Happy trails, friend

The community is still reeling from Larry Robinson's murder. Everywhere I go, people are just shell shocked. I have never seen anything like it in my thirty four years in town. Maybe because it was so senseless. Mostly because everybody that knew the guy loved him.

Leslie and I joined the candlelight vigil last night. Many hundreds of people, the largest outpouring I have ever seen for such an event since maybe John Lennon. Pulled people out of the woodwork, many I hadn't seen for a long time, many I didn't know at all. Debbie Ramsey said something this morning that was very true; Larry was sort of an unusual character in our area because he had a base in both Temecula and Fallbrook and that is rare around these parts. Never noticed that he worked right next to the Dorado restaurant before...

I wasn't going to necessarily write about this tragedy again but Brent sent along this link to raise donations for the family. I don't know the family's financial position but I imagine they could use a little help.

We all know that life is cheap but until it hits home we never reflect on exactly how cheap. You hear about people being murdered for a pack of cigarettes. Larry Robinson met his fate for a cheap Gibson Les Paul worth about seven hundred bucks and some neon guitar strings, or so I was told.

As a guitar player I couldn't imagine holding such an instrument, this instrument of death. Perhaps it was quickly sold so that somebody could obtain a fix? Who knows? We can only hope that the perpetrator of the crime finds swift justice. But it is hard to imagine that a guy could murder a stranger for a cheap Les Paul. May it never play in tune...

I wasn't in Larry's inner circle but counted him as a friend. It is so common, almost trite to talk about those that have passed as kind, generous, loving and humble. Yet this man was genuinely all those things and more.

I think that Larry may have been born into the wrong age. I can envision him as a crooner, singing ballads and sea shanty's, cowboy songs around his campfire in more noble times. He was that close to making it big but the window got small at the wrong time. He carved out a pretty good life and worked his ass off as a musician. He loved his wife, family and music. Pete said that Larry was a believer at the vigil last night but we never discussed such matters.

It was such a joy for me to watch him perform with his son and daughter at the Women's Club a few years ago. He was rightfully proud of them.

We have to honor his memory. The pain runs deep for many.