Tribute to a Friend
Wednesday, March 21, 2018 1:10 PM
Although all of us must pass away at some point, it is never easy to lose someone you hold near and dear. With the passing of my mom on February 1st, that became all too clear and real for me. And now, I’m just heart-broken to have found out that my dear friend and writing partner Linda G Marcus passed away on March 8, 2018. She and I collaborated on two projects - Past The Sun (SATB & piano) and The Bird Lady (soprano, viola & piano), which was just premiered on February 27 in New York. She was supposed to attend the premiere, but she emailed me on Feb. 17 to tell me that she had been hospitalized suddenly. I had not heard from her since and just found out on Wednesday evening, March 14 that she passed away. She was such a sweet and charming lady in every essence of the word, and she had a wonderful talent with words. Her most popular work River of Judea was performed at Carnegie Hall in December 2016 with more than 250 singers, and she invited my wife and I to be her guests at the performance. She was such a joy to work with and a pleasure to have called her friend.
On Thursday evening, March 15, the day after I received the news of Linda’s passing, I found out that one of my best friends for the last 40+ years had also passed away. Due to privacy requests by the family, I will not say anthing further, other than to say that this has been a bleak winter for me with the loss of three very special people in my life - my mom, my co-writer/lyricist, and my best friend. I am doing my best to channel the frustration, grief and loneliness felt by these losses into a creative outpouring of new music. It is to their memory that I will continue down this path and honor them. I am confident that I will see them again soon!
Blah Blah Blahg . . .