My Friend Richard...
spoken by David
Vyorst 10/25/98
What can I say to
honor such a friend, such a true mensch who we all
loved so dearly. How can I shed any comfort at all
during such a moment of grief. I can not even imagine
the grief of his family, that he loved so dearly, must
be feeling right now. Although I 'm glad Richard's
suffering is over, it's very hard for me to envision a
world without my best friend because of the incredible
life force that Richard was. It is obviously tragic to
see such a magnificent, beautiful man stricken in his
prime, and it is very hard for me because of the very
deep and special bond that we shared, through thick
and thin, across continents and over decades, through
good times and bad. The bond we shared is similar, I'd
imagine to that of WW2 veterans who remained close.
Richard and I hung out together in NY, LA, London,
Geneva, France and Italy. Our bond was strong and
undeniable. Richard was a friend and brother to me and
the reason that it's so hard to accept the fact that
he's gone is that he had such a strong, wonderful and
unmistakable presence in my life and in the life of
those close to him. The reason it's so hard to imagine
him gone is that he was so there.
The Book of Genesis, in last weeks Torah portion, the
very first reading of the Torah, tells us that God
created man in his own image, and who more so than our
Richard, so princely and awesome in stature and so
kind and compassionate in disposition. A loving
father, a great athlete, always with unmatched warmth
and awesome charm. As God surely created Richard, so
now Richard has surely returned to be with God.
This weeks Torah reading contains the story of Noah
and the great flood. After the flood, God said to
Noah, "I will not continue to curse again the ground
because of man…nor will again continue to smite every
living being, as I have done. Continuously, all the
days of the earth, seedtime and harvest, cold and
heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not
cease." The Rabbis teach us that in this God
established his covenant with Noah and Noah's
descendants, and that God also established the seasons
and other natural limits from that point on. In fact
before the flood, the world was much more limitless.
There were no seasons and the generations of Adam
lived many hundreds of years. Adam lived nine hundred
and thirty years. After the flood came the seasons and
natural limits on mankind.
Richard has certainly gone to the limitless, the world
to come. And I think that may be because this world
may not have been big enough for Richard. I saw
Richard rise from the terrible depths to incredible
heights. From the darkest corners of the Lower East
Side to fantastic heights or corporate and personal
success. My friend was a man who had entire nations as
his business territories. With some charismatic people
you always know when they enter a room. With Richard,
not only did you know when he entered a room, but you
knew when he entered a country. At times I was even
jealous of his remarkable success and awesome charm,
but Richard's example helped me to change my won life
around to no small degree, by showing me not only is
it possible, but with hard work the sky's the limit,
and not only that, we would have a lot of fun doing
it. Richard, my friend, thank you for blazing this
great trail for me.
So as I mourn Richard's passing, I also celebrate the
memory of his life, a life that so dearly touched my
own life, a force of life that meant so much to me. A
life of limitless energy, brotherhood and love. As I
was thinking of Richard over the last few days, smiles
and laughter broke through my tears. Smiles and
laughter inspired by joy and friendship and countless
cherished memories that I cannot even begin to
recount. I'll leave that to Robert, who's really our
archivist anyway.
So as Horatio said at the death of his prince, Hamlet,
"Now cracks a noble heart. Good night sweet prince.
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest."
As in many occasions in my life when I traveled to
someplace new, I would arrive to find that I already
knew everyone, because my friend Richard was there,
and of course Richard knew everyone. Today, I know
when I reach the world to come, when I get to heaven,
I'll already know everyone because my friend and
brother, Richard, will be there waiting. So, rejoice
all ye angels and hosts of heaven, because our beloved
Richard is now among you.
And finally, I would be remiss in paying tribute to my
friend Richard if I did not through in a Jerry quote,
so, "the big wheel turns by the grace of God, and
every time that wheel turns around, it's bound to
cover just a little more ground."
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