His name was Stephen Ludwig.
He passed away doing what he loved (writing) in a place that he loved (France). If we could all be so lucky. My heart is broken and I will miss him so. It's going to take me awhile to process this, but I wanted to write a little something in his memory.
Stephen was such a passionate, intelligent, wonderful person. He has a laugh that I loved. There was always a little wheeze when he would really get laughing that would turn almost into a whisper. He was a great cook and loved wine. There was a group of us - the board members of Rude Guerrilla that became quite a family over the years. We fought like a family. We loved like a family. We were a group of extremely opinionated, passionate, strong people that wanted Rude Guerrilla to succeed. We has artistic differences and artistic visions. We put some amazing work on that stage. Stephen was never one to back down from something he believed in. He was a playwright and a dramaturge for many productions that graced the RG stage. He loved the opera, the symphony, theatre, the arts. His passion for arts and culture was endless.
He also loved to garden. When I moved home in November 2008, I had a bunch of plants that I wanted to leave to a good home. I knew my roommate wouldn't take care of them and my mom already had an obscene amount of her own plants. So I called Stephen. He was beyond thrilled. He would invite me over to see the progress of my plants as they grew and flourished under the care of him. He turned them from the sad barely alive little plants to beautiful blossoming creatures that were so much happier living with him and Sharyn.
I remember he would always get so passionate about something whether it be an aria in an opera or a painting he saw and would always excitedly fill me in on every detail. We spent many evenings in his apartment near OCPAC, his home he shared with Sharyn or Bistro 400 over dinner and wine laughing and chatting the night away. His laugh. Oh his laugh.
He was loving his retirement and was always telling me what he planned on doing next. I remember when he was telling me about the writing trip he was going to take to France. He was so excited.
I haven't seen him as much over the last couple of years since he moved out to Las Vegas. We would follow each other on Facebook and shoot an email here and there. The last time I saw him was a Christmas Party he and Sharyn had hosted before he moved. I remember him laughing with a glass of wine and telling me about France. The last time I spoke to him was late last year. He had called to check up on me after my hemorrhage and scolded me for scaring everybody. I was looking so forward to chatting with him in June when he returned from France to hear all about his trip.
Stephen you were taken from this world much too soon. A great spark has been snuffed out too early. The only peace I have is that you were happy and you left this world in a good place. I will miss you so very much. I will miss your laugh and your smile and your great passion you had for so many things. There is a hole in my heart and I think about you all the time. You touched my life so much more than you will ever know.
Below are a few pictures to share.
From our Club J.E.T. red party we had in celebration of Terri/Erika and my birthdays. Pictured here with another lovely man, Tom Kelly:
This is a photo from a peaceful candlelight vigil that a bunch of us participated in protesting Prop 8:
Here is a photo from our Beach-Themed Tea Party we held at my moms house:
Here is Stephen and I at the Tai/Parker Lovefest:
And here is a photo from Alex's 40th surprise birthday. I love this picture so much because it captures the laughter we so often shared:
I will miss you my wonderful friend.
Here is a lovely article written by Joel Beers. Thank you Joel:
OCWeekly article by Joel
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