I was chatting with a venue host awhile ago and she was saying all the various careers her husband has had. She mentioned his last career (and most recent) was a funeral director. She's an event planner, and she said "funerals are basically event planning every day." She was so right! We honor the "wedding planner" the "bar mitzvah planner" the "corporate planner" but ... the death planner? That is ... left to the Funeral Director. And in so many ways, overlooked! Funeral parades, marches, the slow trombone and hired mourners - wow, so many ways to leave this world.
This was brought up in my own life recently as a complete accident (as if there are any true coincidences). I was in New York for vacation shortly after Lou Reed's passing. It's hard to explain my passion for Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground when I was 13. No 13 year old from Des Moines has any business tapping her foot to Sunday Morning. But, that music came to me in a unique way I have tried to honor in my life.
So, Lou Reed dies. Two weeks alter, I'm sitting in my NY hotel room on Facebook and I see a public memorial is planned for the next day outside of Lincoln Center. Huh? really? New York is a magic place. I'm going. The announcement reads from 1-4, so I'm planning to be there at 12:50.
We find the outdoor area easily. There are no directionals, no event signs, no photos of Lou, no large poster with Sharpies at the ready. The outdoor space has a slew of white outdoor chairs faced various directions. The event planner in me is trying to find the "front." I see a tech area, multiple speakers, no stage no mic. I sit in the one swatch of sunlight I can find. The crowd fills in.
site of Lou Reed public memorial
We (abot 200 people) wait... and at exactly 1pm to the second the speakers light up with the clearest, at perfect volume tone of The Blue Mask.
early crowd gathers, Lou Reed public memorial
Portrait of the Artist. I may be in my NY costume of black on black on black, but I've got my leopard.
Venus in Fur, babe.