hi my name is drew sciria  i have not been using my gmail email address but today came across it in a job search. i came upon the remember rick site and wanted to write about rick. i have been writing with bill phillips quite a bit. he in frisco and me in new hampshire. hope bill reads this. in l971 i flew out to san francisco and was met by mary and chris who had an apartment in palo alto. i met mary in the hamptons in l970  i stayed in palo alto until i moved to santa cruz.  i took trips to mill valley or fairfax where rick was living with kathy.  they had a place on carl street in san francisco around l970. kathy hammar was from eugene oregon. i was about 25 years old. i never managed to get a decent job and was just bouncing around. i think rick may have been with the organic hair care venture he did before the muni. the hair cair venture did not go well i believe.  one evening we were walking to mill valley from rick s place in san rafael and as we walked by this man rick said to me.  do you know who that was.  i said no and rick said it was dan hicks from dan hicks and the hot licks. i guess this is all a kind of chatter talk as i realize my first email was much better. i thought the most important thing to say was rick was so kind and pleasant to be around. i felt so relaxed and at ease with him.  i wish i got to know owen and stephanie as i did not. although when i arrived by ford escort in 2002 from the east coast. i left a note for rick and he found me around the corner with owen in my ford escort near his mason street home. i must have looked so disheveled and awful and i remember owen and rick walking up to the car kind of laughing at me.  i think i was just so spaced out from the cross country trip. well rick let me stay in his basement space where i had a shower and bed and many hats hanging on the wall.  i never met stephanie as she was out on a walk somewhere raising awareness and funds.
    i had not been aware of ricks illness upon until bill finally told me. this may be a repetition but i will say it again. i considered rick my best friend. maybe i just had to say that as many people do.  we bought land together in ellenburgh new york. around l970.   i just felt so accepted by rick and loved being around him. i loved his being quiet and of course he was so generous paying for meals and offering his help in any way. so many years have gone by all of us but i was no longer on the west coast since i left around l979 after 2 years in alaska and maybe one or two in santa cruz. thanks rick just knowng someone like you was worth my time here on earth. of course we are all not perfect but sometimes i thought you were. i would like to say hi to stephanie and owen and owen do you recall you and rick walking toward me in that ford escort i had. wow i can still see that. i have no photos or documents but have some great 35mm prints of myself and rick and bill near ohara s kind of street car apartment way out near the beach. maybe bill can help me with that description.  rick said i always had to be quarterback. even though i didn t think that he must be right. i think i was just rapped up in some weird head space back then. i often think of jon trois, alfred attara, george ronaldson and mike herzog and bill ledone it just seems like either time flew by or they were all taken too soon. hope we all meet somewhere again. anyone recall a house rick lived in at 17th and stanyan. it was l970. my second hitch hiking trip to california after a terrible one in l965 in los angeles.  love to talk with anyone about all this my email is mets10hotrod@yahoo.com. i never knew about ricks early childhood and what occured to him long ago.  i loved his book on the cable cars. sometimes i complain to myself about life but life is strange and here one day and then gone is a reality so i better let wisdom surface. love you all and so glad to have known one of the nicest and kindest persons i knew. love you rick. your still in my heart. alfred also.  love drew sciria
      

Mike and I visited Stephanie and Rick often for the weekend.  We would go to a different restaurant each time, per their recommendation.  We would have breakfast at T's, and go for a walk in the city or in Marin County.

Mike and our son David had the great opportunity to go to NY with Stephanie, Rick, and Owen to watch a Yankees game during the farewell season of Yankee stadium.  Rick showed the guys around, as only a native New Yorker can.  They had such a great time and still talk about that trip today.

The last trip we took with Rick and Stephanie was to beautiful Banff, Canada.  Knowing how much Mike, Stephanie, and I like to hike, Rick would join us because it gave us so much joy.  So, we climbed mountains for the beautiful vistas, we walked around stunning Lake Louise, we visited the Columbia Icefield, and walked up Johnston Canyon to see the thermal pools.  

And Rick was especially generous when he encouraged and enjoyed the trips Stephanie, Mike, and I took trekking around the world. I am forever thankful for his generosity and his willingness for us to take Stephanie away for an adventure.

I don’t think I’ll be as eloquent as others in mourning Rick.  He was the one man who made Steph happy.  That was enough for me.