<<.. I saw Dale's post about him returning home on Hospice but must have missed the developments leading up to this. Last I knew, he and his wife were down south raising horses.>>
Good morning Dave:
I can relay a bit of info...
Mike and Debbie divorced some years ago. Last time I saw & spoke with Mike was at an Interbike Show over 10 years ago. At that point in time, he was just separating from Huffy Corp. He and Debbie, at that time, were involved with horses but must have parted shortly thereafter...
Out of the blue about a month ago, an old friend & ex-employee notified me that Mike was in a hospital in Nashville, suffering from a fatal medical condition.
My friend, who is now a ordained minister working with the hospital, wanted me to know he had talked with Mike about me, the Classic Rendezvous, and old times with Mike; and that brought Mike some pleasure at a rough time... I had been friends with Mike way back in the early 1970s when he raced in my Carolina Cup, made frames for acquaintances, painted all our team bikes one year, etc.
While this most recent communication was going on, my friend performed a marriage ceremony in the hospital for Mike and his girlfriend. He was not expected to last much longer. Last news was the move back home under the care of hospice.
<< I happen to have a '79 or '80 Melton bike built for the woman from whom it was purchased. This build was before not only his Olympiad bike fame, but also before his seat stay caps and distinctive decal were designed - both of the just- off topic era, I believe. >>
I am not sure about the seat stay caps design you refer to, but I do know that the "Cinelli style" graphics/decals he used went way back into the early 1970s. He used them when he lived & worked in South Carolina when I first met him.
http://www.classicrendezvous.com/
Dale Brown cycles de ORO, Inc. 1410 Mill Street #100 Greensboro, North Carolina 27408 USA 336-274-5959 http://www.cyclesdeoro.com http://www.classicrendezvous.com http://www.carolinacup.com \u201cLife is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving\u201d A.Einstein
-----Original Message----- From: d mar <dmar836@yahoo.com> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Sent: Tue, Jun 1, 2010 10:10 am Subject: [CR] Mike Melton
Was wondering if anyone had more info on Mike. I saw Dale's post about him returning home on Hospice but must have missed the developments leading up to this. Last I knew, he and his wife were down south raising horses. I happen to have a '79 or '80 Melton bike built for the woman from whom it was purchased. This build was before not only his Olympiad bike fame, but also before his seat stay caps and distinctive decal were designed - both of the just- off topic era, I believe. This bike saw service as a messenger bike in Chi-town and was spray painted brown (bomb-canned, cables and all) to cammo it. It never had decals. I had hoped to, one day, communicate with him about it once he surfaced again but this now appears unlikely and even inappropriate. I hope this public inquiry is not seen as distasteful. Whatever the story, our thoughts are with him and his family.
Dave Meyer
Olathe, Ks USA