It is impossible to wrap my head around Steve’s departure. I met Steve and Yuko at an Art opening for Mary Beach in the early 2000. When I permanently moved to NYC in 2007, they were incredibly supportive. They took me around and Steve got me several readings & introduced me to a lot of great music & musiciens.
When I asked them to be part of my film Thing Fall Where They Lie along with Eric Sarner & Katalin Pataki, they were once again totally supportive. We shot for one week. These two pairs of artists had never met each other and their backgrounds were four different countries and four different mother-tongues. What was supposed to be some sort of historical portrait of Bagnères-de-Luchon, my hometown in the French Pyrenees, became an exercise in poetic drift through their personal stories. They all fell in love with each other, they shared love for jazz and poetry — their sensitivities coupled with a joyous curiosity took over. For seven days, shooting in cinéma vérité style, I followed them in the once upon a time glamorous spa where we all re-imagined the lives of a famous jazz violinist and of Karl Marx’s grandson, both buried in Bagnères-de-Luchon.
Steve was inexhaustibly funny, smart, bringing so much to the group dynamic of group — & yes! He was happy for a full week! I personally never saw him so consistently happy for one full week. I spent countless hours editing the film, and it truly was a joy, I loved looking at Steve on the screen, his soft gaze, his pursing lips, his deambulations….
We have not lost Steve, he departed before us. Thank you for being you, Steve, and to you Yuko, be strong! We need you! Much much love and we hug you tight.
I am so blessed to have known you, Steve: you enriched and brought much joy to my life. I love you forever.
Film Trailer:
https://vimeo.com/261864528
Steve’s last reading — shortly before the massive brain hemorrhage. He transitioned at 5:04 next morning: