I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting older--no, I've always been a little scattered--but I seem to lose at least one important thing every day. Yesterday, and today, it was my checkbook. I seldom need the damn thing because almost every bill is paid automatically these days. Certainly I put it someplace safe and easily accessible. Didn't I? Apparently I have once again succeeded in hiding it so well that it won't turn up until the next time we move.
Since there seems to be compensation for everything, my safari to find the checkbook has turned up many treasures lost in the multiple cubbies of my old roll-top desk. I frequently stuff interesting newspaper stories, coupons, toys, matches, and other truck I deem important into this ever bulging work space. Because of my penchant for saving useless effluvia, my wife long ago insisted on this oak beauty for its knack of concealment. Just roll down the desk top and neatness ensues.
So, here I am poking into the deep recesses of my desk searching for the elusive checkbook and there is treasure everywhere. Old pictures of family and friends, business cards from jobs not held in years, letters from family and friends, old baseball cards, trinkets and toys for my grandson, and now…
An obituary.
Not just any obituary--heck, I don't even know this guy. Why did I save an obituary from 1996?! Then I remember. This is one that I will never forget. It was in the San Diego Union-Tribune in September of '96 when papers still cared about obituaries and employed adequate staff to write them properly. (These days it's usually up to the family to provide the copy and the newspaper charges for running them.) The heading read: Leland Featherman, Lawyer "lived a full life'. I remembered that the 'lived a full life' line was an eye catcher and had enticed me to read further.
Here are a few excerpts from Mr. Featherman's send off written by staff writer Jeanne F. Brooks:
"Leland "Buzz" Featherman's profession was law, which he loved well enough. But life was his vocation. A bon vivant and raconteur, he relished family, friends, good times, basset hounds and Democratic politics." (Okay, that one I don't get.)
"Where Mr. Featherman got his sense of humor, said his son Mark Featherman, 'is a great mystery" --though Mr. Featherman always thought he took after his uncle 'Bunny' Featherman who drank, smoked cigars, told jokes and was the life of every party."
"A college-age 'Buzz' Featherman is still remembered by folks who live around Keuka Lake, in upstate New York, where the Feathermans owned a summer cottage. He once water-skied across the lake from one bar to another, while wearing a tuxedo."
"He attended Phillips Exeter Academy until his senior year, when he was kicked out, as he sometimes described it, 'for having too much fun', said his son Mark."
"In 1958, between the Navy and law school, Mr. Featherman dropped by a country club dance in Elmira, New York. He introduced himself to a young woman he saw at the bar, Carolyn Sue 'Subie" Blostein. On November 10, 1959, the young couple eloped and were married by a justice of the peace in Leesburg, Virginia."
"After law school, a friend convinced the young Feathermans to move to Phoenix in 1961. 'They hated it right away,' said their son. Three years later, the couple moved to San Diego."
"Mr. Featherman worked as a bank teller while he studied for the California bar exam. He lost that job when he joked with a customer, telling her that the bank gave out green stamps. She complained to the management because she never received any."
"Because he thought most people didn't know how to unbend, he wrote a book on having fun. One chapter was titled, 'Winning Isn't Everything, Fun Is"
"He kept his sense of humor to the end. The day before he died as he struggled with consciousness Mr. Featherman pointed to his son Mark and said, ' I have just one question. Are you going to wear that shirt everyday?'"
What a find! No wonder I saved this piece from seventeen years ago. This was an obituary to remember. A guy who loved life and lived it to the hilt going out in grand style. I wanted to meet this man and maybe have a couple of pops with him. Who wouldn't? The world might be a better place with a few more Buzz Feathermans running the show.
As I fold the now yellowed newsprint and return it to its home in the roll-top something important catches my eye. When I originally saved the story I hadn't noticed Mr. Featherman's age at the time of his death. He was 62. Son of a gun! Reading it at nearly 65 is far different from reading it at 48.
I wonder when the ice goes out on Keuka Lake and where can I find a tux? The clock ticks for all of us and there is always time for FUN. Just ask Buzz Featherman.
Well done Buzz, well done.
Since there seems to be compensation for everything, my safari to find the checkbook has turned up many treasures lost in the multiple cubbies of my old roll-top desk. I frequently stuff interesting newspaper stories, coupons, toys, matches, and other truck I deem important into this ever bulging work space. Because of my penchant for saving useless effluvia, my wife long ago insisted on this oak beauty for its knack of concealment. Just roll down the desk top and neatness ensues.
So, here I am poking into the deep recesses of my desk searching for the elusive checkbook and there is treasure everywhere. Old pictures of family and friends, business cards from jobs not held in years, letters from family and friends, old baseball cards, trinkets and toys for my grandson, and now…
An obituary.
Not just any obituary--heck, I don't even know this guy. Why did I save an obituary from 1996?! Then I remember. This is one that I will never forget. It was in the San Diego Union-Tribune in September of '96 when papers still cared about obituaries and employed adequate staff to write them properly. (These days it's usually up to the family to provide the copy and the newspaper charges for running them.) The heading read: Leland Featherman, Lawyer "lived a full life'. I remembered that the 'lived a full life' line was an eye catcher and had enticed me to read further.
Here are a few excerpts from Mr. Featherman's send off written by staff writer Jeanne F. Brooks:
"Leland "Buzz" Featherman's profession was law, which he loved well enough. But life was his vocation. A bon vivant and raconteur, he relished family, friends, good times, basset hounds and Democratic politics." (Okay, that one I don't get.)
"Where Mr. Featherman got his sense of humor, said his son Mark Featherman, 'is a great mystery" --though Mr. Featherman always thought he took after his uncle 'Bunny' Featherman who drank, smoked cigars, told jokes and was the life of every party."
"A college-age 'Buzz' Featherman is still remembered by folks who live around Keuka Lake, in upstate New York, where the Feathermans owned a summer cottage. He once water-skied across the lake from one bar to another, while wearing a tuxedo."
"He attended Phillips Exeter Academy until his senior year, when he was kicked out, as he sometimes described it, 'for having too much fun', said his son Mark."
"In 1958, between the Navy and law school, Mr. Featherman dropped by a country club dance in Elmira, New York. He introduced himself to a young woman he saw at the bar, Carolyn Sue 'Subie" Blostein. On November 10, 1959, the young couple eloped and were married by a justice of the peace in Leesburg, Virginia."
"After law school, a friend convinced the young Feathermans to move to Phoenix in 1961. 'They hated it right away,' said their son. Three years later, the couple moved to San Diego."
"Mr. Featherman worked as a bank teller while he studied for the California bar exam. He lost that job when he joked with a customer, telling her that the bank gave out green stamps. She complained to the management because she never received any."
"Because he thought most people didn't know how to unbend, he wrote a book on having fun. One chapter was titled, 'Winning Isn't Everything, Fun Is"
"He kept his sense of humor to the end. The day before he died as he struggled with consciousness Mr. Featherman pointed to his son Mark and said, ' I have just one question. Are you going to wear that shirt everyday?'"
What a find! No wonder I saved this piece from seventeen years ago. This was an obituary to remember. A guy who loved life and lived it to the hilt going out in grand style. I wanted to meet this man and maybe have a couple of pops with him. Who wouldn't? The world might be a better place with a few more Buzz Feathermans running the show.
As I fold the now yellowed newsprint and return it to its home in the roll-top something important catches my eye. When I originally saved the story I hadn't noticed Mr. Featherman's age at the time of his death. He was 62. Son of a gun! Reading it at nearly 65 is far different from reading it at 48.
I wonder when the ice goes out on Keuka Lake and where can I find a tux? The clock ticks for all of us and there is always time for FUN. Just ask Buzz Featherman.
Well done Buzz, well done.
