He’s a regular guy. Works at a newspaper. lives with family, newly married, typical suburban Baltimorean..
Oh, and he’s a B-Movie icon – especially in Maryland.
This guy has the kind of career i think about when I imagine leaving the quest for stardom.. he just lives his life.. and makes fun, cheap movies that struggle to make a little profit, if any – but eventually… yes, they do.
And so it is that his name is mentioned in books and articles.. and people come in droves to kiss his ass and try to get in his movies.
And he picked me, with his right hand man, Joe, to be the tough guy in an upcoming Zombie movie that never mad it off the ground. I did get to play the hero in his next movie, the upcoming Crawler, and the villain in the upcoming Dead Hunt.
But he also gave me the chance to make music for his films.. scoring them.. and it was in this that we got to know each other. We argued, sometimes bitterly about themes and context, and whether a scene should be played straight or tongue in cheek.. and we fought for our ideas.. and he tempered my inexperience into scores i am proud of.
I also learned something.. he’s not a huge horror movie fan. he loves West Side Story. He’s a guy who hits you first with his almost monotone deep voice on the telephone.. and then, laughs easily. He seems to be always on his work..
Sure.. I probably have details wrong.. but this is how I see Don.. He has a good little life. The kind I might one day really want. I admire this guy.. and I look to him as – well, not a role model – but a model for how life could one day be not what I had dreamed at 20, but just fine, and still doing what I love.
I hope you’ve read to here.. because I need to change all of this to past tense. See.. Don died today after a short but fierce bout with cancer. I’m not stunned. I knew it was coming. But I’m sad. Resolutely sad. And because I wasn’t his best friend or anything, I don’t want to give you the pain and loss story. I want to just tell you about this guy I met.. and spread a little about what he was like.
Either you liked him.. or you would have. Glad I met ya Don.