Saturday, November 25, 2023

"Ain't no room on board for the insincere"

 

Roy and his boy Teddy. 2021

I would amuse Roy with stories of my students. He would amuse me with stories of his. We kept each other amused. 30 years of stories. 30 years of students.

One motif: students who were related to notables. The civil rights leader Medgar Evers' grandson. The great-granddaughter of actor Fred McMurray. Some great-grandchild or great-grand something of writer William Styron. The scion of the great Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong'o. An estranged descendent of James Irvine. There they were, in our classrooms, in our offices, asking for letters of recommendations or just hanging out.

This encounter in 2012 particularly delighted Roy:

So this morning at the Writing Center at the little college in the orange groves, I am working with a student, last name of Zevon. She is doing well and I help her to do a little better. At the end of the conference, I say, "Zevon. Unusual name. By any chance are you related to the singer-songwriter Warren Zevon?" 

I almost don't say this as it sounds so foolish, but I do. It's been almost ten years since he died plus, what are the chances?

 I get a big smile. 

"He was my father's cousin," she says. "Uncle Warren. A little crazy." 

"I love his music," I tell her. "It means so much to me. If I keep talking about it, I'll start to cry." So I walk away, work with the next student. So it goes.

Mutineer - by Warren Zevon

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum
Hoist the mainsail, here I come
Ain't no room on board for the insincere
You're my witness
I'm your mutineer

I was born to rock the boat
Some may sink but we will float
Grab your coat, let's get out of here
You're my witness
I'm your mutineer

Long ago we laughed at shadows
Lightning flashed and thunder followed us
It could never find us here
You're my witness
I'm your mutineer

Long ago we laughed at shadows
Lightning flashed and thunder followed us
It could never find us here
You're my witness
I'm your mutineer

I was born to rock the boat
Some may sink but we will float
Grab your coat, let's get out of here
You're my witness
I'm your mutineer
You're my witness
I'm your mutineer
I'm your mutineer




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Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...