A few days before David’s memorial, our friend Debra Stuart found out that Mary has been taking riding lessons. Deb then told Mary a story about a time, several years ago, when she’d talked David into going for a horseback ride. David got on his mount reluctantly and had only been in the saddle for a few moments when the horse — as horses do — snorted.
“He growled at me!” David said, and dismounted in a hurry.
Mary and Leslie and I found the story pretty funny. It got me thinking that there might be a way for David’s friends and acquaintances and fans to share their stories of him. It would be great for all of us to hear them, and it would be really wonderful for Mary to have a collection of stories about her dad that she can treasure.
I first thought of handing out pencils and paper at the memorial, but my friend Sally pointed out that people would be too distracted, and that they’d come up with better stories if they’d had a chance to reflect for a bit. Plus we knew that not everyone would be able to come to the service.
So! This new website has been designed with a special page that will allow people to send their stories or thoughts or whatever you’d like to share. You can check a box that will keep it private — just for Mary and me to see — or you can let us post it here on the site for others to read.
It could be a story about David himself, an anecdote about working on a production of one of his plays, or a few thoughts about how his work affected your life. Or anything at all, really. We’d just love to hear from people who have something to say about David or his work.
To send us a story — and I hope you will — just click on “Submit A Story About David“. You’ll find instructions on the page.
Can’t wait to see what you have to say.
I posted my David French story on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=483887958087
Bill