Lang Mar 1951-2008

I knew Lang since junior high school.  Just a few thing snapshots of him I wanted to share. 

I still remember he trained in a martial art he invented himself back then.  He came down to Lup Mo gung fu studio one night and pulled out these two small axes from his jacket and began doing a form with it.

I have this vivid snapshot in my mind of this silohuette of Lang just running down the hill at full speed by Cameron House on a friday night.

He came to our store with a bunch of guys and joked with my dad.

When he worked as a caretaker of the church up on the corner from where I live, I saw him carrying a big pot of ramen at night to feed it to the homeless sleeping in front of the other church down the hill.

Lang worked for many years at the airport.  He told me the loud roar of the jets drove him nuts.

One night while I was making copies at Kinko's.  There was this guy with an ugly rubber mask that just got off the bus and waving at me.  Damn...it's Lang!  He reminded me it was Halloween night.

When he turned fifty, he threw a big party at the basement of the church.  He invited a lot of people from his high school days and the old junior Raiders gang.

Lang really cherished the days and his friends from his high school years.  He had a few binders of images by his late brother, Freddy, of the sixties and seventies.  He brought them out to the street fair to show anyone who was interested.  He did that for several years until no one cared anymore. 

I was tight with his late brother Freddy.  Freddy taught me the ropes in how to independently travel in Asia on the cheap.

Lang threw a get together with many of his old friends about six months ago at a bowling alley.   We all knew it was his last hurrah as his Parkinson's condition was catching up with him.  I knew that mentally he was still sharp when I watched him play a mean game of chess.  But his body just didn't move the way he wanted it to.

Shortly afterwards, Lang had to move to Oakland.  I gave him a hand in moving his stuff.  He gave me a bunch of old posters and photos from his collection.  Hopefully he was in an assisted living situation. 

I was told he was injured in a fall and wound up in the hospital where he developed pnuemonia and passed away.

We'll be sending him off on Saturday.  Rest in peace, bro!