Missing a dear friend

August 11, 2009

I met David in 1986 when we both worked at CAMI. David worked in Publicity with Dolph Timmerman, and I worked down the hall in Theatricals. Though we were colleagues for a few years, our friendship really took off after David left for the job with Life.

Through the years we went to countless shows, concerts and movies – and other excursions as well. I will never forget the hike that David, Howie and I went on near Newburgh, NY. We were lost for hours and I was convinced that we would never return – there was David, calmly and analytically reviewing the hiking trail book (the one with the landmarks that weren’t there anymore) and consulting with Howie, while I wailed that our remains would never be found.

Then there was the shopping trip around Manhattan when he needed to buy a suit for some occasion… another odyssey that lasted for hours. I’ve never known anyone to try on clothing more thoughtfully – or take more time doing it.

We both enjoyed the singing of Fred Astaire, and Busby Berkeley movies – we often quoted funny song lyrics to each other -- a favorite that always cracked us up was “Paducah, Paducah, if you wanna you can rhyme it with bazooka, but can’t pooh pooh, Paducah...”

After I got married we saw each other a lot less, but spoke at least every few weeks. David delighted in stories about my daughters. Over this past summer we were not in touch as much as usual. When the writer Frank McCourt passed away recently, I emailed David, asking him if he remembered a panel discussion we attended some years ago, where Mr. McCourt was one of the speakers. David emailed me back that he hadn’t been feeling well. The phone message that I had left for him was returned from the hospital. He discouraged me from visiting, saying that he wasn’t up to having company. We agreed that we would get together when he was feeling better. His last words to me were “thanks for caring.”

I will miss my sweet friend.

Pam Lederman