Dear Nancy: Thanks for your e-mail. Aubrey De Cordova sent me a message earlier today about Allen’s death. Aubrey kept up with Allen more closely than any of us and visited him in Hawaii once a year from 1988 through 2012. When I called Aubrey back, he said, “He was Allen to the end.”Turns out that Allen phoned Aubrey about an hour before he died to say goodbye and quoted Gus’s farewell from Lonesome Dove: “Aye God, Woodrow, it’s been quite a party.” Cause of death was chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Allen was one of my oldest friends. We knew each other from about age five. We lived only a few blocks apart and spent quite a bit of time together during elementary school years. I have only good memories of Allen. I think it’s fairly rare to be able to say that about someone we know well. Maybe my memory is playing tricks on me, but I can’t recall a single disagreement or any ill feelings between us over all that time, or for that matter during all the time we knew each other. That says a lot for how nice he was. He had to be, to get along with me so well. One thing we shared was a love of puns and word play. He liked to tell elaborate jokes that ended in puns such as “People who live in grass houses shouldn’t stow thrones” and “Boy-foot bear with teak of Chan.” (Where did he hear them?) I actually made up a pun a few years ago, and of course I ran it by him via e-mail. I was highly pleased that he rated it “good.” Another memory — it must be from junior high: Allen wearing a tan nylon jacket on whose back he had written in big letters, “Allen Loves Mabel.” Well, who didn’t? We saw less of each other during high school. Part of it was that he worked year-round, and I was busy sitting on the bench for the basketball team. Later on, in the 1970s and 1980s, part of my routine when I came back to Plainview to visit my parents was stopping by his office at Panhandle Popcorn and his house on 11th Street to tell tales, crack jokes, and even listen to the Grateful Dead. He visited me in Berkeley once, and I saw him another time or two when he was on a trip to San Francisco. I can’t remember when he left Plainview for Hawaii — late 1980s, I think — but I haven’t seen him since then. We did exchange occasional e-mails and a phone call or two. I always meant to visit him there but never did. So I’ve been missing him for a long time. And I’ll continue to miss him. I feel this e-mail is most inadequate, but if you want to forward it to our classmates and friends, please do. See you at the 55th next year — I hope!! Fryar
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 03:17:41 +0000