Donald Ray McGuire (Cap’n Don) April 28, 2016

Donald Ray McGuire (Cap’n Don) died of prostate cancer Thursday, April 28, 2016. He was 73.

Born in Mansfield, Texas on March 18, 1943, Don lived in Texas, Vietnam and Arkansas, and that was it.

He was a Chinook helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, and after his discharge he bought a Corvette and

just started driving east from California to get over the Dear John letter from his wife and what he called “that stupid

shit war” in Southeast Asia. He stayed on two-lane roads, and one day found Eureka Springs simply by good fortune.

He walked into the Quarter, a bar in the basement of the New Orleans Hotel, and said it was filled with the best music

and most beautiful women he’d ever seen.

He opened Cap’n Don’s bar on the corner of Main and Benton where he served beer and sandwiches. Cap’n

Don’s was furnished with 17 rocking chairs because he said overworked women needed a place where they could relax,

talk, and not feel any pressure. When a bothersome drunk caused trouble one night, Don throated him up against the

wall and said, “You have the components of manhood but not the entitlement.”

He was arrested one night for marijuana possession, but the case was thrown out of court because at the time

there was no law against marijuana possession in Arkansas. The law changed shortly thereafter, but it didn’t stop Don

from raising what he called “medicine for the pain of living.”

He was a long-time friend of Willie Nelson and responsible for Willie playing in Eureka Springs seven times.

It’s natural to listen to any Willie song and automatically think of Don.

Don knew the value of using good land for growing food, not development. He used the GI Bill to study

agriculture at the University of Arkansas, at least he said he did – he was better at acquiring knowledge than he was at

hanging onto paperwork. Wherever he got his education, he was committed to the value of rich, black, unsprayed soil

for farming, and the significance of the Roubidoux Aquifer that runs under this part of the Ozarks.

Don was generous with his money and other people’s. He was a wonderful storyteller. He was funny, smart,

and practical and impractical at the same time. It was always a treat when Don asked if you wanted to hop in his pickup

for a drive “around the block” that could be anywhere from cruising the historic loop to spending the afternoon in

Newton County.

Don married Jan Fallis in 1982 in the old stone house in Butler Hollow, followed by a reception at the Quarter

where Delbert McClinton played. Don and Jan had a son, Bo, who lives in San Francisco with his wife, Amy.

Jan died in 2014. His other relatives have died, but Don is survived by many who knew him, or at least knew

of him.

He is survived by his faithful dog, Ginger.Donald Ray McGuire (Cap’n Don) died of prostate cancer Thursday, April 28, 2016. He was 73.

Born in Mansfield, Texas on March 18, 1943, Don lived in Texas, Vietnam and Arkansas, and that was it.

He was a Chinook helicopter pilot during the Vietnam War, and after his discharge he bought a Corvette and

just started driving east from California to get over the Dear John letter from his wife and what he called “that stupid

shit war” in Southeast Asia. He stayed on two-lane roads, and one day found Eureka Springs simply by good fortune.

He walked into the Quarter, a bar in the basement of the New Orleans Hotel, and said it was filled with the best music

and most beautiful women he’d ever seen.

He opened Cap’n Don’s bar on the corner of Main and Benton where he served beer and sandwiches. Cap’n

Don’s was furnished with 17 rocking chairs because he said overworked women needed a place where they could relax,

talk, and not feel any pressure. When a bothersome drunk caused trouble one night, Don throated him up against the

wall and said, “You have the components of manhood but not the entitlement.”

He was arrested one night for marijuana possession, but the case was thrown out of court because at the time

there was no law against marijuana possession in Arkansas. The law changed shortly thereafter, but it didn’t stop Don

from raising what he called “medicine for the pain of living.”

He was a long-time friend of Willie Nelson and responsible for Willie playing in Eureka Springs seven times.

It’s natural to listen to any Willie song and automatically think of Don.

Don knew the value of using good land for growing food, not development. He used the GI Bill to study

agriculture at the University of Arkansas, at least he said he did – he was better at acquiring knowledge than he was at

hanging onto paperwork. Wherever he got his education, he was committed to the value of rich, black, unsprayed soil

for farming, and the significance of the Roubidoux Aquifer that runs under this part of the Ozarks.

Don was generous with his money and other people’s. He was a wonderful storyteller. He was funny, smart,

and practical and impractical at the same time. It was always a treat when Don asked if you wanted to hop in his pickup

for a drive “around the block” that could be anywhere from cruising the historic loop to spending the afternoon in

Newton County.

Don married Jan Fallis in 1982 in the old stone house in Butler Hollow, followed by a reception at the Quarter

where Delbert McClinton played. Don and Jan had a son, Bo, who lives in San Francisco with his wife, Amy.

Jan died in 2014. His other relatives have died, but Don is survived by many who knew him, or at least knew

of him.

He is survived by his faithful dog, Ginger.