bill russell

my father died 10 years ago this month … everyone knew him as “cowboy russell” a nickname he acquired when he showed up for the first day of high school football practice in his typical rancher’s garb … i wrote this poem for and read it at his funeral — quite the cowboy affair … his hat and lasso were on the casket and the pallbearers wore cowboy shirts and boots … music included kenny roger’s “the gambler” (his favorite song) and “home on the range” … after his burial in the black hills national cemetary, friends and family came back to the ranch for many margaritas

for giacomo capizzano who was like a brother to me… he single-handedly managed to bring Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens to the london fringe and then to the west end… though he successfully battled aids for years, on july 14 he succumbed quite unexpectedly from the side effects of his medications… i was asked to write something for his memorial service in london (we were half a world away and couldn’t get there) and sent the following…

bruce and i celebrate our 23rd anniversary on july 13th, 2002. (that’s the approximate equivalent of 149 “straight” years.)
so this month’s poem is one of many he’s inspired over the course of our relationship …