Frank Blair: RIP 1922–2011

Tonight I went to a memorial service for my friend Frank Blair. From the remembrances of his three daughters, a few of his grandsons, friends and a slideshow of his life I learned a lot about this person who I thought I knew. I learned he was an artist, photographer and devoted family man. However, surprised as I was to hear more about Frank, more so was neighbor of the last four years. All he knew was a friendly neighbor who would engage frequently in 5 minutes conversation with him and his family.

I knew Frank a long time ago but more so in the last 10 years. Due to his age and fragility he did not get out of the house much but he was a frequent communicator on the computer by emails and list servers. He wrote about the times we live in. He saw, as many others see, the fall of the American empire but he not optimistic about doing something about it or even slowing it down. Some years ago he wrote a piece of a general strike but no one give him serious attention. I really appreciated his insights on politics and considered him my ‘elder’, a wise man, 89 that I could learn from.

Now most of my elders have passed away and I found myself at 68, as an ‘elder’ to a few persons. Inside the program there was a short piece written by Frank when a friend asked him who he was. Frank is blunt and plain spoken answering the question ‘Who am I”? There is a lesson, ‘say it as it is’, that I learned from Frank.

You can read an obituary about Frank Blair but you will not really know him. One of daughters said that even she had learned things about her Father tonight that she did not know. Death brings out things we did not know about a person but, until we die perhaps, do we really know anyone?

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