1984 The height of the AIDS epidemic. So many brilliantly talented people struck down in their prime. We will never fully comprehend what we lost, but the loss was staggering.
My friend Keith Avedon, composer, musician, artist, (cousin to Richard, yes, that Richard) chose to die after a valiant struggle, because as beautiful as the world was there was no longer a place for him in it. AIDS had taken everything from him, including his sight.
The Ascent of The Lark played during his memorial and that, along with the laughter of children playing in the tipi Richard brought back from the American West will always bring back, in sharp detail ,Keith Avedon’s memorial service. It breaks my heart when I imagine how much you would have given the world…