RIP John Sutherland

The side-kick to Robert Pirsig on the 1968 road trip that was Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Quite a character by all accounts; I met him just once in 2008 at the old Pirsig house in St.Paul where he regaled us with stories of bike rides and musical parties in the 60’s. Sad to hear of his passing Sunday 18th November 2012 after failing to recover from an earlier stroke. A character undoubtedly missed, but immortalized for many in ZMM.

JSDrums

Example story:

The Pirsig’s were the first people in the neighbourhood to get a copy of the Beatle’s White album, and also had a serious HiFi sound system, enough to broadcast into the street, so their parties were a frequent and popular focal point for local musos and artists.

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Post Notes in 2024:

There are three recorded interviews with John Sutherland

This one by film-maker Lee Glover in 2008 on YouTube.

Another by Pirsig enthusiast Henry Gurr in 2003 (currently available as DVD and local MP4 copy – will be made accessible through the Robert Pirsig Association in due course.)

And interviews with John are included in Dr McWatt’s 3rd Pirsig documentary “On the Road with John Sutherland” (~2010) (currently available as DVD and local MP4 copy – will be made accessible through the Robert Pirsig Association in due course.)

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