The photos tell a deeper story than the headlines.

In one photo, two young brothers, ages 9 and 8, are on the Virginia Beach shore, smiling at the camera. In another photo, they are dressed in bow ties, ages 4 and 3, holding hands on the Vashon Island ferry, en route to a family gathering for Easter.

In another photo, his mother’s favorite, he’s a young adult, running on a San Juan Island beach. In other pictures, he’s with friends on the beach, or camping in forests, or at a local concert. The pictures seemingly portray a life filled with friends and music.

“He was nomadic,” his mother, Veronica Van Stekelenburg of Columbus, Ohio, said Wednesday. “He wanted to live simply. He was very much into nature. He didn’t want material things.”

Van Stekelenburg’s son, John W. Parish, died Monday in a single-car crash near the intersection of Cattle Point Road and Madden Lane. He was 25. His friend, Dana Kempton, 23, of Friday Harbor, is believed to have been the driver. Kempton was treated at Harborview Medical Center and released.

The cause of the crash is under investigation, though the Sheriff’s Department said alcohol and vehicle speed are believed to have been factors. Sheriff Bill Cumming said both are believed to have been drinking before the crash.

Van Stekelenburg said her son lived on San Juan Island for about four years. His younger brother, Joey, also lived here but now lives in Virginia.

“He was really into the environment,” Van Stekelenburg said of her oldest son. “In Oregon, he protested the cutting of old-growth trees in the Siskiyou National Forest. A bunch of people got arrested and two years later the company apologized. He was really into environmental issues, that’s why he loved San Juan Island so much, for the beauty of it.”

Parish lived a nomadic life, his mother said. He was a Navy child — his father is now a Navy commander in Maryland — and had lived in several states. Like his mother, also a military child, he considered his hometown to be “Earth.” And he wanted to see and experience as much of it as he could.

Parish was born in Rota, Spain, and spent much of his childhood in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Va. He graduated from high school in Norfolk. The family also lived in Maine and Idaho, and spent a lot of time in Washington state; he has grandparents in Leavenworth and aunts, uncles and cousins in the Seattle and Port Townsend areas.

As an adult, he lived on the California and Oregon coasts, where he got involved in environmental activism. “He would travel until he found a place where he wanted to stay and would stay a while,” his mother said. He ultimately made his way to San Juan Island, undoubtedly attracted to the natural beauty and the ease of living.

Van Stekelenburg said her son lived “very simply, lived off the land,” went to food banks, lived with friends. He would call her and other family members when he had access to a phone.

Under county standards, Parish, not having a permanent address of his own, was considered homeless. His manner of living and recent brushes with the law for alcohol-related offenses belied the intelligence and potential within.

“He took an IQ test when he was 5 and scored off the charts,” his mother said. “He could pick up any musical instrument and seriously play it, like someone who had had five years of lessons. When he was 10, he sat down at a piano and played ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ just by hearing his father play it.”

She had hoped he would settle down and pursue a career. “He was a very smart person and loved life,” she said. “I was hoping he would find something in the field he loved, in an environmental corporation. But he did what he did.”

Parish visited his mother, unexpectedly, in Ohio a couple of months ago. “We tried to get him to stay in Ohio while he was here. He had a home here. But we couldn’t keep him away from San Juan Island.”

On his MySpace page (he last logged on three days before he died), Parish described himself as “an artist who’s not so starving at this point.” He said he enjoyed “working in gardens, rockin’ out at shows, traveling around, meeting new people, getting new perspectives on life, teaching and learning, playing soccer, making and eating food, sharing, receiving, laughing, crying, expressing … I like to see people smile and laugh and have a good time.”

Then, his description takes on a more serious tone, more like the young man who read serious books and counted among his heroes Beethoven, author Ken Kesey, and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

“I think it’s important that we all stick together in life. Too often it seems that our differences divide us. When in all actuality these should bring us closer together. I think it’s important to remember that we’re all in this together. And it’s up to us to create a better world for each other …”

A friend, Nina Stone, wrote in response to the news of his death, “I can’t believe what I heard yesterday! RIP … you’ll be missed greatly, you have such a kind and loving spirit … your soul is cherished.”

A memorial service is being planned for June 9 in Friday Harbor. Details are to come.