Let me first say that Don and I were not friends in the “hey everybody, look who I know..” kind of way. I refer to Don LaFontaine as a friend of mine because of the way we conversed in emails to one another, the way we saw eye-to-eye on a few topics, and the way he treated me like a professional and a man even though I amounted to little more than a fly on his ass.
Don LaFontaine was my friend because he didn’t judge me as a fan, he didn’t judge me as a star struck idol. In fact, he didn’t seem to judge me at all. He seemed to simply respect me as a man with an opinion, and a guy who enjoyed the craft of voice over and the creative process that went with it.
Don and I were not buddies, we did not golf with one another. In fact, we had never physically met. We had only talked back and forth via email for a while, a time that amounts to a gnats life in the swath of his great career. Simply said, I was just a fan, and he, an idol of mine… Now I am faced with the disemboweling reality of one of the greatest pioneers of my chosen profession, and one of the greatest idols I have ever had no longer sitting at the helm, and it saddens me in a way that I am at a loss for words for when it comes to describing.
At around 10:30 this evening I walked into the house and told my wife I was going out for a while. I told her what had happened and she gasped and put her hands over her mouth and said, “Oh My God!”.
She knew that Don was in trouble, and she knew that pain would be my new best friend on this evening.
I went up to the local cantina and ordered two beers, one for myself and one for my friend. His beer sat there, untouched as it should be. I asked another friend how I should honor the person – or maybe honor the beer. He said, “Just drink some and pour the rest away.” Which is what I did. I drank a few big sips of his beer. A few big sips I wish it was him taking, and then I had the rest poured away. The bartender was nice enough to ask me how I wanted it poured and where it should be poured. I made him pour it in the drain he had just gotten done cleaning…. He didn’t complain.
When I sit and think about it I realize there is no way to honor this man with a beer. There is no way to make up the loss to his family. There is no way to make up the loss to the world…
I wasn’t trying to make up for any of that. I was just trying to have one last beer with my buddy.
Peace be with you great one of the airwaves. I can only wish to accomplish a fraction of what you did. Thank you for being my friend when very few others would. Thank you for treating my adoration with dignity. Thank you for showing me how I should want to be should I ever find myself in the shoes you wore. You are still and will forever be the one and only reason I ever got into and stayed this business in the first place. You gave me something to dream about.
I love you Don…. I don’t know how I’ll ever stop crying…
You can read the only interview I conducted with him here:
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