Look Out The Saints Are Coming Through
(This could be the last time)
 

I must have been dallying in some day dream when that lightning bolt struck my subconscious. The ghost of such electricity eventually awakened in me the realisation that my long held vision of collating Freewheelin until my dying day was being shattered. When, not without a struggle, I ultimately accepted my altered state, it dawned on me that there would be a wall built against the freedom from all this: the final Freewheelin. I am not however a violent person, I had no intention of tearing down that wall with my bare hands. Instead I thought it would be nice to create a magnificent archway through which all the past and present Freewheelers could merrily amble with a copy of that final Freewheelin underneath their arms. 

So it came to pass that I dug out all my old address books and I wrote to all the Freewheelers that there have ever been with an invitation to contribute to the final episode of this long running Dylan soap. The response was something akin to the parable of the sower: some invitations fell by the wayside because, lacking the knowledge of current whereabouts, they were just not delivered. Other invitations became choked by the thorns and the weeds of yesteryear whereupon their recipients showed no inclination to respond. But other invitations, indeed I am happy to say the majority, fell upon good ground and sprang up in the fertile imaginations of their invitees; and these bore fruit an hundredfold. 

For those who had the ears to hear my calling, and indeed for those who didn’t, you all deserve a special place in the history of Freewheelin. In recognition of that special place, below there is a roll call of honour showing the timing and duration of each Freewheeler’s tenancy. And for those who responded to my invitation and whose fruits of kind labour can be found in this final Freewheelin: your names are entered in bold. 

Onward with me then, through that magnificent archway. If you recall, the invitation suggested contributions based on the last time you listened to Bob Dylan.

JRS
 

The Freewheeler’s Roll of Honour