Garage Logic – MISCHKE: Ropey

Date: March 7, 2026
Host: Tommy Mischke (Mishke), Garage Logic Host
Key Guest: Ropey Buckner (storyteller, subject of episode), Michael (listener and interlocutor)

Episode Overview

This episode of Garage Logic, titled "MISCHKE: Ropey," delves into the extraordinary, rugged life of Ropey Buckner—a lifelong Ely, Minnesota resident. Through a mix of personal reminiscence, direct interviews, and narrative storytelling, host Tommy Mischke with input from loyal listener Michael, uncovers Ropey’s story. The episode explores themes of survival, hardship in the Minnesota north, brushes with death, and the gritty reality of rural existence. Ropey’s tales extend from family trauma, local prejudice, and Vietnam-era escapades to near-death experiences in floods, with poisonous mushrooms, and a brief, harrowing stint in the American Indian Movement.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. A Listener’s Yearning (02:55–05:17)

• Michael receives a surprise call from Mishke, sharing his anticipation for this very moment and reveals a phrase from Mishke’s past:

  “Is everybody happy?”
  A childhood touchstone and a question that sets the episode’s tone.

• Sentiment: The enduring impact of shared stories and radio—how elements from old broadcasts live rent-free in listener’s minds.

2. Remembering Ropey Buckner (05:25–07:21)

• Michael and Mishke recall Ropey Buckner, and Mishke resolves to retell Ropey's epic life story:
  • Ropey: A seemingly ordinary Ely man, whose deep life stories surface only when someone asks the right questions.

3. The Harsh Realities of Ely Life (07:21–10:39)

• Ropey details his grim family history and lifelong health issues, including cancer linked to chemical exposure (DEET) from “taking baths” in insect repellant.
  • Quote:

    "I've taken baths in DEET… Every joint in my body felt like I had an ice pick stabbing it." (07:21, Ropey)

  • His emaciation due to illness is measured not just in pounds lost, but in pride and identity.

4. Growing Up Slovenian in Ely (10:39–13:42)

• Insight into ethnic prejudice and working-class reality:
  • Quote:

    “We got rocks thrown at us walking home from school.” (12:51, Ropey)

5. Restless Youth & Haight-Ashbury Disillusionment (13:42–16:47)

• Hitchhiking adventure to California in the late 60s:
  • Ropey finds the famed Haight-Ashbury squalid and rejects hippie culture.
  • Quote:

    "People were shitting on newspapers in the corners… hippie scene… just a decay of humanity." (14:30, Ropey)

  • His path leads him to the military, spurred by conscience and a search for structure.

6. Army Life & Trauma in Germany (16:47–18:25)

• Ropey faces anti-American violence as a GI in Germany:
  • Endures a brutal assault in a guesthouse.
  • Quote:

    “They put cigarettes out on our faces… I still got burns on the side of my forehead…” (17:31, Ropey)

7. A Return to Ely and Survival Work (21:05–22:31; 36:00–38:57)

• After the service, Ropey cycles through jobs and homelessness:
  • Lives two winters in an unheated boathouse at forty below zero, surviving on netted fish and layers of wool.
  • Quote:

    “I lived in the cold for two years… You gotta have wool. The wool will take any bit of heat you got.” (36:00, Ropey)

8. Surviving the 1972 Rapid City Flood (22:31–29:15)

• Ropey is caught in one of the worst US floods while living in SD:
  • Saves people from drowning, experiences carnage and loss.
  • Vivid recollection:

    “My place is on its side and I threw the fucking door open... I didn't swim more than 50ft and the first drowning victim happened in front of me.” (23:28, Ropey)

9. Life Among the Outcasts & Lawbreakers (39:38–44:16)

• Ropey’s compassion: Helps a Canadian woman recover from miscarriage.
• Town outcast as a non-drinker in a hard-drinking community.
• Brushes with local law:
  • Poaching a moose for food in a brutal winter; fined but charges dropped due to the judge’s empathy.
  • Quote:

    “Anybody comes in my courtroom on a day like today, and our charges are dismissed. Wham.” (44:16, Ropey)

10. Death in the North: Dangerous Nights (45:17–49:35)

• Encounters with fatal accidents, including rescuing people (and animals) from certain death during subzero nights.
• Two deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning after a vehicle gets stuck in the snow.
  • Michael’s Reflection:

    “That story lives in me, too. As a person who's in Minnesota, like, you give my skin shivers when I think about it.” (56:23, Michael)

11. Brushes with Death: Poisoned by Mushrooms (51:59–56:23)

• Ropey tells of accidentally eating Destroying Angel mushrooms, leading to a coma and near-death experience.
  • Quote:

    “I died once... There were three mushrooms growing among these blueberries... I started puking... went into a coma... I left my body.” (51:59, Ropey)
    “You have to go back. I ended up traveling back. And I remember coming in—boom, there’s nurses.”- Ropey (54:10)

12. Reflections, Resonance, and Legacy (57:03–58:22)

• Michael and Mishke reflect on the value of recording and listening to stories like Ropey's, which illumine the grit and unpredictability of human life.
  • Quote:

    “You give me hope. So thank you for your work, sir.” (58:08, Michael)
    “Thanks for saying that. Greatly appreciate that.” (58:11, Mishke)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

The Unspoken Wisdom of the North

• Ropey Buckner, on struggle and endurance:

  “It’s hard is the word. The word is hard. Everybody new comes in with a fantasy of their own... Never does the winter ever leave you entirely.” (10:39, Ropey)

On Community and Loneliness

• Ropey, on being a sober man in a drinking town:

  “Being a non alcoholic among all the alcoholics of Ely, that'll definitely make you alone… I wish I could just pull them out and shake them… Spread those wings as wide as your arms can go and hug the world.” (41:20, Ropey)

On Facing Death and Coming Back

• Ropey’s near-death vision:

  “All that shit's just a little fuzzy Brillo pad fading away... It was beautiful. Unfucking believably beautiful, man. Any relative you have... all you got to do is a thought. They're there.” (54:00, Ropey)

The Ely Quality

• Narrator:

  “Every story Ropey told me had that Ely quality to it, that sense of being from a different world. Four hours from the cities, perhaps, but four light years away at the same time.” (38:57, Narrator)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Intro & Call to Michael: 02:01–03:28
• Michael’s “Is everybody happy?” story: 04:17–05:13
• Reminiscence of Ropey: 05:25–06:38
• First person Ropey: 07:21–09:01
• Ethnic divisions in Ely: 12:51–13:26
• Haight-Ashbury disillusionment: 14:30–16:47
• Army trauma in Germany: 16:47–18:25
• Rapid City Flood: 23:28–29:15
• Living in an unheated boathouse: 36:00–36:42
• Wilderness survival/mindset: 36:42–37:55
• Moose poaching/courtroom anecdote: 44:16–44:51
• Death on the blood moon, and carbon monoxide story: 45:17–49:35
• Mushroom poisoning and NDE: 51:59–56:23
• Concluding reflections: 57:03–58:22

Summary

This "Garage Logic" episode is a testament to the enduring spirit and hardships of life in outstate Minnesota, seen through the lens of Ropey Buckner’s wild trajectory: from a boy in Ely facing abuse and prejudice, a dropout hunting for freedom in California, a soldier scarred by violence abroad, a survivor of one of America’s worst floods, to a loner who finds his place—and his own code—deep in the Minnesota woods. Ropey's stories, delivered in his gravelly, no-nonsense style, lay bare the cost and beauty of a life lived on the harshest margins. As a closing act, the reflections of listener Michael and host Mishke commemorate the power of listening—how oral histories keep hope alive and illuminate the hidden depths in overlooked lives.

This episode is rich with raw storytelling, stark reflection, and the kind of wisdom that emerges only out of hardship. Ropey’s life carries the wild cold of Ely, the scars of struggle, and moments of pure transcendence, shared for the benefit and wonder of all who listen.