camping in a remote area of southern Idaho known as “The City of Rocks” and have just returned to the civilization known as Spokane WA, and this morning read the bad/good news about Jeff. Am grateful he is on the path to full recovery and can only hope he has the last laugh after this terrible experience. I’m sure of one thing — his art will take on a new dimension… may good fortune follow in abundance.

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