David's amazing wit

August 11, 2009

Dear all,

I have been reading everyone's wonderful stories about David (and Matt's and Anne's beautiful eulogies). I thought I would add a few words to the mix.

I met David in a book group in the 90's (he was one of the most devoted of the book groupies and always had so many illuminating things to say). I also knew him as the one who had the brilliant idea of introducing my friend Sasha to her now-husband (and my long-since-friend) Dave. But I only really started getting to know David within the past year or so, as we've been getting together for various cultural events (most, if not all, of them chosen with great care by David, who seemed to have a boundless knowledge of what cultural pearls were out there for the picking). The Film Forum was a favorite meeting spot, and the last thing we saw there together, in April, was the 3-1/2-hour second part of a ten-hour Japanese trilogy that David had introduced me to last year, The Human Condition.

The last outing I had with David was on July 2, when we met for dinner at the Risotteria. I had brought along a friend who was embarking on a gluten-free diet and David graciously and enthusiastically offered to guide her into that world. He spent a lot of time sharing with her his own experiences and his wealth of knowledge on the subject and even took her to a market to show her what gf foods were worth getting and which were worth avoiding. (Like many of you) I had been to Risotteria with David several times. The wait staff seemed to light up whenever David entered, and I always felt that they would spend more time at our table than at any other, for the opportunity to chat and joke with David.

I will miss a lot about David but one thing I will really miss is his amazing wit. I thought I would attach an exchange we had a few months ago on Facebook when he commented on my status update, after I had gone to see Die Walküre at the Metropolitan Opera (David was as well versed in Wagner as he was in obscure French pop songs). I loved his comments (particularly the last paragraph; you can really hear David's voice in it) -- so much so, that on occasions when I've felt blue, I would re-read this exchange to cheer myself up. So last week I pulled it up to "hear" him once again, and now I have copied and pasted it here (edited to make it understandable to those unfamiliar with the FB format).

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[My status update:] Emily Rosdeitcher rode with the Valkyries this evening.

David Fischer:
How did you like it?
April 7 at 9:35am

Emily Rosdeitcher:
I loved it. The singing was Valhalla-on-earth, and James Levine was divine. Are you going to hear any of the Ring Cycle?
April 7 at 10:08am

David Fischer:
I heard it (and enjoyed it) when it was first at the Met. Our seats were quite close to Valhalla.
April 7 at 1:56pm

Emily Rosdeitcher:
LOL! (No, really, I did laugh out loud.) I hope, at least, that you didn't have large "immortals" with horned helmets sitting directly in front of you up there.
April 7 at 6:35pm

David Fischer:
No, we didn't have helmeted throngs block our view. Early in the epic I was actually able to see the ring get loose and roll to the edge of the stage. I wanted to shout "Grab it!" and end things then and there. Instead we heard the whole Wagnerian salami, though much of the fall of Valhalla (I hope I'm not giving much away here) was not visible to us despite our aforementioned proximity to the darn place. Amazing what a curtain or overhang (I don't remember which it was) can do.
April 7 at 7:04pm

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My thoughts are with you all, his friends and family, and above all with David.

Emily Rosdeitcher

David and Food (3)

August 10, 2009
[re. Frank's note, below]

Funny, Frank - Harris and I just ate at Risotteria, in MY 'hood, the gluten-free restaurant David always invited ME to join him at when he found himself there, in his honor and toasted him, after returning from the cemetery. I was looking for the owner, b/c he knew David as well, but he wasn't there. I will let him know next time I see him...

xo
Anne Newgarden

David and Food (2)

August 10, 2009
[re. Frank's note, below]

That so sounds like David! He told me he did that on purpose, to make owners and waitresses remember him and promote the GF agenda. He was very upset when we went to a new groovy place in my old neighborhood in Brooklyn and he could not get the owner's attention for said chatting up (it was pretty groovy and crowded) or convince the waitress that she should go to the basement and read all the ingredients in the chocolate they used for their mousse (which also sounds like david). I can laugh about that today, at the time it elicited a serious eye roll. I'm really going to miss meatballs at Risotteria with him. They'll have to make a DF memorial table there.

Clare Donohue
One to One Studio
www.121studio.com

David and Food

August 10, 2009

Today, I had lunch in a little place here on the Upper East Side (84th and 1st) called Peter's, in David's honor. DF and I had dined there more than once. They offer a gluten-free menu and the food (for the record) is excellent. He'd travel all the way from the West Side and never failed to let me know when he was coming up to my 'hood.

I mentioned David's sudden passing to the owner, Peter, who remembered him fondly. "It's funny...most customers don't stick out in my mind," Peter confessed. "But he always went out of his way to chat me up and always found something interesting to talk about."

Sounds like our guy.

:-) Frank Santopadre