RIP Don Spyke

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RIP Don Spyke

Postby Enzo » Thu May 28, 2020 10:18 am

No you don't know him. Looking forward to his 90th birthday, he didn't quite make it. Spyke was a great guy. Every now and then when reading the obits, a familiar face looks out at me. it happens more often as one ages. This time Don Spyke.

I met Don through the local tavern. he was a buddy of my barmaid Rita, whom I liked a lot. Pauls Revere's Tavern, my home on the way home. I'd hang around the bar chatting with Rita and shooting pool. She stayed at Spyke's often, and I sometimes gave her a ride over there, or to her apartment. SPyke's good friend was Norm Sauer, a forensic anthropologist and professor among other things. I took a course in Anthropology from him, Early Man. Norm was a guy who would get calls from all over the country to identify human remains. "AH yes, a 13-14 year old female, these remains are from within the last few years, or these remains are a thousand years old. etc."

I recall one day in Norm's class, we were discussing evolution and he asked why did we think chickens were larger than they used to be. He called on me, always risky, and I said "Maybe the fire retardants we put in their feed?" A dim look and a "Thanks, Enzo" and he called on someone else. hey, I like to contribute when I can.

Also from the Tavern, was Colleen, the lovely waitress. She and John, her husband, were friends of mine. She was a veterinary student, and I helped her study occasionally. John worked in sheet metal. (Hopefully this will all pull together.) She had been a bunny at the local Playboy Club.

I was working locally at the time (late 1970s), and had decided I could finish my degree within the year, so I did. I was recruited by a Detroit company and hired to manage their Virginia operation. SO I was leaving the daily pub life. If I came in wearing a necktie, they'd rib me for coming home "from career". "Oh look, Enzo has been to career."

Not long after, one evening, Rita asked if I would give her a ride over to Spyke's house. Sure, be glad to. As we pulled up I noted a bunch of cars parked around, and I recognized some of them. Hey, isn't that Bob's car? AS we walked up to Spyke's door, it opened, and there before me stood a life size robot made of aluminum. he had blinking lights and even some sound effects. ( It was John in a robot suit he made at work.) As we entered the house, I saw many of my friends from the bar. They were having a surprise going away party for me. It was great.

They gave me a few gifts. One was an electric hammer. A plain old hammer, like you pound nails with, except it had a power cord trailing from the handle. Still have it. And I got a great necktie. It was a tasteful dark blue with little motifs all over. It was my favorite tie forever. The little motifs were little jock straps. From a distance, they were just some sort of triangular shape, but up close, well, jock straps. I loved wearing that. I could always tell, sitting across a desk from someone, exactly the moment they realized what they were looking at. I loved that tie.

So we had a great party at Spyke's place. I thought, "Hey, why not call some place far away so DOn gets a mysterious entry on his phone bill. SO I called the Louvre. I asked them what special displays they had, and she said this month was Flemish PAinters. She also corrected my pronunciation of "Louvre". (It turns out it isn't just LOOV.) God bless the French. I asked Spyke some time later, ever get any odd things on your phone bill? He said his bill is always long, his kids make all manner of calls, but he did see one that just said "France".

So warm memories of Spyke, and his circle of friends included some of mine. And he smiled out at me from the newspaper one last time.
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Re: RIP Don Spyke

Postby Heid the Ba » Thu May 28, 2020 10:51 am

He sounds like a great guy, didn't make 90 but 89 ain't so bad.
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Re: RIP Don Spyke

Postby Arneb » Thu May 28, 2020 12:17 pm

He couldn't have found any better friend for a warm and poignant good-bye.
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Re: RIP Don Spyke

Postby Blue Monster 65 » Thu May 28, 2020 12:56 pm

Sorry to read this, but it was a good read anyway. Made me think of some of the stories you’ve told me about those days.
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Re: RIP Don Spyke

Postby Lance » Thu May 28, 2020 3:46 pm

Thank you for sharing.
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Set a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life.
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