Message board topic:

I lost a friend a couple days ago.  Not a close friend but more than an acquaintance.  I met Curtis when he would come out to watch me play.  Curtis would kid me about "beard worms", (sticking his fingers out through his beard) and about hearing banjo music in questionable locations.

Every day I'd post some bit of trivia on Facebook, trivia about science, or history, just anything I'd come across that seemed odd to me.  Curtis became a fan of those posts, and started sending me odd trivia of his own.

Curtis was known for this big, copper Indian motorcycle he always rode, and was well known in the professional music community, being close friends with Steve Miller, REO Speedwagon, and quite a few others, often talking REO Speedwagon into doing benefit shows for veterans, Curtis himself being a Vietnam veteran.

Standing in front of a business one day, Curtis came riding up to me and stopped to talk.  While we talked, he got a phone call from Steve Miller.  Curtis told him he was talking to a guitar player, waited a second, then said, "Yeah, he's pretty good."  He didn't say I was the "best", or "great" or anything, but I was pretty happy with "pretty good".

A few weeks ago Curtis found out he had heart trouble, and while he vowed to fight it, in the last few days he knew he wasn't going to make it.  He finally left us, and it's really hard to imagine he's gone.  John

John..so sorry to hear of your loss of a friend.

Patty

Curtis sounded like an interesting fellow. Sorry for your loss. I am watching all the Vietnam vets now in their 70's and 80's. It is sad.

Oh my gosh, John, I'm so sorry for the loss of your friend Curtis. He sounded like a really great guy to know. Peggy

Thank you, everyone.  Curtis and I were not really close although we did seem to be getting closer, and he was unquestionably an interesting guy.  At this point it's not so much grief, as the loss of an interesting and very friendly guy, and the idea that he simply doesn't exist anymore.  That's really hard for me to get my head around.  Curtis was a few years older than me, at 73.  John

 John Sorry for the loss of Curtis. Tim