Because we are going to watch a River Phoenix film in the next few days, I thought I would put a few things together concerning his life and times. River (Rio was his nickname) was more than a special person to millions of admirers, of all ages, around the world.

This hyperlink leads you to RIO'S ATTIC, but also to a particular page of interest. This sub-page of the main site is a POETIC TRIBUTE to RIVER by a young man named VICTOR in Toronto, Canada. In these poems he imagines what River is saying to us from 'Beyond the Grave'. The two photos on Toronto-Victor's page depict the location of the final scene in MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, where Mike Waters (River) stood in Portland, Oregon, with other street boys waiting, on the curb, for a client. The top photo is one with River, the bottom without...

You may wish to surf the above site, and check out the biographical information on River. Early in his life, he literally brought live audiences of thousands to their feet during his performances.

Below is a photo tribute to River, the first is an overlay of River with an Oregon River in the background, his favorite, the Columbia. River's life was devoted to NATURE. Then, two pictures of River from MOSQUITO COAST which we will see, ...followed by a montage of photos from MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO which you really should try to see for its important social and artistic content.

The below photo dramatically demonstrates the inter-generational breadth of this film (Idaho), which depicts problems in American society affecting virtually everyone,... rich, poor, minority, majority.

"I'm having a kind of hard time keeping my head above water in this crazy business."

-- River Phoenix