Can't believe this guy is gone.A real sweetheart of a person.I used to see him in the Quad playing his guitar,his blond hair blowing in the breeze,his hair like his personality was care-free and devil-may-care.As we graduated together,me,as the ever-budding artist/illustrator he wrote in my yearbook saying;"Your talent is something people both respect and envy" adding at the end to "Take nothing serious in life" In both shining times and dark desperate times I've carried that with me,for over 30 years. Sad to see such a free spirit no longer on this earthly plane. Kudos to you Sean,where-ever you are. Sincerly Chris Peirce.
I remember hearing we lost Sean soon after graduation (well, you guys all graduated); oh, he was an original - balls out original. Would call you on anything, anytime you were full of it. I didn't know him well, but find myself thinking about him all the time.
I remember the day I took that picture of him with his guitar, for the yearbook.
Let me just add - Sean would laugh out loud at this silly rose background.
Oh what a shame to have such a free spirit lost from all of us to enjoy! Sorry that his time was cut short. I loved listening to him play the guitar and I'm sure he is singing to the angels now. Lynn Potter
Sean was a good friend from junior high on. I lost touch with him after I left school and had no idea he passed away until I saw it on this page. RIP Sean!
Sean died in 1983. I'll never forget it.At the time,he was living on 5th & Orange in H.B. with Kevin Cunningham. I distinctly remember seeing his room sealed off as a C.S.I. with yellow and black tape. I remember him always saying to me in an eerie kind of way "If you only knew,Man!!! He was murdered by some very unsavory characters. His body was found in the ocean just off of Newport Beach. He died with his shoes on. A tragic way to go. His nickname was "The Rage"; a VERY intense guy and he was one of the best guitarists I ever knew! He really enjoyed listening to Leo Kottke. He said he loved living life on the edge. For those who don't appreciate this entry:I apologize! The truth can really suck somtimes. And yes Rex he really would laugh hysterically at all the roses.
Sean, Rex Strother and I hung out a lot in the overlap period between junior high (at McGaugh in Seal Beach) and high school. Sean was an amazing sketch artist, thought wearing deodorant was too conformist, and could down a bowl of Sugar Frosted Flakes with the best of them. High School seemed to really piss him off. I'll never forget him taking one of those awful career surveys at HBHS and then announcing: "I'm supposed to be a roofer! That explains everything!" I think Sean would have chosen a cactus, over a rose, to mark his passing. He was certainly an original.
Alan - thanks for the details. Where's Kevin Cunningham to feed us the rest of the tale? I'd love to make Sean's profile a glut of stories and memories of this "roofer who never got to climb to his fated, gabled peak."
Sean Henry Sterling McKean
Born: June 2, 1961, San Luis Obispo, California
Died: November 29, 1983, Orange, California
Chris Peirce
Can't believe this guy is gone.A real sweetheart of a person.I used to see him in the Quad playing his guitar,his blond hair blowing in the breeze,his hair like his personality was care-free and devil-may-care.As we graduated together,me,as the ever-budding artist/illustrator he wrote in my yearbook saying;"Your talent is something people both respect and envy" adding at the end to "Take nothing serious in life" In both shining times and dark desperate times I've carried that with me,for over 30 years. Sad to see such a free spirit no longer on this earthly plane. Kudos to you Sean,where-ever you are. Sincerly Chris Peirce.Rex Strother
I remember hearing we lost Sean soon after graduation (well, you guys all graduated); oh, he was an original - balls out original. Would call you on anything, anytime you were full of it. I didn't know him well, but find myself thinking about him all the time.I remember the day I took that picture of him with his guitar, for the yearbook.
Let me just add - Sean would laugh out loud at this silly rose background.
Lynn Potter (Henney)
Oh what a shame to have such a free spirit lost from all of us to enjoy! Sorry that his time was cut short. I loved listening to him play the guitar and I'm sure he is singing to the angels now.Lynn Potter
Gary Eaves
Sean was a good friend from junior high on. I lost touch with him after I left school and had no idea he passed away until I saw it on this page. RIP Sean!Alan Gilliland
Sean died in 1983. I'll never forget it.At the time,he was living on 5th & Orange in H.B. with Kevin Cunningham. I distinctly remember seeing his room sealed off as a C.S.I. with yellow and black tape. I remember him always saying to me in an eerie kind of way "If you only knew,Man!!! He was murdered by some very unsavory characters. His body was found in the ocean just off of Newport Beach. He died with his shoes on. A tragic way to go. His nickname was "The Rage"; a VERY intense guy and he was one of the best guitarists I ever knew! He really enjoyed listening to Leo Kottke. He said he loved living life on the edge. For those who don't appreciate this entry:I apologize! The truth can really suck somtimes. And yes Rex he really would laugh hysterically at all the roses.
William McCants
Sean, Rex Strother and I hung out a lot in the overlap period between junior high (at McGaugh in Seal Beach) and high school. Sean was an amazing sketch artist, thought wearing deodorant was too conformist, and could down a bowl of Sugar Frosted Flakes with the best of them. High School seemed to really piss him off. I'll never forget him taking one of those awful career surveys at HBHS and then announcing: "I'm supposed to be a roofer! That explains everything!" I think Sean would have chosen a cactus, over a rose, to mark his passing. He was certainly an original.Rex Strother
Alan - thanks for the details. Where's Kevin Cunningham to feed us the rest of the tale? I'd love to make Sean's profile a glut of stories and memories of this "roofer who never got to climb to his fated, gabled peak."
Sean Henry Sterling McKean
Born: June 2, 1961, San Luis Obispo, California
Died: November 29, 1983, Orange, California
From the December 4, 1983 Los Angeles Times