Three Strangers

As Tedd Wallace was sucked out to sea, he knew he was going to die, until two complete strangers, Bale Shabaka Kaza-Amlak and Sven Hill Matsen, did everything in their power to pull him from the unforgiving sea.  Each of these men were strangers to each other, but all of them shared, in the words of Bale,  “a one-moment connection.”

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Transcript

This text may not be distributed or published online without documented or written permission from Shadow Clock Podcast. Transcripts are generated using a combination of human beings and AI software (i.e., speech recognition) and therefore may contain errors. Please reference the corresponding audio before quoting in print. Special thanks to Cindy Mahalic Higgerson, Spencer Masternak, Bruce Scivally, and Alec Jansen for making these transcriptions possible.

START OF EPISODE

Katie Mahalic (on location):

Do you remember the moment you saw her?

Tedd Wallace: Oh, yeah. When our eyes met, and it was not a hatred, it was a compassion look. Because I had already been explaining to the rest of the people, not knowing she's standing over there, w-, that he was the true hero, not me.

Bale Shabaka Kaza-Amlak: You know, I could still see his pupils. I could still see life in him. And when I said, like, I saw his soul, like, I saw the, you know, the last speck of light in his eyes. So, yeah, it was just like a, like a connection I couldn't explain. I feel like also so much was communicated in that split second. It's, It’s like a, it was really like, just like a one moment connection.

Katie: What you're about to hear is a story of bravery, sacrifice, honor, and gratitude. It's a story that captures three different moments belonging to three very different people and how their lives will be forever intertwined. I'm Katie Mahalic, and you're listening to Shadow Clock. Tedd Wallace had been going to the U.S. Virgin Islands since 1977, and from his very first moment on Saint Croix, he fell in love with it, enough to go back every chance he got.

Tedd: I still love going there. Yeah, the Aqua Blues and of course, the great weather. And of course, I substitute teach down there too, so.

Katie: Tedd has been teaching most of his life, but his career path is speckled with detours and eccentricities that are unexpected. He went to Eastern Michigan University and put himself through college while working as a custodian 40 hours a week. After graduating, he taught elementary school for the next 22 years, while also taking up politics, doing two stints as the mayor of South Lyon, Michigan, the first term between 1985 and 89.

Tedd: Back then, in the eighties, they paid 200 bucks a year.

Katie (on location):

To be mayor.

Tedd: So for sixty-seven cents a day, I was the mayor.

Katie (on location):

Did you have a gavel?

Tedd: I did. Oh, did I have to use it? Yes, I did.

Katie: I had to ask about the gavel. I've always kind of wanted one.

Tedd: I was the mayor in two different millenniums, 1985 to ‘89, and then also ’09 to ‘15.

Katie: It's during Tedd's second term as mayor that this story takes place. It was March 1st, 2015. His wife had already headed back to the states for work, and Tedd was finishing up the last few weeks of his trip by himself. On this particular day, he headed down to the Renaissance Saint Croix, Karen Bullock Beach Resort and Spa to boogie board, a hobby he had picked up while vacationing. For those of you who don't know what boogie boarding is, I'll let Tedd explain.

Tedd: A boogie board is a board of about three feet long. You kinda tuck it under your belly and uh, you catch it. You go out about chest deep in the water. And when a certain wave comes in, for, every seventh or eighth wave is usually the good one. You jump and catch it and you can ride it on into the beach.

Katie: I have to admit, as Tedd sat across from me in his blue Caribbean shirt that was splashed with drawings of palm trees and native dancers, I had a hard time imagining him on a boogie board. Though it's not necessarily hard, it's definitely something you don't see the average 60-plus-year-old doing out on their own. With Tedd's white hair and typical not-so-fit American physique. It was tempting to smile as I envisioned him hitting the surf. Yet as he talked about his boogie board and riding in on the waves, there was no denying the glint in his eye. He truly loved it.

Tedd: It's a good exercise. Even though at the time I was 63 years old, I just felt that, I just enjoy it.

Katie: That same day, a man named Bale Shabaka Kaza-Amlak, was out in the water, skim boarding. Tedd stopped to watch Bale standing on the small board that glided across the water's surface as it was propelled by the breaking waves. Before I let you get to know Bale a little better, I should mention that I'm speaking with him via Skype from where he now lives in New York City. You might hear some sirens or background noise and some less-than-stellar audio recording. That being said, the best way for me to introduce Bale is to let you hear Tedd's description of him, followed by Bale's reaction to what Tedd had to say.

Tedd: Well, on the beach was this native of the island. He had grown up there. He's 25, buff, in shape, masseuse, yoga instructor. He's actually, he is, I don't know if you've heard the term Rastafarian. He literally grew up in the rainforest. His mother had ten children.

(Bale laughs)

Bale: I don’t consider myself a yoga master, but some look at me and think that.

(Katie and Bale laugh)

Katie: After getting to know Bale, I totally got Tedd's awe-like description of him, as Bale is pretty much one of a kind. Bale said he and his siblings always knew their upbringing was out of the ordinary and that no matter where they were living, they felt different. Like they stuck out.

Bale: Even in the Caribbean. Like people have regular names, not regular names but names that are more American. You know, it was always like, “ooh, like those are some interesting names,” you know what I mean? So as kids, we were always like, like we used to have long dreadlocks, like, like the hair we were born with was on our head. I remember as children, people would always want to take photographs of us and their parents would be like, “no, like you didn't ask permission. You cannot take a photo out of my-of my children or of us,” you know what I mean? The best way to- I have to show you a photograph. Give me one sec. Let me show you.

Katie: Bale and his siblings had these long and beautiful locks that represented the Rastafarian background, as did their names. Bale's parents chose names that were Ethiopian names, a way of connecting their children to their African identity rather than giving the kids traditional American names or a last name that would have been the name of their descendants slave owners. Between Bale's and Tedd's vastly different but both very unique lives, it seemed only fitting that their paths were destined to cross. However, at the time of their first meeting, neither of them had any idea they were about to meet again. In a matter of moments.

Tedd: So I was, uh, on the beach there and all of a sudden gray clouds came in and it was unusual to see it all gray, you just, the land of so many blues, you just didn’t, you just don't see this very often. It was all gray, and it was drizzly, and all the people on the beaches that were staying there at that place had all gone off to their cabins and so forth. And I just, for some reason, I don't know what maybe I just stuck it out. And after about a half hour, it all cleared up, was blue again. And I decided, well, I'm going to go out boogie boarding. Well, the one time I'm doing this, all of a sudden that’s something very abnormal took place where this, the whole bay lifted, the, it took-it-the whole it was two forces came in each side into the bay, a huge wave in. But then it came back as a riptide and caught me and just was sweeping me out to sea.

Katie: There was another man in the water that day, Sven Hill Matsen, a man from Denmark. The first time Tedd called over to him for help, he didn't respond. Tedd, now getting sucked up further, began to panic.

Tedd: He was probably 30, 40 yards from me, but he he was my last hope before I was going to be swept around to the far side of the rocks.

Katie: Tedd yelled out again as loud as he could. And this time Mr. Matsen heard him.

Tedd: He signaled that he heard my call for help and he swam to me. He was a big man, magnificent, uh, man, size man. And, you know, Danes seemed to be that way. And uh, he swam right up to me. And I said, Why don't you hook on the end of the board with me? We'll try to paddle out together. And he comes around. He pins my arm down to make sure I'm secure and safe, too. And we start to kick and go.

Katie Mahalic (on location):

So you were able to talk to each other?

Tedd: I talked to him, but he never had talked, he didn't talk back to me. He didn't answer me. He just answered my, what my wish was, let's try this, you know? So, uh, we start to go and he kicks me and I turn to say to him oh, not that way, because it would take us back towards the rocks. And he was sucked down and gone. And I instantly knew something wasn't right. But I, I couldn't, I didn't know how I could save him, I didn't know where he was.

Katie: Not only was there no sign of Mr. Matsen, but Tedd was now being swept around the edge of the rocky coast, a coast made up of huge, sharp, jagged boulders. If the current took Tedd around that edge, he would be completely out of sight from anyone on the beach who still might be able to see him.

Tedd: I'm now really being swept. I know I'm headed for a crash landing into the mountain side on the other side there.

Katie: As the second currents swept Tedd farther away, suddenly Mr. Matsen surfaced.

Tedd: He's facing away from me. And I thought, “oh you decided to, to swim to the rocks” and uh, whatever. I had time to do it. If you got your mission, fine. I got to do something. Meanwhile, now I'm being caught in this other current that's always there. I knew about that current because over the years I had warned people, “get away from there now!” you know kinda thing. And I just couldn't get out of it. The waves keep the overall force of the other waves just pushing me back towards the far side where there wasn't anybody.

Katie: With the sharp rocks pointing their slick, serrated edges toward Tedd, and Mr. Matsen far out of reach, seemingly doing what he needed to do for himself, Tedd had to make a split second decision: should he try to let the waves send him into the rocks feet first or head first?

Tedd: And uh, now I was, just at the last second, I decided that I would uh, instead of going in, uh, headfirst, I was going to go in headfirst and try to grab the rocks when I got there. I decided to go in feet first and as soon as I hit, I catapult, the whole force of the wave goes up and it slams my body against the rocks. At the last split second, the board, which was still in my hands, lifted just in time, so my head cracked down onto the board instead of the rocks. And then I was stunned, ob, obviously, but I wasn't split open, but uh, I was uh, then sucked down underneath every bit as deep as 15 feet underwater, at least. I still have my board and I'm swirling around and, and it’s out of, totally out of control. But then it spit me out into a docile area and then the board would take over and I’d pop up, and I’d get a breath of air, maybe two, before the next wave was taking me in. Let's do that again. And smash, you know. So I was in this giant washing machine, ‘chine, being swirled around. And I quickly, the realization has hit me that I'm not getting out of this. I am going to, I'm going to die.

Katie: Back on the beach, Bale had come out of the water.

Tedd: He was sitting there with his wife and stepchildren, suddenly had this premonition “Go climb the cliff at the end.” At the end of the beach was this cliff that goes, it, it was the base of the mountain, just goes up.

Katie (on location): So you're telling me he couldn't see…?

Tedd: He did not know.

Katie Mahalic (on location): He has this premonition?

Tedd: Yes. He just has this thing hit him. “You got to climb the cliff, now.”

Katie: I have to admit, I'm always a sucker for the supernatural. And I was really excited to talk to Bale about this premonition. However, Bale didn't explain his premonition quite the same way Tedd did.

Bale: Well, first of all, before I went to the... before I climbed that, I've done it many times, but at the time when I did it, I felt a very strong urge to go there. Once I decided I was going to go there, I was like, like nothing was going to stop me. It was like I just went with a very swift pace and not knowing what I was going to see. One of the things that I remember was that, um, there was a couple standing at the, at the foot of the rocks where I started to climb. And I'm a polite person. For some reason I totally disregarded the fact that they were taking a picture. I just, I just went by. I was like, chop chop, chop, chop, chop. I was like, okay, I got to get there. And once I got there, I knew why. I understood why I had to get there.

Katie (online w/ Bale): When you stood up to even go that direction, did you like to say to your stepson like, “hey I'm like having a go grab a, I'm going to go for a walk?” Or did you just kind of move that way?

Bale Shabaka Kaza-Amlak: Okay, um, it's an interesting detail. So… I'm... okay. I do remember having to make a decision. I was like, do I go, it was literally like a left or right thing. Okay. And I don't happen to know what kind of podcast this is, I wasn't exactly, um, but I literally, like, I wanted to have a smoke and I mean, like, it wasn't cigarettes, it was...

Katie (online w/ Bale):

Oh yeah, no, this is fine!

Bale Shabaka Kaza-Amlak: ...if you know what I...

(Katie and Bale laugh)

Katie: Just for the record, Bale had shared with Tedd the reason he originally headed to the cliff that day. He had also explained to Tedd about this overwhelming urge to climb the cliff. And after talking with Bale, I completely get his explanation. I mean, it was odd that Bale was in such a rush, blowing past the couple, taking the picture and all that. I can attest from the time I've been speaking with Bale, that he's extremely polite, more so than most people. On top of that, he pretty much defines what it means to be calm and just chilled out. This need to rush to the top of the cliff didn't match Bale's character at all. I admit, maybe I just want to believe in a little magic. However, the fact is, at the end of the day, I most likely would not be here to tell you this story if Bale had made just one choice differently, especially the choice of grabbing a smoke.

Bale: I do realize that was just the trigger to come up. You know what I mean? Because I didn't have a smoke (Bale laughs) after all. I didn't get up to have a smoke, I got out to go do something else. I just didn't know it. (Bale laughs)

Katie (online w/ Bale):

You must have really needed one. By the end of the day. 

(Bale laughs)

Bale: Um… And so, yeah, I guess I was like, okay, am I gonna go left, or am I gonna go right, I'm going to right. And when I decided to go right, I went right without hesitation and without diverting, you know, had I stalled 30 seconds, one minute I may not have even seen them or been in the position to be able to help them. I just happened to climb up at that moment.

I literally just started climbing along the rocks, following them because they were being pulled parallel to the west side of the island, away from the beach. The waves are a little bit big that day, so while they're being pulled sideways, the waves are also pushing them down against the rocks and into the rocks, which is… battering, you know. Soon as I get up there and I see them, I actually yelled out to them and I was like, “are you guys okay? ” Um, and obvious-, they didn't even hear me. They were just struggling to try to go back the other way.

Tedd: My only goals became to try and get a breath of air again. That was the only thing I had going for me as I was going to have a chance- as long as I had my boogie board, I would have a chance to get to, get a breath of air. And people say, “Did you have... did you pray?” No, you don't... I didn't have time to pray. I didn't even I, I have four grand- I had two grandchildren then, I didn't have time to think about any of that. I was just, my next goal was my breath of air.

Bale: Once it started happening, I don't really have a concept of how much time elapsed, but everything happened so fast. I got down to the water um, and I got down to Sven Hill Mattson first. And I was literally like on top of a rock, like reaching out to him to help pull him up. Uh, and he was bobbing up and down in, in the water, but he couldn't, for some reason I didn't know at the time, um, he wasn't, like he was still alive, I can see. But , when I called, when I reached out to him, he wasn't responsive to reach back.

Katie: Though Bale didn't understand why Sven wasn't reaching back, he did know they didn't have a lot of time. He also felt like if he went in after Mr. Matsen, he wouldn't be able to get both himself and Sven back out.

Bale: He was a big guy and so… what I imagine was a millisecond, I had the thought about getting in the water to help him and my logic said “no way, that's not a good idea,” because I knew that the power of the water was and how big he was, I probably wouldn't be able to help him from in the water.

Katie: What Tedd and Bale didn't know then was that Mr. Matsen was having a seizure, caused by the adrenaline and excitement. They found out later that seizures are something Mr. Matsen had experienced on and off throughout his life. This particular seizure had made Mr. Matsen very still and unable to move.

Bale: You know, it, it was really like, I have to say, one of the most profound experiences in my life because we had never met before, and I did, like we made eye contact. And I think, I, uh, you know, I think I was the last person that he literally had human contact with. And for someone I had never met before and will never, you know, meet again, you know, in this time, I'm, I’m just like it was so… um, you know, it, I feel like I saw his soul, you know? I mean, we each other's soul in that moment.

Katie: As soon as Bale realized he wasn't going to be able to help Mr. Matsen, he turned to see if he could help Tedd.

Bale: And so, if you can imagine, you know, Tedd was further ahead in the current, which is why I got to Sven first, because he was behind Tedd. Ob-, obviously, he didn't see me coming. He didn't know I was coming. Uh, so I think it was a great surprise to him when he saw me there, um, reaching out to him…

Tedd: And so the one time I come to the surface where nobody in their right mind should be, who was Bale Shabaka reaching out…

Bale: And I remember the what- you know, the ocean, the water was swelling up and down. Cause it, the waves were kind of a big.

Tedd: That was an area you, swimming made no difference. I mean, you were in trouble if you're in that turmoil.

Bale: I initially tried to help him and then the water slowed down.

Tedd: The first try, he grabs me by the fingertips. If just for about 2 seconds, I feel another person, you know, and all of a sudden he just has to let me go. He was afraid I was going to yank him in.

Bale: I remember like I didn't really have any fear of anything, although I knew that, you know, some of the rocks are jagged, there are sea urchins and whatnot. There's sea moss so some parts are slippery. I had on no shoes and, and I remember where I was standing. It definitely felt a little slick, but I just maintained a firm standing.

Tedd: Now I’m sucked down underneath and I don't have my boogie board. And I'm just swirling down there. And all of a sudden I realized, oh yes, I do have my boogie board. It was Velcro strapped on, and I literally was pulling on the rope and got to my board underwater. And then it brought me back into the same sequence that I was in. And I was coming back to the same spot and he’d try it again and I went down. We don't know if it was three tries or four. Between us we just can't remember. But he-he finally gets me... So he's grabbing on to my wrist area and I'm grabbing his wrist area and it's a bigger hold and he manages his way and straddles me out on a pillar rock just out from him.

Bale: And I was like, okay, the next time the water swells, like I'm-we’re gonna use it to help you get out and help me pull you up.

Tedd: I mean, I am just totally exhausted. I have over 100 sea urchin spines stuck in my feet, in my legs and my body and minor in the big picture here. And he says, “the next wave's going to lift you before it takes you. Get ready. Here it comes!” I couldn’t, my backs turned to it, see, and here it came and he screamed, “now !”

Bale: The wave swelled up against the rock.

Tedd: Or I manage to get my toes in the crevice and left with it at the right time.

Bale: That's when I successfully got him out of the water.

Tedd: He got me up onto the little ledge that he was on, no more than about two feet wide. And I'm just laying there face down. And then in a few moments, I managed to turn over. I looked up at him and I said in a calm voice, “I don't know if you're going to like me or not, but you're my friend for life!”

Katie: The terrain was too rough for Bale to get Tedd back over the beach by himself, and so he left Tedd and went back for help again.

Bale Shabaka Kaza-Amlak: And I remember when I got to about the point where I had initially seen them, there were still snorkelers in the water.

Katie: The men in the water happened to be doctors from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Both Bale and Tedd shouted over to them.

Bale: And I, I yelled at them I was like, “you guys, like swim over to this guy.” Because Sven at that point, like, he was just started to float like out.

Tedd: And Mr. Matsen was floating on his back. So both Bale and myself were hopeful that he was in survival mode just trying to save his ener-, you know, breathe that way. I, I said, “He's over there!” I managed to get enough strength to stand up again and point.

Bale: And so soon as I got up there, some snorkelers heard me. And they both had on their snorkel gear and their flippers, so they both immediately swam out to where Sven was.

Tedd: The one guy, he sees him and just as he gets to him, Mr. Matsen rolls over and sinks. Down goes this doctor in, brings him up, he's got flippers on and this and that, so he's able to contr-, and he's not in that certain current. He got him and was dragging him back around the point back to the beach.

Katie: As soon as the doctors got Mr. Matsen ashore, they started CPR. In the meantime, a group of four other men went back with Bale to help Tedd over the cliffs and onto the beach.

Tedd: Finally, we work our way up the top of the cliff, and here both Iowa doctors were holding me by the elbows at the time. And it was a good thing because I had a real another shock hit me. Down below, laying on the beach was the body of Mr. Matsen covered with a hotel sheet. And talk about a kick in the stomach when the real reality hits you. It was probably- they’re hold- I collapsed. They’re holding me up. And then finally, after about 30 seconds, say, I said to myself, “Tedd, you have got to get your act together here. We’ve got to do this.” And I jump out onto the beach on all fours. And I was back.

Katie: As the doctors from Iowa and Bale helped Tedd up, Tedd started to realize that a large group of people was gathering around him and pointing. He could hear them calling him a hero.

Tedd: About 80 to 100 people, I don't know how many, and they all come swarming up and they're all yelling the same thing. You know, and I said, No, no, you're mistaken. I pointed at him... he’s right there... he tried saving me. They all got quiet and they’re looking off to my side and about 20 feet to my left, standing by herself was the widow looking at me. And when our eyes met, she reached out in a universal look of, “Let's hug.” I needed a hug and went up to her and we hugged and I said, “I'm so sorry this has happened.” She squeezes me, she steps back. She floors everybody in her broken English. “He,” she points at him, “he was a macho man, but he was not 20 anymore.” He was 70.

Bale: At that point, I think I kind of stepped away and wasn't, like, close to the, to the whole situation. I kind of just stepped away and became very emotional. I just couldn't hold it together anymore. I just started to go home. Me being there wasn't relevant anymore.

Tedd: I went back to my chair to get my stuff and now here comes... his body’s being carried to the morgue truck, she's following behind the body. She's with 30 people and she wal-as they went by me about five feet away, I just mouthed the words, “I love you” to her, you know, for just the way she had reacted. She could have jumped all over me screaming, and beat on me or, you know. She was totally, she just knew this was something that he would do anywhere for anybody.

Katie: I asked Bale and Tedd what things were like for each of them after it all happened. In Tedd's case, he actually went to Mr. Matsen's funeral. He spent several days getting to know not just the family, but the man who died trying to save his life.

Tedd: Sven Hill Matsen was a former retired teacher.

Katie (online location):

Awe…

Tedd: And, I was retired teacher. He was on their city council and I was on a city council. I talked about the wonderful Danes. The people are amazing people. Everything is just, they were just so kind, so kind. The family was just making sure they did- they did everything they could so that I wouldn't feel guilty, that I was coming back stateside, a better man.

Bale: Over the first couple of years. I think I really have like a, a guilt factor that I didn't save him, too. It's so interesting that there have been times when I've seen old men who somewhat resemble him, and it, it reminds me of him. Particularly older Scandinavian man, you know. And so it definitely jogs memory when I see older men who somewhat resemble him. But over the years, I think I've come to acceptance of the fact that, you know, everything happens the way it’s meant to happen. Um, and I genuinely believe that.

Katie: Because Mr. Matsen was from Denmark, the story was picked up all around the world by major networks, both in the U.S. and in Europe. A St. Croix newspaper ran an article titled Humbled Hero.

Bale: When they asked me about it, I was like, You know, I don't feel I ever did anything anyone else would not have done, had they been in that position. But there was something that disappointed me in the way I saw the, the story being represented um, throughout the mainstream media. Only because when you look at any type of horrible act that's being committed by a young, a young black man or woman, those things are on the headlines in the most abrupt way that they can be. And here it was, uh, myself being this man of African descent, and this very passive potential to help quell some, you know, racial tensions in America. And I felt as though the story didn't represent it within the capacity that it could have for the good, that it could have done. I'm not like seeking any better recognition, but at the same time, it's not about me. It's about the story, and it's about it being represented in a factual way that lets people see the essence of the story and the connection that we have with each other. And the empathy that, we share of the positivity of the story, you know, for that purpose.

Katie: What Bale had to say made me stop and think from a different perspective. From his perspective, from a nonwhite perspective. I found it humbling that instead of wanting credit for himself, Bale was more interested in having his actions represent his race in a positive light. After hearing everything told from both Tedd and Bale, it was obvious how each of them was forever changed by these moments they experienced together.

Tedd: Yeah, I am a different person to this day, I think. I check myself a lot, especially I find myself not flipping the bird at somebody pulling out in front of me, that kind of thing. Or even calling them names. I always, I say, you're a fool. You know what else I could have said? And really, I refrained from trying to swear. Just there is so much more brilliant to me. Just everything, just flying birds, I have such compassion towards little things. Little animals, little, I mean, I see a bug crawling across the floor, I don't stomp on it. I get a piece of paper and let it crawl on, take it outside. I'm really go, I'm here, I'm back, I'm going to, I've made it. And I have lived through this. I lived through this. Life. I'm alive.

Bale: No, I genuinely, genuinely believe it wasn't an accident that I walked up there at that moment. I think it definitely makes me appreciate connections with people more. You know, life is fleeting, you know, life is not permanent and we are all here to learn our lessons now, and also to share that experience and to be a part of other people's experiences. And you know, because every little thing we do has a huge ripple effect, whether we know it or not. And so I think it makes me live my life with more intent, even if we don't see the, the string of events that led to that effect, there is invisible to our perception. But there were a string of events that led to that very moment.

Katie: A few weeks after recording, I reached out to follow up with Tedd. What I learned was shocking. Tedd… had died. He had had a heart attack. He died September 10th, 2019. He was 68 years old.

The men in this story continue to remind me about the good in people and how our time on earth is made special by the moments we share with each other. They remind me how fleeting life can be. And how truly important it is to live in the moment.

Katie: This episode of Shadow Clock was created by me, editing notes provided by Adam Gould. Our post audio editor is Josh Kobak. Additional post-production audio is by Matt Sauro. Social media is managed by Alec Jansen and Kelsey Hayes. Music is credited to Pond5 and Premium Beat. Content contributors, composers and individual song titles for each episode can be found on our website at shadow-clock.com. Kate Cosgrove creates original illustrations for each episode of Shadow Clock, which you can also see at shadow-clock.com. If you like the show, you can spread the word by telling someone else about Shadow Clock, and of course, by following us on social media. You can find us on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook @ShadowClockPodcast, on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ShadowClockPod and on YouTube @ShadowClock. I personally want to express just how much it means every time you give us a click, a like, a subscribe or follow, and we love word of mouth endorsements. Your support means the world. and I can’t thank each and every one of you enough. Speaking of thanks, a special thanks goes out to Janet Griffiths, Cindy Mahalic, Adam Gould, Alec Jansen, Kate Cosgrove, Alejandro Velez, Josh Kobak, Matt Sauro, Jonny Massena, Bruce Scivally, Adam Zavaslack, Austin Krieg, Forest Hills Northern High School in Michigan, Duro Howard, Aaron Fronk, Vinny DeGaetano, and Kelsey Hayes. This is also a good time to give a shout out and thank you to our guest, Bale Shabaka Kaza-Amlak, who is also a musician and artist. We've included links to his music on our website. Bale, you were one of our first interviews. Thank you for all your time and patience waiting for this episode to drop and for sharing your life perspectives with me during our various conversations. I learn something every time we talk. To Mr. Matsen's wife and family, I want you to know that when I heard this story from Bale and Tedd, that your loss was never lost on me. I can only imagine the heartache you've experienced with Sven's loss, and I want you to know that I think of your family and Mr. Matsen often. To Tedd Wallace’s family, please know that I am so thankful to Tedd for sharing his experience with me. I was so sorry to hear about his passing after we recorded this episode, and I wanted you to know I've been truly moved by his story. I hope this episode is told in a way that captures each men's greatness. I'm Katie Mahalic and this is Shadow Clock.

END OF EPISODE

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