6 90 santa barbara ca 6 90 jaxhites ny fred retired 4 91 santa barbara ca back from ny where i saw Phantom (great) and the dead
(disappointing) also Larry zinn's band w/ harvey brooks.
Marty's son with broken leg. saw devo in sb before trip 6 91 jaxhites ny roz retired
From Boston, Reet moved on to Colorado and, of course,
Alaska. Our communication was always great and Reet always provided
cartoons, drawings and assorted stories of his life away from NYC.
Eventually, I relocated to the paradise of Santa Barbara and started
Captain Video. The business took off as home video machines
proliferated during the 1980's and a search was always on for good
employees. Reet, being in Alaska, was one of the few friends I could
call late at night-the time difference from California to Alaska was
in my favor. Although I was envious of the adventure Alaska sounded
like, the cold, dark winters were a scary and depressing concept. I
would tell Reet to come to Santa Barbara and work at Captain Video
where in December it was 60 degrees above, not 60 below! He resisted
for years but as the stress of his teaching and guidance counselor
duties grew it became a more attractive option and by 1989 he had
relocated to Santa Barbara and started his video
career.- E.Q
So, when EQ opened Captain Video in the late 70's, I told silv ( who was workin in a hospital at da time) to go visit EQ. After that visit, Silv quit hospital and began his long career at Captain Video ( he was their 4th employee!).- Reet
My contact with the Reet has become more sporadic since he left Alaska, but our friendship is solid and will endure. Along the way he has been adopted first by my wife, Pam, and by both of my kids, Chas (15) and Julia (11). They both have many great memories of their brief visits with their wacky Uncle Reetie. One incident that stands out was Julia's rendition of "Ethel the Chiken," a song that she ad-libbed and performed at our hotel room at the Fess Parker Red Lion INN in Santa Barbara that got us all rolling on the floor. They now enjoy the periodic phone conversations that they have with him. He always takes time to talk with them individually and makes them understand that he loves them and cares about what happens in their lives. His ability to connect with kids and become child-like on command is a special gift that Reet doesn't always acknowledge. This was why it was so difficult for me to understand why he doubted his educational credentials and abilities. As an educator for more than 20 years myself, I recognize that he has talents and rapport with kids that no amount of formal education can ever duplicate. - wayne binns
When Reet moved down to California from Alaska, I tried to find him a reason to stay in Santa Cruz, but Santa Barbara provided more opportunities and he ended up there. - da jeff
He was a natural, great with people and did he know his movies! Reet had a built-in support system in SB with myself and my brother Gary plus Russ from the old neighborhood. In addition, Silvy, who Reet met at Roosevelt School as a high school senior, had been working at Captain Video for 8 years. Not that Reet ever has a problem meeting new people! Reet, of course, fit right in with the young, mostly single Captain Video crowd and before long he became a store manager, dealing with responsibility that he had avoided for years. He even tried a role as a store owner once I sold the business but bad partners combined with way too much stress led him to sell and go back to just managing. He remains there to this day, happily renting movies to his loyal following. - E.Q
While i was teaching in alaska, in th middle seventies, I flew one summer into Santa Barbara an met Q an we went around the town checkin it out cuz he and Russ Kaufman ( another friend from Northridge) were lookin for a site to open a video store (which would ultimately become Captain Video) So when I left teaching in Alaska in 1988 i eventually ended up workin for the boys and i have been a Captain ever since. Q now runs a fairly successful organic fruit business in San Francisco and Russ has disappeared somehow or just don't wanna be found..things went downhill for ed when the business folded... he is a survivor of a lotta bad crap, but now has a very lovely girlfriend and they have just bought a retirement home in a place called Grass Valley in northern Calif. I am always in touch w/him and Arianna, his lady. - Reet
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Through some friends there came an opportunity to get involved in an independent film. Recently completed, Reet was credited as producer and even had a great cameo appearance as a weird (what a surprise!) bartender. Another movie is in the works.- E.Q
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