Words are not coming easily to me. They never do as I’m not a great writer but they are especially difficult to find right now because I just learned that one of my students was killed this morning in a two-car accident in Colorado. Alex Taft was on his way to L.A. to begin his career when he was hit head on by another driver. The driver of the other car, Bruce Edmondson, was going east in the westbound lane of I-70. According to the Denver Post, alcohol may have contributed to the accident. Alex, by the way, was wearing a seat belt.
I got to know Alex last fall when he was Professor Schoonmaker’s TA for multi-cam and then I was lucky enough to have Alex as a student of mine in my Production Practicum class this spring.
I liked Alex. He had a lot of nervous energy. Whenever I was talking with him he was always moving something, his hair, his limbs, his feet . . . . always something. But oddly, I never felt uncomfortable about it. That kind of behavior usually makes me nervous but for some reason it never did with Alex.
I liked Alex. He was a nice guy. He did his undergrad at Missouri although I never did learn what he did between undergrad and grad school. I knew he was older and from the newspaper account of the accident I learned he was 28. He seemed older to me.
Even though he was almost always late, I liked having Alex in my class because he was serious funny. What I mean by that is he had this sense about him that he meant business but never in a threatening or competitive way. The project he created, “Bill Wilkins: Family Mechanic” told me a lot about his sense of humor. Alex liked fun and he laughed easily. I’ll get “Bill” on the OTN website as soon as possible so you can all see the talent Alex had.
I also liked Alex because he was from Chicago. He wore his Cubs hat from time to time so I assumed he was a Cubs fan. That tells me a lot about someone. If you know anything about baseball and know anything about the Cubs, you know a little, perhaps a lot, about Alex.
I was really looking forward he hearing from him in the future and him telling me all the really fun and exciting things he was doing. The last thing he said to me at Convocation was that he’d keep in touch with me and let me know what he was up to. I can still hear how he sounds in my head.
About Me
- Andy
- I am the General Manager of the Orange Television Network here at Syracuse University and I run the student campus cable television station for student produced programming.
2 comments:
I knew Alex too. Mostly as a little kid maybe 6 or 7.I was one of his babysitters. He was sweet and funny and sometimes very serious. After spending time with his brother and mom and dad, I knew I wanted a family. I followed him through the years. I am so sad he is gone. It is a loss to this world.
I knew Alex at Missouri - we were in a sketch comedy troupe together. Actually, I should say I was in his troupe; he was the brains behind the operation and wrote almost all the sketches. I like your description of "serious funny" - I think it's very fitting. I could always tell something more intense was brewing in his mind but he dealt with the world through his fantastic sense of humor. I'm still in shock over this senseless tragedy but it's good to know he touched so many people.
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