Eric Nightingale
July 25, 1943 - December 2, 2008
Dear Friends,
On Tuesday, December 2, 2008 at 7:00 pm, our friend Eric Nightingale completed his task. Eric was sixty-five years old.
Eric joined the Fellowship on April 1, 1975 in Seattle Washington. He spent most of his thirty-three years in the School living at Apollo.
On behalf of all who knew you, we thank thee.
The Elysian Society
Epitaph:
You didn’t come to my BBQ,
so why do you come here now?
Funeral Service: 2008-12 Eric Nightingale Service & Eulogy
Chanting the square deific, out of the One advancing, out of the sides,
Out of the old and new, out of the square entirely divine,
Solid, four-sided, from this side Jehovah am I.
Walt Whitman
Eric’s honest straightforwardness was certainly not for the faint at heart. Within the School, he sometimes described himself as the loyal opposition but inside his broad swimmer’s chest pounded a passionate and compassionate heart. Art and music fed his soul. He wrote short stories and poetry and was patron to several painters while making a living as a stockbroker.
During a few years with Eric as roommates in San Francisco, he and I became very good friends. When the time came for me to marry and move on, I asked Eric to be my best man. In his view, being a best man meant being able to give “a shot of tranquilizer” to the groom if needed, so he gently declined the request, knowing that wasn’t his strongest side. Of course, he came to the wedding as a well-appreciated guest!
“The ancients were … Simple, like uncarved blocks of wood.”
Lao Tzu