In Memory

David Starnes, our beloved poet, colleague, teacher and friend at Georgia Southern University, passed away at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 13, 2007. The Department of Writing & Linguistics invites you to contribute any memories, thoughts, joys, sadnesses, poems to this site. Just click "add comment" to any of the published entries. They will appear as a comment, and I also will add them to the main page. We will post here news about other memorials as they are planned. We have set up a small memorial outside his office on the second floor of Newton Building where you may visit his poetry collage and leave a comment in person.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

From Matt...

Uncle Davey once told me, "We are but a sum of contradictions.", so to sum up his memory would certainly be a fruitless effort. If I had only a few words to attempt to describe Davey I would use the following.

"Out beyond ideas of right doing and wrong doing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." Rumi - 13th Century Poet

In his presence there was an unspoken invitation to join him on this non-judgemental, level playing field.

His energy vibrated at a level slighty above most of us, but infecting us all. As a testament to this, since my arrival in Savannah it has been cloudy and rainy. I think it was the tears of sorrow from all who knew him sending our sadness into this world of possibilities. Today however, as the cars began to roll into the funeral home the sun came out and by the time the service began was in full bloom. Perhaps it was this collective grouping of folks whose lives he had touched that brought about a smiling sunny day. The power of positive energy? I think so.

When I was a child, he was James Dean to me. Quiet, mysterious and just across the line of delinquincy. As a teenager he became Clint Eastwood. Rugged and somewhat hardened by life, but hiding a heart of gold. As an adult Davey became Davey. Insightful, charismatic and sharing.

I'm grateful that my Wife and daughters were able to experience you. They all love you greatly. My daughters visit to Savannah with you brought back tales of the man known by all of Savannah. "Dad, everyone in Savannah knows Uncle Davey, even the guys sleeping on park benches!" The depth of their admiration became apparent when their talk of marrying daddy when they grew up was replaced with, "I hope I find a person as wonderful as Uncle Davey someday." I hope they can too.

I will, of course, miss your presence, but I shall not miss Davey. He is and has been alive in us all for sometime.

Love, Matt
Matthew David Rose (Lowell, MI)
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I’ve always felt that Davey got the very best of our family’s traits. Like our father, he could make or do anything and do it well – from practical tasks like painting houses and growing gardens to artistic pursuits such as writing poetry and drawing portraits. I don't have Davey's way with people or the written word but I am lucky enough to share a few things in common with him like a love of nature, reading, movies and particularly, animals. The last correspondence I received from Davey was a card and handwritten letter of condolence about the loss of my beloved dog Maggie on May 3.
While I was helping last week with the sad task of sorting through and packing Davey’s things, I found an envelope of photographs in the desk drawer at his house. The first photo in the stack was one of his famous “one-armed” shots where he would hold the camera at arm’s length and capture himself and as many other subjects as possible in the frame. Davey and Maggie are together and he is wearing a huge grin as she is leaning in to lick his face. I will treasure this picture of two gentle, loving souls who were taken from me much too soon.

May 25, 2007 at 6:54 PM

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