Steve and I weren't ever really close friends. He was one of the Avondale kids. We played Kids Inc. basketball together in junior high on the team his dad coached. He lived over by West Hills park with Bunky Preston, Holt Bounds, Don Stevenson, Doug Ward, Tara Lowenstern, among others. We didn't hang out together at Tascosa either, but we had a friendly relationship, played football on the weekends at the park.
After graduation I didn't see him again until I ran into him a couple of times in Austin after I moved there to go to UT. He was playing music, getting by, living then on what was the edge of town. Caught up with him at the 10-year reunion. Met his wife Janey. Had sporatic contact over the next few years. We were doing alot of backpacking through Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, and they extended an open invitaion to visit them at their place in Wyoming. Unfortunately for us, we never got around to a visit. And we just kind of lost touch over the years. I was looking forward to hopefully seeing him this year. At least getting back in touch.
But the reason I'm writing all this is to tell everybody something about Steve. He was a true free spirit. He was an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, song writer, and entertainer. He and his wife had a stage act under the name Laughing Bird. At some point Steve decided to go by the name Tupelo. Their website is still up: laughingbirdmusic.com. There are photos. Check it out. They were all about fun and good times. They recorded a bunch of cd's. I have a couple of them and they are very well done.
And they must have been fearless. I know one time Steve told me they had traveled all over South America by thumb and in an old VW bus. When I asked him how they financed such a trip, he said that when they ran out of money or food, they would just get out on the street and he would juggle or play the spoons while Janey sang. I don't know about anybody else, but I never had the gonads to pull off something like that. Kind of inspiring.
And finally, speaking of inspiring, check out Steve's own website: tupelokenyon.com. It's still up. Steve was a big thinker and apparently a voracious reader. See his suggested reading. Some of it is very spiritual and nurturing.
Steve obviously made the world a little brighter. Thanks, brother.
James (Jim) Grahs
Steve and I weren't ever really close friends. He was one of the Avondale kids. We played Kids Inc. basketball together in junior high on the team his dad coached. He lived over by West Hills park with Bunky Preston, Holt Bounds, Don Stevenson, Doug Ward, Tara Lowenstern, among others. We didn't hang out together at Tascosa either, but we had a friendly relationship, played football on the weekends at the park.
After graduation I didn't see him again until I ran into him a couple of times in Austin after I moved there to go to UT. He was playing music, getting by, living then on what was the edge of town. Caught up with him at the 10-year reunion. Met his wife Janey. Had sporatic contact over the next few years. We were doing alot of backpacking through Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, and they extended an open invitaion to visit them at their place in Wyoming. Unfortunately for us, we never got around to a visit. And we just kind of lost touch over the years. I was looking forward to hopefully seeing him this year. At least getting back in touch.
But the reason I'm writing all this is to tell everybody something about Steve. He was a true free spirit. He was an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, song writer, and entertainer. He and his wife had a stage act under the name Laughing Bird. At some point Steve decided to go by the name Tupelo. Their website is still up: laughingbirdmusic.com. There are photos. Check it out. They were all about fun and good times. They recorded a bunch of cd's. I have a couple of them and they are very well done.
And they must have been fearless. I know one time Steve told me they had traveled all over South America by thumb and in an old VW bus. When I asked him how they financed such a trip, he said that when they ran out of money or food, they would just get out on the street and he would juggle or play the spoons while Janey sang. I don't know about anybody else, but I never had the gonads to pull off something like that. Kind of inspiring.
And finally, speaking of inspiring, check out Steve's own website: tupelokenyon.com. It's still up. Steve was a big thinker and apparently a voracious reader. See his suggested reading. Some of it is very spiritual and nurturing.
Steve obviously made the world a little brighter. Thanks, brother.