RIP Scott Shafer
http://www.burtonfuneralhome.net/fh/obituaries/obituary.cfm?o_id=1247067&fh_id=12450
The name won't mean anything to the majority of you reading this. And the obituary really won't add much. But if you were around NoVa in the 70's, Shafer (that's how we always referred to him) was a minor legend - one of those larger-than-life characters where fact and fantasy mix and create story after story. Those of us who hung out with him always seemed to come away with a new story we could regale others with, later on. This was the 70's, and I'm not saying everything that happened was something you'd be proud of or even want others to ever find out about. Drinking expeditions to Gtown, parties at William & Mary and throughout NoVa, the girlfriends, the tricks and practical jokes, the confrontations, the bluster and bellowing throughout it all - I chuckle even as I type this. It's hard to describe Shafer, maybe a very smart and intellectual version of John Belushi's character from "Animal House" might be a step in the right direction; but he was more charming (when he wanted to be). You just knew when you went out with him for a night on the town, there was about an equal chance of glory or a jail cell at the end of it. (Like I said - it was the 70's...). Bartenders and waitresses loved or hated him, sometimes simultaneously. His was the loudest and most laugh-filled section of the bar, I can assure you. He could be outrageous, or outrageously funny. It was a craps shoot, sometimes. But there'd always be a new tale to tell afterwards - talking his way out of an arrest, locking a restauranteur out of his own bathroom, dramatically begging (on his knees) forgiveness from some girlfriend's mother, and on and on.
And, as I've implied above, Shafer wasn't a saint. The "trickster' aspects of his personality could sometimes veer into the cruel or the stupid. One disadvantage of a big personality like that is one can sometimes overplay a hand. There were more than a few hurt feelings in the man's wake.
But he could also be quite a good friend, helping folks out of jams, smoothing over a rough situation in a bar, etc. He could twist an argument around with professional ease. He'd of made a good lawyer for the ACLU, I think.
He enjoyed playing the game of Monopoly. He also gleefully cheated like a MoFo - and you didn't care. I would never play him in poker...
I've not seen Scott in close to 30 years. We re-connected by email just a few years back and corresponded a few times a year. He'd told me about his illness, but as recently as two weeks ago had left me with the impression that he was getting better. Just like Shafer to play one last trick on me. I'll miss him, and can only end with the famous line from Hamlet:
"He was a man, take him for all in all,
I shall not look upon his like again."
The name won't mean anything to the majority of you reading this. And the obituary really won't add much. But if you were around NoVa in the 70's, Shafer (that's how we always referred to him) was a minor legend - one of those larger-than-life characters where fact and fantasy mix and create story after story. Those of us who hung out with him always seemed to come away with a new story we could regale others with, later on. This was the 70's, and I'm not saying everything that happened was something you'd be proud of or even want others to ever find out about. Drinking expeditions to Gtown, parties at William & Mary and throughout NoVa, the girlfriends, the tricks and practical jokes, the confrontations, the bluster and bellowing throughout it all - I chuckle even as I type this. It's hard to describe Shafer, maybe a very smart and intellectual version of John Belushi's character from "Animal House" might be a step in the right direction; but he was more charming (when he wanted to be). You just knew when you went out with him for a night on the town, there was about an equal chance of glory or a jail cell at the end of it. (Like I said - it was the 70's...). Bartenders and waitresses loved or hated him, sometimes simultaneously. His was the loudest and most laugh-filled section of the bar, I can assure you. He could be outrageous, or outrageously funny. It was a craps shoot, sometimes. But there'd always be a new tale to tell afterwards - talking his way out of an arrest, locking a restauranteur out of his own bathroom, dramatically begging (on his knees) forgiveness from some girlfriend's mother, and on and on.
And, as I've implied above, Shafer wasn't a saint. The "trickster' aspects of his personality could sometimes veer into the cruel or the stupid. One disadvantage of a big personality like that is one can sometimes overplay a hand. There were more than a few hurt feelings in the man's wake.
But he could also be quite a good friend, helping folks out of jams, smoothing over a rough situation in a bar, etc. He could twist an argument around with professional ease. He'd of made a good lawyer for the ACLU, I think.
He enjoyed playing the game of Monopoly. He also gleefully cheated like a MoFo - and you didn't care. I would never play him in poker...
I've not seen Scott in close to 30 years. We re-connected by email just a few years back and corresponded a few times a year. He'd told me about his illness, but as recently as two weeks ago had left me with the impression that he was getting better. Just like Shafer to play one last trick on me. I'll miss him, and can only end with the famous line from Hamlet:
"He was a man, take him for all in all,
I shall not look upon his like again."
posted by mendip at
11:46 AM
1 Comments:
That captures him - and what hanging out with him - was like, perfectly.
By
Eddie Blau, at 3:22 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home