Hi, it’s June Pike again. I just finished watching The Celebration of Life. My wi-fi connection was down during the ceremony and I could neither follow it nor send an audio. I posted a pic of my brother, sister and me with Pancho as kids, explaining that my mother, Pachita, and Joy were cousins. My mother was brought up in Salvador by her English grandmother, Sara Duke, because her mother died of the Spanish influenza in 1920. They moved to the States, but the connection with Salvador was very strong. Sara spent the last years of her life in Vista Alegre, where Auntie Helen lovingly cared for her. I visited Salvador several times and totally agree with the description of Auntie Helen’s house as a dream transported from England. The Vista Alegre finca is beautiful. I posted a pic of me at its gate, 10 years ago, when we took Mom back to Salvador for the last months of her life. She had been the First Queen of the August Festival. Joy and Dickie had been her Maids of Honor, almost fainting due to the intense aroma of the gardenias that decorated the carriage. Gangy, as Pancho called her, was the epitome of “savior faire.” which did not exclude being very caring. Joy, as mentioned, would send endless faxes. She lived an incredible life, thanks to which Pancho’s early years were also incredibly formative.
An aunt of mine, Paulita Buckley, also a cousin, lived in Switzerland where she worked as an interpreter, having started at the UN and then setting off independently. We would joke about Joy’s phone calls. Paulita would say:” you don’t talk to Joy, you listen to Joy…” which was true.
Joy accompanied Pancho to Spain for a convention and they spent a couple of days in my house in Vigo. At one point, Pancho said:”who would have thought I’d be in your house in Vigo, admiring your beautiful woodwork!” Next to the woodwork I have one of Dickie’s husband’s, Raúl’s paintings.
From Vigo, we drove to Madrid, where we went to a Spanish Flamenco show. After dropping Joy off at the hotel, Pancho and I went out for a drink, to reminisce about our fun past times. The minute I got back to the hotel, Joy wanted to know everything we’d talked about.
Last year Pancho invited me to Cannes, but my physical condition did not allow it. I had promised him I’d be in Bulgaria.
I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Valeriya, but Margarita, Joy’s housekeeper for 44 years spoke wonders of her. We’ve exchanged posts on WhatsApp. I’m very grateful to her for having brought that special love and happiness into Pancho’s life. I definitely look forward to meeting her. Now, on to Margarita. She’s one of the three people in Salvador with whom I’m in touch on a semi-regular basis. In a previous post I mentioned that we’d been talking on Feb. 29th, so I was very surprised to receive a call from her on March 2nd. She was crying her heart out as she told me of Pancho’s passing. We couldn’t believe it. We’ve been in constant touch since then. Both she and her son, Carlos, sent me some of the pictures I’ve posted. She definitely deserves to be acknowledged and appreciated. 
And now, the time has come to look up to the stars shining in the sky, knowing that one of them is Pancho, accompanied by Joy Chassis and Gangy, and thank him for having been a unique, unforgettable part of my life. Are we going to need a bigger sky?❣️⭐️❣️
 

In 1977 I found myself in El Salvador (ES) at age 14.  At the Escuela Americana I was lost and an outsider. I looked like a Salvadoreño but growing up in San Francisco I was more Norteamericano in my way of thinking.  Looking for connections I found Pancho.  We lived near each other in "Los Planes" when almost no one from the school lived that way so we began to hangout.  We would go on to spend a lot of time at his family home - Vista Alegre or my house Quinta Susana.  More on the adventures of Pancho and "Lobito" at Vista Alegre later.

Pancho was already very involved in the drama club at school, and it seemed like a place to find more friends so I followed him to an audition for Godspell and the next day we were both cast and I found group that would be a large part of my high school experience.  Many more plays followed over the next three years (Play It Again Sam, Carnival of Thieves, Peter Pan, etc). We attended several Drama Festivals in Central America representing our school.  We even co-directed the elementary kids in a play and became known as the "Drama Club Mafia".

One requirement to attend the festivals was that the students compete in at least two categories (play, monologue, dramatic reading, pantomime, etc).  Pancho and I decided that pantomime seemed like a good idea even though we had never done pantomime.  Unfortunately, we were too busy with play rehearsals and with our other adventures to actually develop a routine let alone rehearse it.  Two days before leaving to compete in Honduras we had to perform for our school.  We asked to go on last as we scrambled to come up with a routine backstage in a corner while everyone else did their prepared pieces.  By the time it was our turn we had a concept and had rehearsed it almost two times.  30 seconds into our routine the crowd was laughing loudly - in a good way.  After we were done the applause was like a drug we would be chasing from then on.  We pulled this off only because Pancho and I had developed this way of reading each other and reacting that was impossible to achieve had we been trying to find it.  We realized at that moment that together we were way better than as individuals as long as we had complete trust in what the other was doing and truly put "us" ahead of "me".  We only rehearsed it two more times at the Honduras festival before being judged and we came in first place.  The performance we gave in Honduras was drastically different from what we had rehearsed, but that ability to play off of each other and react was magic that night.    Many people commended us on the precision and amount of practice our routine must have taken.  In the many years that have past we would bust out laughing at "precision and amount of practice" we put into that routine.   44 years later and I still smile thinking of how much dopamine was flooding our brains hearing the laughter and applause and remembering the high we were on and how close we were as friends and collaborators at that moment.

Back to Pancho and Lobito's adventures - at Vista Alegre we would play with air rifles (only once coming close to putting out an eye) while trying to hide our antics from his mother, Joy - she knew all along.  We would make films with his handheld camera.  Pancho already the writer/director and me the eager actor/stuntman.  I recall a vampire spoof (that would be terribly non-PC today) where Pancho the perfectionist had me practicing falling down the stairs over and over until he was satisfied it was ready to film.   Film was more expensive than my bruises and sprains.  We made a spoof commercial about how pure recycled water was in ES.  I had many spit-takes with a mouthful of chocolate peanut butter.  His father took particular joy in this masterpiece while most normal people thought it was disgusting. Mel Brooks would have been proud.

Pancho was always the artist of our duo, and I was the daredevil and adventurer.  He brought out the artist in me and I bought out the playful kid that had not experienced many crazy things kids do.  One New Year’s Eve, I stopped by his house before heading out to a party.  Somehow, we talked Joy into letting him join me - she was not a fan of my hot rod car or my driving, but somehow relented. We had a grand ole adventure at two parties and ended up at the beach for sunrise with a very eclectic group we somehow gathered.  Many years later he told my then 14-year-old son that that night of racing from party to party and welcoming the first sunrise of the year with the wild bunch that we somehow collected that night was one of his happiest memories and that me taking him on that ride was something he was very grateful for and would always be special.  Given how Pancho had been instrumental to me finding my place in high school, it meant a lot to know I had been able to help him experience that special midnight car ride on NYE.

After high school we would seem to connect about every five years or so either in the San Francisco area and later in Las Vegas.  It was always an easy friendship to slip back into.  I did not continue any artistic pursuits, so I lived vicariously through Pancho as he made films, went on to teach and traveled the world as a teacher and film maker.  As luck would have it, my son was bitten by the acting bug early on. When Stealing Las Vegas premiered at the Egyptian Theater in LA, Pancho knowing my son had an interest in acting and making moves, invited us to the premier.  Funny that my son was 14 at the time, the same age as I was when I met Pancho.  Pancho made sure my son had VIP access and sat him right next to the cast at the screening. From that moment on my son's die was cast. I will forever love Pancho (more than I already did) for how he made sure my son was included in all the VIP parts of the premiere and introduced him to all the cast.  Pancho had way more important people to talk to and take care of, but that was Pancho - part loyalty to an old friend and part teacher showing a future artist how to dream.

When it came time for college Pancho was natural resource for my son to talk college programs and the pros and cons the places he wanted to apply to.  In fact, both my son and I sat in on a couple of his classes and Pancho again went over and above - he had a volunteer student let my son shadow him and see the day in the life of UNLV Film Student.  Alas my son picked ultimately USC, but the story does not end there.

After USC my son and his friend/roommate developed a short film project and decided to self-fund it.  In many ways my son and his friend remind me of "Pancho and Lobito" in how they have a shorthand for reading each.  His friend is the writer/director and my son in the actor/producer.  With a self-funded project, the ability to hire known actors is tough.  One actor they thought would fit this project was Eric Roberts. I reminded my son that Pancho had directed Eric Roberts and might know how to approach him. Pancho and the boys had a long zoom call with Pancho providing guidance on the project. Eric Roberts did play the role. In a poetic way it was like coming full circle for my son from a 14-year-old at a premiere with Eric Roberts on that big screen to acting opposite and producing a film with Eric Roberts. There smiling and helping create the dreams was Pancho.

I regret that when I was in LV last year Pancho was out of town.  It had been a couple of years since we last were together.  We had spoken when Joy and his father passed away but had not connected in person. His sudden loss must be so hard for his children and wife (who I hope to meet someday). My deepest condolences and prayers to you all.

Pancho I hope that someday we can have one more drive in my hotrod and be as happy as we were then.  Hasta luego mi amigo.

I was part of Professor Menendez’s first class at UNLV over 30 years ago.