Alan Gregory Moon Lake Vulture Wonderwheel died peacefully at sunrise on Friday, August 11, 2023, at home in Santa Rosa, California, with loved ones by his side including his faithful cat Flowerpot. He was 73.
Gregory was born Alan Gregory “Greg” Cravens to Marian Earle “Suzy” and Armon Irvin Cravens at Van Nuys Hospital in 1949. He grew up with his two brothers, Armon “Butch” and Arlen “Pat”, in Reseda and Canoga Park, graduating from Chatsworth High School in 1968. From a very early age he was a peace activist. He briefly attended UC Santa Barbara and Pierce Junior College where he often spoke out on social justice issues.
After leaving a year-long stay at Cimarron Zen Center in Los Angeles, he met his first wife, Sue Ellen Parkinson. In the early 1970s he bought 48 acres of land with a group of friends as part of the “back to the land” movement outside of Willits, CA. Initially, he lived in a tent and had little in the way of personal possessions but did bring Carl Jung’s complete writings. It was during this time that he delivered his daughter, Mira Wonderwheel, who was born at home in a converted chicken coop. Shortly afterwards, he legally changed his name from Cravens to Wonderwheel. After Sue Ellen and Gregory’s divorce, he moved to Sonoma County where he married his second wife, Rhonda Zinkel, and his blended family expanded to include his dear stepdaughter Tassara Hjerlied. Gregory and Rhonda’s son, Ahimsah Wonderwheel, was born in 1976. Gregory attended both Tassara’s and Ahimsah’s home births.
He received his BA from Sonoma State University in 1977, his MA in Psychology from Sonoma State in 1983, and his Juris Doctor from Empire College School of Law in 2002. Gregory met Carol Spooner at Thanksgiving dinner with friends in Sebastopol in 1986. They were married on the Autumnal Equinox in 1989 at 7:03 pm in a glittering twilight ceremony at Miwok Park in Novato. His blended family expanded again to include Carol’s son and daughter, Flavio and Elena Flaviani. All their children were present at their wedding and offered special blessings. They exchanged vows of mutual devotion, respect, and love that matured over the years and saw them through life’s hardships and sorrows, as well as its richness, depth, beauty, and joys.
Gregory’s 20-year career in mental health, with both private agencies and the County of Sonoma, included several years as Deputy County Mental Health Conservator. In their late 40s and early 50s, Gregory and Carol went to law school together. Gregory was a member of the winning 3-person Empire College “Moot Court” team, beating out all the prestigious California law schools, and he graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2002. His law career was low-key, mainly filling in for other attorneys at court appearances throughout the North Bay and occasionally helping friends or family members or nonprofit groups pro bono. He especially enjoyed talking with the court staff, clerks, and bailiffs, as well as making oral arguments to the judges.
Gregory was a Zen Buddhist from the age of 19, beginning with Joshu Sasaki Roshi at the Rinzai Cimarron Zen Center in Los Angeles and Mt. Baldy. Over the years, additional influential Zen teachers were John Tarrant Roshi, founder of the Pacific Zen Institute in Santa Rosa, Genjo Marinello Osho, Abbot of Chobo-ji Rinzai Zen Temple in Seattle, and Daniel Terragno Roshi of Rocks and Clouds Zendo in Sebastopol in the Diamond Sangha lineage. He was Head of Practice for 10 years at Rocks and Clouds and became Sensei/Teacher there in 2022 under the auspices of Terragno Roshi who gave him his teaching Dharma name–Water Dragon. On September 29, 2023, his name will be chanted in the lineage of Zen Ancestors by Abbot Genjo Marinello at Chobo-ji in Seattle in recognition of his translations and teaching.
Gregory was a self-taught translator of classical Chinese Buddhist texts including: The Sutra of Queen Srimala’s Lion’s Roar, The Gateless Checkpoint of the Zen Lineage (J. Mumonkan), The Record of the Temple of Equanimity, and The Treatise on the Great-Vehicle’s Arousing of Faith. Videos of his teachings and lectures on these texts are on YouTube at One Vehicle Zen. Some of his writings are on his blog “Turning the Wheel of Wonder” (www.Turning the Wheel of Wonder (wonderwheels.blogspot.com ) and at his The Gateless Checkpoint web page ( The Gateless Checkpoint (pon.net) .
He lived his values of kindness, generosity, and care for all beings. Gregory loved his blended family deeply and was there for all of his children when they needed him most. He attended the birth of his granddaughter Savanna, officiated at the wedding of his niece Sherry, and cared for members of his extended family during times of illness and trouble. He especially enjoyed helping with house projects.
He was a lifelong vegetarian and an opponent of wars, fascism, imperialism, capitalism, consumerism, environmental extraction and destruction, ecocide, and all manner of oppression and injustice. Cats loved Gregory. He rarely slept without at least one beside him. He had a booming laugh, and he grew a great belly for a while, then let it go. He played Go and chess. He enjoyed wearing bright flowered Hawaiian shirts that Carol made for him, watching the birds at the feeders he kept full at the front and back of the house, gardening with Carol, growing flowers, fruits and vegetables, walking on the beach, road trips, buying knick-knacks and being a tourist, going to the movies, watching science fiction & detective series on streaming video, and political podcasts. His favorite movies were: Roshomon, Wizard of Oz, Moby Dick, Jacob’s Ladder, A Christmas Carol, Dracula (Bela Lugosi version), The Go Masters, King of Hearts, Blade Runner, Serenity, The Day The Earth Stood Still (Michael Rennie version), Dr. Strangelove, The Princess Bride.
As a Conscientious Objector during the Vietnam War, he loved to tell the story of his dealings with the Draft Board much like Arlo Guthrie’s famous “Alice’s Restaurant” song. He protested the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, for which he was arrested, and launched a lawsuit against the pollution of the Russian River in the 80s creating public awareness of the need to protect natural resources. He served as Vice-President of SEIU Local 707 for a while in the mid-1990s; co-sponsored a 1996 ballot initiative attempting to prevent the privatization and lease of the old Sonoma County Community Hospital to Sutter Health; and he ran for Sonoma County Supervisor for the 4th District in 1998. Supporting his wife, Carol, he was an activist and occasional legal adviser in the struggle to prevent corporatization of the Pacifica Radio Network, including KPFA in Berkeley, on and off for 20 years beginning in 1999.
Gregory was proud of never having cast a vote for a winning presidential candidate! His first presidential vote was cast in 1972 for Shirley Chisholm.
He was thrilled to be able to do the last thing on his bucket list – going with his son, Ahimsah, to the live Jimmy Dore Comedy Show in San Francisco on July 23rd, where he was greeted with deep courtesy and warmth by Jimmy who said, “We will meet again.”
Gregory, together with Carol and supported by their extended family, friends, and Zen Sangha, met his final illness and death with courage, tenderness, and faith. He was laid out at home for a 3-day vigil, during which time two chanting services were carried out by Rocks & Clouds Zendo at his home and watched via Zoom by friends on three continents. Gregory’s cremation coffin was hand-decorated with drawings, paintings, photos, and messages arranged in a beautiful collage which Gregory contributed to and was profoundly moved to see before he died. Cremation took place at Pleasant Hills Memorial Park in Sebastopol. His cause of death was complications of colon cancer.
Gregory is survived by his beloved wife of nearly 34 years Carol Spooner of Santa Rosa, CA; his daughter Mira Wonderwheel; son Ahimsah Wonderwheel and his partner Christy Young; stepdaughters Tassara Hjerleid and Elena Flaviani; stepson Flavio Flaviani; grandchildren Savanna Wonderwheel, Halliana Wonderwheel, Xavante Wonderwheel, Dalton Pence, and Kyrston Pence; brothers Armon Cravens and Arlen Cravens; former wives Sue Ellen Parkinson and Rhonda Zinkel; and nieces Sherry Tuggle, Elsa Fox Finazzo, Amanda Cravens Leader, and Colleen LaMotte.
A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, September 30, 2023, Wischemann Hall, 465 Morris St, Sebastopol, CA, 10 am – 1:30 pm. All are welcome. You are invited to bring flowers and a sacred object for the altar. You are also invited to bring a potluck item and stay for lunch after the ceremony. Program 10:30 – 12:30, with lunch following. Contact: Mira Wonderwheel (541) 944-1428 or Carol Spooner (707) 526-2867.
Gregory’s bumper sticker reads “Born Again, and again, and again.” He had hundreds of them printed for sale in the 1980s. Some will be available as giveaways at his Celebration of Life.
Memorial contributions to Rocks and Clouds Zendo are greatly appreciated. 618 South Main Street, Sebastopol, CA 95472
Gregory Wonderwheel’s legacy will live on through the memories of those who knew and loved him, in his contributions to the world of Buddhist teachings and translations, and in the breeze as it moves across the beautiful world. Born again, and again, and again… |
