Beloved,
Kurt told me just this afternoon that there were over a thousand people at Ted’s funeral: "We arrived late and had to stand out in the lobby, with a zillion other folks. You should have gone. Lots of people just wore t-shirts and old clothes because nobody ever dresses up to visit The Grit."
Today’s newspaper carried the item that his death has officially been ruled a suicide. It still stings my heart, and it’s getting close to a week later.
As soon as I type this and visit a couple more threads, I’m off to a Flagpole celebration at The 40 Watt Club, which is owned by Barrie Greene Buck, who used to be married to Pete Buck of R. E. M. and who is Jessica Greene’s sister — thus she is Ted’s sister-in-law. I doubt she’ll be there, but I will hug her if she is and if she needs it. Bonds run deep in this little city; we bleed into each other’s wounds, as Melanie so aptly put it.
All y’all’s words are appreciated. Now I gotta go somewhere else threadwise so I can post something funny… this is too heavy duty for me right now.
Still Pining, Even If Only As Slightly As Those Full-Grown Six Foot Loblolly Pines In New Jersey’s Pine Barrens, Ort.
P. S. I want to see those little drawf trees sometime, if only to have my picture taken beside a clump of them. Nobody has ever figured out why this occurs, and it’s only in one place… must be a huge deposit of bog iron under there, or something.

quote:

Originally posted by KOK

I am very sorry for your loss. These tragedies always remind of the poem ‘Richard Cory’. You can never really know what people are truly feeling.
Kevin[/quote]

Kevin,
Funny thing, I own that 45 by The Chicago Loop on DYNO VOICE Records… and was just thinking about it the other day. It was the follow-up to their only chart disc, "When She Wants Good Lovin’ (My Baby Comes To Me)" from 1966 or 1967. — Does anyone else remember THAT obscurity?
Conjuring Them Up, Ort. Carlton in Warmer-But-Not-By-A-Lot Athens, Georgia.

quote:

Originally posted by skylar0ne
I would also like to say that your friends here have missed seeing you post. I know the circumstances are sad, but it is good to see you back.

Skylar,
Thanks for your kind thoughts. Actually, I finally had time to return last night, and — almost as an afterthought — I mentioned Ted’s passing because I felt it was Roadfood Newsworthy. And, when the proverbial smoke clears, I will guide Jessica Greene to this thread so she can read your messages for herself.
Ted had apparently been suffering from depression for some time, but he masked it well. The shock is still as strong as when word first leaked out: I guess that’s what comes of a life well lived, no matter how short, no matter how truncated.
Many of y’all might be interested to look up The Grit Cookbook on Google. I hardly think that for me to recommend anyone’s buying it that is interested will in any way step on the barely-competing toes of The Sterns or anyone else here. That cookbook has been referred to around town in the last few days as The Ted Hafer Memorial College Fund, and that’s truly apropos… it’s a beauty.
Ted was a native of Potsdam, New York and came to Athens roughly 23 years ago. He and fellow Potsdamite Curtis Pernice formed, with drummer-friend Sam Mixon, a well-thought-of band here named Porn Orchard. If any of you heard that band, you now have another connection to the all-too-brief life of Ted. They released a 7" record as well as a 12" one; I own both.
Tomorrow night I won’t be by here: I’m going to raise a toast to Ted’s memory at $ 2 pint night at Copper Creek Brewing Co. I am simply not emotionally prepared to attend his funeral, but my 30-year-friend Kurt Wood, who is manager of the Taco Stand right up the street from The Grit, will be there with his wife Gretchen in my stead.
Your thoughts, all of you, are appreciated… not so much for me, as for Ted’s family.
Later this week, I have a few restaurant finds to post wherever space permits and/or time allows. Stay tuned: you’re going to love hearing about The Gwinnett Diner’s Trash Can Omelette and Dumpster Omelette, as well as Judy’s Diner (there really is a Judy, too!) and several other places I’ve been privy to discover along the road.
Longwindedly, Ort.