My father, has passed away as of October 5 at 10:39pm, EST.
I am renowned for posting tales and remembrances of the loss of many I’ve known on here and other places. I do this not to be morbid, but vivid; we’re at our very luckiest to be here with each other and I’ve always honored the very special that have been lost to us.
For many reasons that span the decades I am at a loss to do that here now.
Folks needing more information about his loss (there will be many) may personal message my brother or myself.
Bernard Louis Schmidt ll
03/05/1946 — 10/05/2025
1998
Over a quarter century ago
A onetime Charleston West Virginia office space
No more
Cut up into an art collage garage
A place where every daydream comes true
Where every nightmare gets up and dances
“My only weapon is my pen
And the frame of mind I’m in”
Long shadows in those afternoons
The long shadows of my youth moving across the floors
A decade going by
Gotta get up and hustle
We’re night people
But morning’s where the money is
“I’m a songwriter, a poet
I’m a songwriter, yeah, a poet”
Few showed up to witness this chrome dream
At first
But the good always wills itself out
The secret didn’t stay secret long
And don’t you know
we tore the roof off the sucker
NEWMAN
“Said the things I flash on everyday
They all reflect in what I say”
This motherfucker
Was there though
At the beginning
To bear witness
To lay it all out
To testify
That you are never alone
That the dream is not a dream at all
But harsh reality
That is Brave
And Strong
“I’m a songwriter I’m a poet
I’m a songwriter, yeah, oh yeah, a poet”
Lived a lot longer than could be reasonably be expected. The architect. The Family Stone. Rest in peace, Sly. Your friend, Steve.
If you haven’t been through the Eclectic Goods Market in Dunbar drop everything and RUN. Amongst the many jaw-dropping finds lies my old friend Chip Smith’s Scapegoat Books, which has got to be the heaviest bookstore in the area. Beautifully curated. Between stuff like this and The Shop booking Angelo Moore, Richard Lloyd and Agnostic Front my little hometown is becoming cool as F*&K.
4:30am, John Glenn international, Columbus. I took her to school for years and watched her walk away. I dropped her off for one of her first dates and watched her walk away. Now I’m dropping her off at the airport for her two-month stay in Nicaragua. But this time she turned to look for me and wave…
Home in the AM and time to go to work.
