Steve Fritz has passed away.

[magdalen23]

He shot beautiful photos for Burning Man, especially the Borg's calendar... he was my collaborator on Burning Tarot... he was doing Camp Peepot since before most people had ever heard of Burning Man... he was Steven St. Cheese of Drowning Rat... he's shot photos of all sorts of Portland fire performance and art events for many years, for free, wearing funny pants and driving a zebra car. he was an ardent arts supporter and beautiful weirdo disguised as a psychiatrist at Oregon's beleaguered state mental hospital. Steve was driving Zentra to work there near Salem this morning and got in a car accident.

News about the wreck is here: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/inde ... rt_m-rpt-1
Some of his pics are here: http://home.comcast.net/~burningman/bman.htm

I'm so frking sad and stunned. If anyone pulls together a show or wants to honor him on the Playa next year or anything like that, please get in touch with me. magdalen23 at gmail dot com , i'm not sure whether burningtarot's email address is wprlking right now.

[some seeing eye]

His son wrote a few years ago:

"My father drives a car painted in zebra stripes. The inside is crammed full of stuffed animals, seat covers, and air fresheners devoted to his favorite animal. He even has the zebra edition of Zoobooks magazine prominently displayed in the back window. On weekends, he frequents a counterculture group that plays croquet using bowling balls hit with sledgehammers, has "nuclear family picnics" on the lawns of power plants, and launches pumpkins out of cannons. He also wakes up early every weekday, straightens his tie, and happily drives in that twelve year old Nissan Sentra to his work as a psychiatrist at the Oregon State Hospital.

He has a simplicity in the logic behind his decisions that makes many of the worries in my life seem silly. He painted his car because he was bored with it. He set up a stand along a marathon route offering runners free doughnuts and beer because he thought it would be entertaining. He constantly teaches me that even in the real world, being content is not contingent on adhering to the expectations of others.

I often wonder what my life will be like decades from now, but if it is anything like my father's, I will know I did well. I expect many of the details will be different. I do not plan to become a doctor, turn vegetables into projectiles, or remodel my automobile into a work of art. However, if I follow his lead, I will be able to open my eyes on a Monday morning and smile about both the weekend in the past and the week ahead in the future."

We wish you the best in the great Cacaphony in the sky and the best to your family.

[Nipple]

.

[lucky420]

His son wrote a few years ago:

"My father drives a car painted in zebra stripes. The inside is crammed full of stuffed animals, seat covers, and air fresheners devoted to his favorite animal. He even has the zebra edition of Zoobooks magazine prominently displayed in the back window. On weekends, he frequents a counterculture group that plays croquet using bowling balls hit with sledgehammers, has "nuclear family picnics" on the lawns of power plants, and launches pumpkins out of cannons. He also wakes up early every weekday, straightens his tie, and happily drives in that twelve year old Nissan Sentra to his work as a psychiatrist at the Oregon State Hospital.

He has a simplicity in the logic behind his decisions that makes many of the worries in my life seem silly. He painted his car because he was bored with it. He set up a stand along a marathon route offering runners free doughnuts and beer because he thought it would be entertaining. He constantly teaches me that even in the real world, being content is not contingent on adhering to the expectations of others.

I often wonder what my life will be like decades from now, but if it is anything like my father's, I will know I did well. I expect many of the details will be different. I do not plan to become a doctor, turn vegetables into projectiles, or remodel my automobile into a work of art. However, if I follow his lead, I will be able to open my eyes on a Monday morning and smile about both the weekend in the past and the week ahead in the future."

We wish you the best in the great Cacaphony in the sky and the best to your family.

Beautiful and the world is a bit sadder place now...

[Savannah]

His son wrote a few years ago:

"My father drives a car painted in zebra stripes. The inside is crammed full of stuffed animals, seat covers, and air fresheners devoted to his favorite animal. He even has the zebra edition of Zoobooks magazine prominently displayed in the back window. On weekends, he frequents a counterculture group that plays croquet using bowling balls hit with sledgehammers, has "nuclear family picnics" on the lawns of power plants, and launches pumpkins out of cannons. He also wakes up early every weekday, straightens his tie, and happily drives in that twelve year old Nissan Sentra to his work as a psychiatrist at the Oregon State Hospital.

He has a simplicity in the logic behind his decisions that makes many of the worries in my life seem silly. He painted his car because he was bored with it. He set up a stand along a marathon route offering runners free doughnuts and beer because he thought it would be entertaining. He constantly teaches me that even in the real world, being content is not contingent on adhering to the expectations of others.

I often wonder what my life will be like decades from now, but if it is anything like my father's, I will know I did well. I expect many of the details will be different. I do not plan to become a doctor, turn vegetables into projectiles, or remodel my automobile into a work of art. However, if I follow his lead, I will be able to open my eyes on a Monday morning and smile about both the weekend in the past and the week ahead in the future."

We wish you the best in the great Cacaphony in the sky and the best to your family.

That was wonderful, thank you.

My sympathies to those who were lucky enough to know Steve.

[unjonharley]

To Steve. We camby fairies for a day.. One of his great pranks.. Thanks for the fun..

[Elderberry]

Didn't know him, but my condolences to those that did.