A lot of folks told me about Eddie Van Halen: I decided to hold the obit until today because, when I looked, the NYT only had their preliminary obit up.
I know a lot of folks who I respect liked Van Halen, but I really don’t have anything to add to what’s out there already.
Thomas Jefferson Byrd. He was in several Spike Lee films, and also did some theater:
Mr. Byrd was a regular on Off Broadway and regional stages, appearing frequently in August Wilson plays, among them “The Piano Lesson” at San Jose Repertory Theater in California in 2001, “Seven Guitars” with the St. Louis Black Repertory Company in 2002 and “Gem of the Ocean” at the Actors Theater of Louisville in Kentucky in 2006.
He was a late addition to the Broadway cast of Mr. Wilson’s “Ma Rainey,” taking over the role of Toledo, the reflective, philosophizing piano player in the title character’s band. The cast was headed by Whoopi Goldberg in the title role and Charles S. Dutton as the trumpeter Levee. Though the production, which ran for 68 performances, drew mixed reviews, Mr. Byrd and the actors playing two other musicians, Stephen McKinley Henderson and Carl Gordon, drew widespread praise. Mr. Byrd was nominated for the Tony for best featured actor in a play.
Murray Newman posted a very nice obit a few days ago for Harris County legal figure Mike Hinton, which I encourage folks to go read. Mr. Hinton sounds like an amazing gentleman who I would have enjoyed knowing.
Seasonally appropriate note: Mr. Hinton prosecuted Ronald Clark O’Bryan.
I played music in a band, and have a twin brother who played music in a band. While my tastes and the music we played in Tradewinds ran towards Beatles, CCR, that sort of old rock and roll, plus some old country.
My twin brother played drums, and sang, and played with uncountable numbers of bands, over the years. He played in a few straight country bands, but mostly hard rock and blues, doing things like Van Halen, Santana,etc.
Actually, while they were famous, I was attending Bible college,and most of my music that I listened to was Christian music. So I didn’t know much of the early 80’s pop or rock music. Plus, I played saxophones, with just a little guitar, in the band I was in, and so we did things that lent themselves to saxophone solos, and such.
I do feel bad for Eddie Van Halen, dying at such a young age. I am now 60, and things like this make me think. It makes me think that I am glad that I learned before I died to appreciate the parts of life that really matter.
I live in west Michigan, right on the coast of Lake Michigan. I have a son who lives inland about an hour, and Friday I am going Salmon fishing on one of our rivers with him. I have another son who is almost a year out of the US Navy, who has a 10 year old daughter, and when he was discharged last December, his wife got pregnant, and they have another girl due very soon. He works for the city of Ashland, KY, and I talk with him often. My daughter lives about an hour away from me, works as a sleep tech for a large hospital, and they have a 7 year old son.
My wife and I have 2 adopted kids. They are grown up as well. But I have learned to be thankful for the relationships that I am lucky to have. Many people never have the ability to enjoy the things that I have, or through no fault of their own, people are taken from them, much too early.
So when I see people dying what is now considered too young, I feel sadness, not just for their families, but for the lost moments that the one who passed won’t be able to experience. The phone calls, or the fishing trips, or like last weekend, a simple restaurant outing to celebrate my grandson and my youngest daughters birthday. There is nothing more valuable in life than relationships with those you care about. The younger you learn this, the better your life will be.