What a day, marking three different passings...of a friend and colleague, of an inspiration, and of a guiding light. All three are great sadnesses, but one came as a tremendous shock.
Robert Hilferty, Michael Steinberg, and Merce Cunningham: may your Memories Be Eternal.
My favorite memories of Robert include traveling through Morocco together; being abroad brought out, in sharp relief, many of his very finest qualities. Among them: an incredible and insatiable enthusiasm, a completely vibrant and open spirit, and an uncanny ability to find the best party at any given moment--even the impromptu ones.
Edited to add: It's a great comfort to see words from other friends in the comments below, and also over at Alex's and David's sites. (The video which David shares, and of course the wonderful way he describes it, is a perfect encapsulation of what I was so awkwardly trying to say.)
What a wonderful tribute AT, Robert will really be missed. Amanda
Posted by: Amanda Sweet | July 27, 2009 at 05:14 PM
I didn't know Robert well personally but I know he was an enthusiastic and knowledgeable advocate for classical music and the craft of writing. He'll no doubt be deeply missed.
Brian
Posted by: Brian Wise | July 27, 2009 at 06:21 PM
How lucky you were to share that trip, Anastasia. David Adler has some video clips from it at
http://lerterland.blogspot.com/2009/07/remembering-robert.html
That 100-kilowatt smile.
xo,
Andrew
Posted by: Andrew Patner | July 27, 2009 at 07:19 PM
Robert was a dear friend of mine, whom I miss so much already, and whose future work we will all miss. Thank you to all for posting anecdotes, memories, views, pictures, and so forth, about Robert. I personally really appreciate it, and so do others I know.
Josh
Posted by: Joshua B. Mailman | July 27, 2009 at 09:07 PM
I'm so sorry. May their Memories be Eternal.
Posted by: Mimi | July 27, 2009 at 11:51 PM