Remembrance with reverence for Robin Farquhar, genius director of Flat Rock Playhouse, pillar of North Carolina theatre history, recipient of NCTC's Marian A. Smith Distinguished Career Award (posthumous), friend and confidant in the business, and true mentor of thousands. CAVEAT: Serious subject matter - Mental health education & suicide awareness and prevention.
Members of an exclusive club where few consult, on a cold Spring night in 1996 we eulogized publicly and excruciatingly personally the suicide of North Carolina Arts Council's Theatre Arts Director George Parides. Theater producers would rather chew glass and piss rusty nails than gather in a room together, but we did it - white-knuckled. Later that same night, Robin reassured my spoken testimonial choices, a voice in a phone, saying softly:
"No bro, if I thought you dropped trou', I'd tell you..."
The gift of understanding, he gave ... and "I just wanted to give something back, gift to gift." ("Michael Picasso", also by Ian Hunter, whose music is used here interpretively with gratitude, for purposes of commentary and education.)
12 years later, the phone no longer rang, and I had no idea of Robin's struggle. The only disgrace is that this growing epidemic of suicidal depression remains in shadow, and its contemporary social ignorance and stigma will be remembered in medical history as barbaric, if humanity endures.
Decision-makers, is silence better for business?
Millions are diagnosed and treated effectively; millions more are not. Millions more dollars are spent on pharmaceutical marketing than on research and development.
Be vigilant of friends. Listen carefully to the young. Monitor the aging.
It is okay to ask, and it is okay not to understand.
It is not okay to condemn, and the absence of condemnation does not mean that you condone.
Meditation, prayer and other belief systems are no more a cure for the biochemical illness of suicidal depression than for pancreatic cancer. Clinical depression is not normal passing sadness, nor is it attitude.
A gun is not "a cry for help". It is the choice of self-deliverance 60% of the 30,000 per year, of which 4 out of 5 are men.
Robin was an education advocate, a rocker at heart, and I feel him standing over my shoulder saying: THAT'S the way it happened, I CHOSE as I did with my visonary life - don't waste my PUBLIC statement.
George Parides would have said: "No, we're not gonna sweep it under the carpet ... we're gonna TALK about it!"
Now Robin talks with Robroy, founder of this true American Theater Dynasty, begun as Vagabond Players. The Father and the Son and the Playhouse. The holy trinity. Robroy started it; Robin took it further than anyone could have imagined.
They did not own it. They gave it their entire lives. Two generations of total dedication, public service, courage, brilliance and sacrifice - from the 1930's until November 2008. Like George Bailey, Robin took over in 1982 and gave 26 years' leadership. There was no one waiting in the wings for Act Three.
Of the video's song, one health professional has said "it seems commissioned..." This live version of "Dead Man Walkin' (EastEnders)" is by the legendary former leader of Mott The Hoople, rocker artist survivor Ian Hunter, born in 1939 - music & original lyrics from the album "Rant" (2001) http://www.IanHunter.com Ian Hunter, an artist more vital and relevant than ever, also offering songs of hope and encouragement at age 70, including "Win It All" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZWyJBlh5kY from his album "Man Overboard", released in 2009.
Online video tributes to Robin's magnificent LIFE achievement are invited and welcomed. The following link directs you to brief footage of the vibrant Robin:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVGlQWDxUSk&feature=player_detailpage#t=414s
For more understanding:
http://www.FierceGoodbye.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiI77fcvb7E
http://www.suicidepreventionhelp.com/directory/Helping_Someone/
(Video image and music is fair use - public figure - documentary - editorial - journalism - interpretive - no endorsements implied - no monetary gain)
"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."
Loading...
4:12
Sadness VS. Depressionby TheHolisticSuccess175 views
Link to this comment:
All Comments (0)