DAVE
Dave would be surprised and pleased to see so many people here. I can hear him say, “I didn’t know I had this many friends”! He would be especially touched by the attendance of long time friends from across the country.
Most of you have known him longer than I have, which has just been for the past nine and a half years; even that was only by long distance with short annual visits. Reading the tributes that Paul Dodd and Rich Stim wrote on the web site were helpful in learning more about Dave in his early days. What he wrote by his picture in Paul’s high school yearbook demonstrates an inclination for philosophy at only 17 years of age! Then Rich mentioned how perceptive Dave was.
He was a complicated person and not easy to get to know. His closest friends were people with whom there was a music connection. I read an article recently on Pete Seeger, whose father Charles, wrote “music as a group activity is more important than music as an individual accomplishment. The MX-80 band is still remembered by people in the business. Their early recordings have become somewhat of a collector’s item.
Dave was unpretentious, he knew who he was and he didn’t care about how he was perceived. He didn’t like people who seemed intent on impressing others. Though opinionated, he was sensitive and easily wounded.
As Paul noted in his tribute on the internet, Dave was precise and I suspect he also needed to follow a set routine. He used to have a cappuccino machine and when I expressed an interest he spent a half an hour showing me how to make cappuccino with exact measuring and timing. I still don’t have a machine because I failed to take notes and I knew I would never remember how to get it right.
His lifestyle was simple and he had few possessions. Two years ago his father and I met him at his apartment for an early morning BART ride to the Ferry building in San Francisco to the public market. He was wearing jeans with large holes in both knees (fashionable for kids, but a 53 year old man)! He had a worn old knapsack which also had holes in it. I thought --- aaah, this would be a perfect gift, a new backpack from LL Bean. As he was putting his vegetable purchases carefully into it he told us how good it made him feel when someone recognized his vintage knapsack and I knew that he was very attached to it and probably would not even use a replacement.
Life’s highs and lows were keenly felt by Dave. The highs were euphoric and the lows were fueled by anger. The last year and a half he seemed to be content. Naturally he liked working in a music store. He was also proud of his modeling work. His sons were the focus of his life and he looked forward to the time they spent together. Ten months ago, Dave was in Rochester for his Dad’s eightieth birthday party and his niece’s wedding. It was a good visit with family and friends and a memory we will always hold dear. |