Pops

It is hard to think about going to Italy without thinking of my father. He loved the country. In fact I dreamt about my late father Amos Sommers last night.

I am not sure what triggered it but it might have been reading about Parma being Verdi's birthplace as well as Toscanini's. We will be in Parma in just a few days. Or maybe it is just the fact that I miss him.

My dad loved opera and he loved classical music, always humming one aria after another. He loved the food of Italy, especially  the region of Trieste.

He visited many times. Once he rented a yellow Ferrari Dino and toured the country at jet speed.

The factories for Ferrari, Lamborghini, De Tomaso, Maserati, Pagani and Scaglietta were all located near Modena, located in the area of Emilia Romagna we will be touring.

That was another passion of my dads, fast cars. His love was his Aston Martin DB 5 convertible, with body by Carrozeria Touring Superleggera. And there were many more of near equal distinction.

My father had style and he was a renaissance man and he wrote his own ticket. He had an art and antiques collection that would rival some museums. Loved magic squares and mathematical puzzles, relativity and physics, golfing, photography and watching basketball. Wrote complicated algebraic equations for fun as well as a book on economics. Built perfect architectural models out of foam and balsa.

He put up with a lot of crap from us, or should I say me? Once got me out of jail in Los Angeles at four in the morning after I had been arrested and roughed up by some cops at a Grateful Dead concert. Wasn't real happy but he was very forgiving. Loved his kids.

Les and Dad

I both salute him and miss him terribly. We may try to catch an opera in his honor.