Goodbye, Faz

[filkertom]

I didn't even know.

Faz Husain passed away in March.

Faz was a very nice guy. Friendly, smiling, shake your hand, give you a hug kinda guy. He owned a local pizzeria, Hello Faz, which has extremely tasty pizza (the sauce is amazing). When I was still at EDP, we had him bring us, oh, twenty pizzas now and then, and he insisted on bringing them over in person. Between that, and seeing him in his store, we got to know each other a little bit -- not a lot, but, y'know, that shopkeeper/customer how-ya-doin', the real one.

His hobby was having his picture taken with celebrities. They cover the walls of his pizzeria -- Bill Clinton, Muhammad Ali, Ric Flair, Bob Hope, ever-damn-body. Hundreds. He might have had thousands. He was working on a book about how to meet famous people.

I went in today to grab a few slices, and as they were boxing them up I idly asked the counter people (who also know me by name) when is Faz in, thinking I hadn't seen him in awhile. And they told me he'd passed away a couple of months ago. He left a family and a whole lot of friends.

And here I am now, trying to enjoy this very tasty pizza, knowing I'll never see the guy again.

Today's lesson is very, very simple. Tell the ones you love that you love them. Don't put it off. I'm waylaid by the death of a guy I'd met briefly half-a-dozen times and hadn't seen in a year and a half.

I didn't even know.

Comments

[tnatj.livejournal.com]

It happens more often than we'd like. Often I have resolved to do better when something like this happens, and here's a little inspirational poem that helps me ...

http://tnatj.livejournal.com/128334.html

My condolences to you and to the family of a good man.

[shadowriderhope.livejournal.com]

A good poem - thank you.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Dave. And a couple o' big hugs at you.

[peteralway.livejournal.com]

I remember seeing the fliers for FAZ ALL-STAR PIZZA 20+ years ago. I recall being perplexed by the irrelevance of the celebrity photos. Years later I read that they were his hobby. I confess I never tried his pizza--until I read your post, I had no hint if it was any good, actually.

Speaking of lost Ann Arbor characters, did you know Jim Loudon?

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I did not. I knew of him. Yeah, he was a great guy, from all I hear.

[suecochran.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry for your loss :( Thanks for posting about him. More people should live their lives like he did.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Reading the story about him just made me miss him more. I mean, donating pizzas in bulk to school fundraisers? Going to strangers' funerals to share their grief, to let them know on some level that We Are All Of The Same Tribe even if we don't know each other? Hell of a guy. I only hope my own tally on life's scoreboard comes close.

[shadowriderhope.livejournal.com]

Yes, I heard about it a while back, but sadly never really knew him. I had heard many similar stories of how cool he was, and I wish I'd had a chance to get to know him.

Christine Lavin's "And the Moment Slipped Away" always gets me a bit misty-eyed for this reason; there have been too many times where I missed the opportunity to tell someone that I loved them, that they mattered to me.

The one I regret the most, though, is eck. And my cousin Lan (yes, he was my cousin). And the chill I got when the police called me at work and asked me when the last time I spoke to my father was... and I couldn't quite recall, but thought it was within the last few weeks, or month.

Life's like that, reminding you of its ephemeral nature when you're in danger of getting too comfortable.

*hugs*

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Hugs and condolences right back. Yeah, when I heard about Iain, I was pretty messed up for a couple of days. Same with John Filpus, who wasn't a friend, or even somebody I liked much... but he was part of our tribe. And just today I was going through some boxes of books, and found old Lan's Lanterns.

Sigh.

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Sorry for your sad news. I'm surprised they didn't post an "in memoriam" sign or something, though.