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Over the
years, I have known a number of
interesting people.... A few I have called Friend. Several have Passed
on from this world ... and deserve at least a mention in my Pages
Click Picture to see Wikipedia page for that person (If available)
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Desi Arnez [1917 - 1986]
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Desi was my "Down the
Road Neighbor" when I was growing up in Norco. His Ranch was out on
Hamner / Millikin Road, across from the River Stables where I rode.
(Although very few
people knew he was there.) My Mother and I met him when we stopped to
investigate a "Horse for Sale" sign. I sometimes visited when Riding
and he was quick to give me encouragement while I was learning to Ride.
(We did not buy the horse from him BTW)
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Paul Edwin Zimmer [1943 - 1997]
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I met Paul on several
occasions due to my involvement with the production of Science Fiction
Conventions in the 1980's. Over time we became friends and often he
stayed and talked while I was working the Graveyard Shift at those
conventions. Paul was kind enough to allow my family and I to
live with him for several months at a time when I really needed to
reset and put my head on straight. "Granny Zimmer" (Paul and Marrion's
Mother) is the official alternate Grandmother to my Daughter, Anna.
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Al Lewis [1923 - 2006]
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Al Lewis worked in burlesque and vaudeville theaters during his early years in show business,
but was most famous as "Grandpa" in the Munsters TV Series.
I met him by accedent in 1978 or 1979 at a lunch counter that was located in a
Thrifty Drug-store in Van Nuys CA, which was next to the Radio Shack where I spent a lot of time
playing around with the computers.
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Frank Gasperik [1942 - 2007]
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Frank was known mainly as the template for a number of literary
characters in books by the writing team of Larry Niven and Jerry
Pournelle. (As Mark Czescu in Lucifer's Hammer, as Harry Reddington aka
Hairy Red in Footfall, and in Fallen Angels.) Frank was also Pournelle's
editorial assistant for his Byte Column.
Although I remember him for his 12-String Guitar which he was quite
gifted with. (His songs and poems have appeared in several books.)
Frank was my Father-in-Law. (He Married My Wife Lucy's Mother Peggy in 2004.
I had actually met Frank some years before, just after Lucy and
I were married. (Somehow he ended up at my house serenading Peggy (who
was living with us) after a convention.)
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Nephi Roland Hendrick [1953 - 2009]
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Nephi was a moderately well-known artist. Known primarily for being a
Gay Morman Artist, he was also known for inventing what is now known
as the "Nephi Style" which from what my understanding was very large
murals which changed depending on the angle which one viewed it.
I knew Nephi from working at an answering service during the 1990's.
He showed me some of his portfolio one evening and one pencil sketch
stood out to me. He had been commissioned to paint a picture of a
young boy (about 6 years old) by his mother, in the traditional
bear-skin rug pose. But the boy was so shy that once undressed he
hid behind the couch and refused to come out. So Nephi sketched him
that way. The little boy peeking out his head and hands from behind
the couch was just so cute. One other thing that stands out in my
memory is that every single day for almost 10 years he had a tuna
sandwitch for lunch. (Strange memory, I know, but there it is.)
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Ara Sevanian [1916 - 2011]
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Ara Sevanian was an armenian composer whose works have been performed by the Los Angeles Philharmonic,
among others. He played the Qanun (or Kanon) which is a type of middle-eastern harp.
Ara owned a small hamburger stand in Van Nuys in the late 70's near where I lived, which I frequented as an early
teen. Upon learning that I was Hungarian and his knowing of the Cimbalom (A Hungarian Harp) and finding that I had been studing music, we became somewhat friends with our shared love of music.
Ara actually indulged me in an attempt to start a record company by allowing me to publish an album of his works.
The only good thing that came of it was I was able to produce a number of 8-track tapes
of his music that he sold from his hamburger stand.
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Fred "FREAK" Snith [1962 - 2017]
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FREAK was the Guitarist in several bands including Beefeater,
Blaxmyth, American Corpse Flower and most famously the Punk-Goth
band Strange Boutique.
He was considered a pioneer in Black Punk-Rock and became famous
in the Washington DC area while with Strange Boutique.
FREAK and I worked together for several years in West Hollywood CA
during the late '90s. I premiered the songs from Blaxmyth on my
radio shows and promoted the band, while cheering them on during
the national contest they were involved with.
In late 2017 he was found in a park, stabbed to death.
His killer has never been found.
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