White Pepper Goes to Two Too Many Funerals

While in winter quarters at Philip's apartment on Coleman Ave. in Corpus Christi, Jan and I were shaken by deaths of two great sailors on Corpus Christi Bay--Doug Tinker and Barry Brown.

Doug was a very long time friend of ours for many years. Like so much of our past our friendship with Doug overlapped before we met. Jan crewed for Doug on "E'Spirit Libre" when I sailed against him on "Puff". Doug was preceded in death by his son Anderson who was a friend of both our daughters. Doug died a lingering death from brain cancer. His funeral was at the Galvan ballroom and was mobbed.
Doug packed more living into 74 years than anyone else I have ever met, so his death did not seem so tragic.

Barry, however, was only 67 and seemed so vigorous that his sudden death last Wed. was a shock. He was a fierce competitor on the race course and a very positive influence in Corpus Christi sailing. At the funeral at Seaside Barry's brother's account of how he won the Silver Star was amazing. His sudden death leaves a huge hole in his family life as well as his expansive community life.

The two deaths have left White Pepper thinking about mortality and funerals. I plan to organize my life's pictures into a format suitable for a memorial CD. The problem with today's funerals is that they feature baby pictures and then the last pics from Christmas. The real meat of life is in the middle. These pics are usually hard to find in the scramble of a last minute funeral arrangements, so I will have everything prearranged. Enjoy the show when the time comes!