My friend Karl Fickas passed away today, after a long illness. He was one of the friends I got to stay with in our annual “Middle Aged Music Geek Frat House” in Texas for most of the past 10 summers. He played bass and sang in The Pengwins, Wrong Voltage, and Basement Snakes, bands I had the pleasure of seeing during those summer trips. He was the life of the party, but also the wisest person in the room–a balancing act that most people don’t ever get right. But Karl did.
Our generous hosts provided lots of fun activities for us, and I got to know Karl fairly well during our occasional downtimes. I had many private conversations with him, just talking about life. I felt we had a real and personal bond. Turns out that each of my fellow summer roommates feel the same way. That’s Karl–very comfortable to hang with, a deep and personable guy.
About that wisdom of his–he never told people what they should do, but sometimes just showed us a better way. I’m fortunate I had the time I did with Karl, and I am going to miss him tremendously. I raise a mug of hot, strong coffee in his honor.
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