Our dad lived a full and happy life, and many lives throughout.
Voted “Best Overall” in his junior high superlatives, and a star basketball player throughout school, we found a collection of notes in his yearbook along the lines of, “Good luck in the NBA!” “You’re SO CUTE and have the BEST BODY. Never forget me!” These made us laugh.
At Ohio University, Dad got his degree in fine art and, with his ultimate frisbee team, won the national championship. He kept a signed OU frisbee from that team displayed in his cantina, where it remains to this day.
Dad’s first big break as a photojournalist was a full-page spread of one of his photos published in Life Magazine in 1985, when he was just 25. The photo documents the riots in Jamaica: a man holding a gun to the head of another man who’d hopped a fence trying to escape. The caption in Life told the story behind the photo, in which, immediately after the photo was taken, the man with the gun turned it on our dad and demanded he stop taking pictures. Dad did not stop and was quoted as saying, “He was shaking more than I was.” That gave us a chuckle, too, and we’re grateful that his 25-year-old hubris 1) did not kill him, and 2) is documented for all time.
We remember our everyday dad, making homemade salsas, chilaquiles, black bean soup and enchiladas, all accompanied by one of his favorites: cilantro. We joke that he was the first person to bring cilantro to Ohio in the early 90s. He was brewing craft beer back then, too. Ahead of his time, forever cool.
Dad and Ronni’s house is The Spider House in Troy, a legendary local landmark, behind which is The Cantina, host of many family dinners, a formidable selection of craft beer (always served in its appropriate glass), and the neighborhood Men’s Night. His home was a unique, chill and non-judgmental place that we and many others loved to be. Dad was a friend to all.
Our dad was truly interested in us and deeply proud of us. He was our coach, our class chaperone, and the unofficial professional photographer at every event we participated in. We always felt his abiding love and affection, and we still do.
We enjoy getting to know more about our dad, the lives he lived beyond fatherhood, and who he was from the perspective of the many others he enjoyed knowing.
We invite you to share your stories and memories in the comments below.