Hi Stephen,

I'm thinking of you on your birthday. 

I wish you were here. I miss you.

I'm glad I have all the memories of you.

Love,
Katie 

You meet many people in this life but few, very few, remain imbedded in your heart and memory. Steve was one of these.

It is difficult for me to compose this because of the rush of memory it brings along with the regret that we did not keep in touch after our college years.

One of the best memories I have is the time we spent at his folks cabin on Little Sand Lake.  Steve ever the guide took me out in a canoe and we toured the lake. I
I, ineffectively fighting off the bugs and Steve who seemed to have some kind of natural immunity laughing gently at my discomfort. In the background the haunting cry of the Loon which will forever remind me of him.

While I grew up with a much older sister and no brothers I will always think of Steve as one of my brothers. Neither distance, time nor, death can ever break that bond.

I only got to know Stephen through stamps.  The Seattle stamp club meets monthly and every so often we have this mystery guy who show up and bid up the China lots that I wanted.  Only through talking with him in the next few months did I realize that he has a vast knowledge of China stamps.  I was totally surprised by his willingness to share and his honesty in dealings.  He never brag about what he knows or what he owns.  But he is always willing to share his knowledge.  He is the gentle quiet "giant" among the collector friends.  He will be missed.  Stephan, have a good trip and share your stamp knowledge among your heavenly friends.

Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2012 06:45:06 -0700
Hi Peter, I think Stef told me he went to Hawaii to train to go into the peace corp, but ended up dropping out.   Liz
Liz,  You're right.  Much to his mom's chagrin, Stef dropped out of several government programs & agencies which he did not find simpatico.  She wanted him to "have a career".  I applauded his ability to keep his own style & integrity, and walk away rather than be compromised.  Most people "go along to get along".  It was his quiet strength of character that made Steve Stef.  He did not strain to "be" some conventional thing, much less to appear in some conventional way.  It was satisfying for him to be himself.  He was better qualified to be himself than anybody else, and was answerable to no external critic to simply be himself.  We should all be that centered & self aware.  He lead a full, satisfying life, without any affectation or pretension.  Peter

Parts of letter 14 January 1954. I've left misspellings. He was only 10. His return address was:  "Famos Bug hunter, Stephen M. A., Deurlach, Steintsweg 2, Baden Baden, Germany."

Dear Peter W.,  How are you?  I am fine.  What did you get for Christmas? . . . I got a scooter and a pool table, a flash light and a penciel box which says "round up time", like sharpening the pencils round.  Ha Ha  . . .

Here's what I can do in German: Das yous spicken dutchen?   Do you speak Dutch?

I live in Durlach on a road called Steinweg in a house that is numbered 41710.

The people up stairs are named Turners.  There is Joel Turner who is in third grade 8 years old, and Carol Turner who is eleven years old in sixth grade. . . .They have a dog named suger and a cat named candy.    Across the street aways lives a dog named Shoties [Shotsie].  Shoties is the German name for sweet heart.  It is a dashhound, mostly black.  Joel Turner is a cub scout. So am I.  We are in den 7, busstop 9 Durlach.  I am now a lion.  What are you?  We have to go on a bus clear to another town named Karlsruhe to get to school. 

My yard is full of trees and shrubs.  It is a great big one in back mostly.  There is a street light in [front?].  There is a plum tree , a peach tree, a pear, a cherry tree, an apple tree.  There are many oaks and small bushes.   . . .  We have two pet love birds.  One is green.  One is blue. The green is the feamale. The blue is the male,  The green is Lulabell.  The blue is Scotty."

Even then he was methodical, anchored in reality, never adrift in artifice.

Stephen lived with my sister, Katie, and me for about two years, after his mobile home burned down. I remember him as a peaceful, kind person, who loved nature—birds, bugs, plants of all kinds.

He gave me a pet stick bug in a little aquarium. I think he may have wanted to help me overcome my fear of big bugs, and he did. That stick bug, though very big, seemed as peaceful as Stephen. And just knowing Stephen and how at ease he was with insects of all kinds permanently changed my perspective on them.

He also gave me a pet Siamese fighting fish, and helped Katie and me buy a greenhouse.

Stephen was very much himself—in the way he dressed, how he ate, the things he liked to do. That, too, was a good model for me. He was only a plus in this world—in how he treated people, and the rest of life on earth. I feel very lucky to have known him.

.

Stephen and I started seeing each other in June of 1993. From that time until December of 2000, he lived in Lynnwood, several miles north of Seattle. I lived in Seattle. We would get together on weekends.

On December 13, 2000, while Stephen was at his evening job, a fire totally destroyed his mobile home. We both hurried to the site as soon as we got the news.

Among the charred debris, his large collection of Chinese stamps was undamaged. Hundreds of small pieces of paper had survived. Apparently a strong wooden bookcase and well-constructed albums had saved them. What good fortune! This collection was important to him on a daily basis. Not only did he greatly enjoy it, he was also in the business of buying and selling stamps. 

We had not planned to live together--but there it was! Stephen moved into my tiny apartment (in the house I own with my sister) that evening. We lived together successfully and cooperatively in this small space until January 2003.  By that time it was clear he needed his own place. He bought a mobile home in Kenmore, Washington. As our lives moved in different directions, we began a peaceful separation and remained in warm and friendly contact until his death.

It was wonderful to have been close to Stephen for a decade. He was--and in my heart and mind will always be--a most dear and cherished person. Thanks to the fire, we had two years of seeing each other on a daily basis.