I have so many great memories of our lives in Lake Bluff. I recall turning pages of music as you practiced piano. The third movement of "The Moonlight Sonata" is still a favorite of mine just for its difficulty and action. Your fingers and those pages flew for that one.
I remember our all night card playing sessions during spring vacation with Sandy King, Dickie White, Mike Boehm, Tom Bird, and Roger LaCroix. I think I always lost. I recall going water skiing behind your family boat, Der Fledermaus. We would sleep on the boat in Waukegan harbor and get fresh fish at Mathon's for breakfast.
I loved how we would go to your house after school and hang out. We would have coffee and toast with jam and discuss all the marvelous things we were going to do with our lives. Those were, indeed, wonderful times. Thank you for always being a youthful good friend and rest easy.
Ralph, thanks for your lovely and detailed remembrance of Henri. I feel I know him better through your recollections. I had only two years to get to know Henri and most of our interactions were through the LFHS chess club. We met in Mr. Mullins classroom and the roster of members in ranked order was posted on the bulletin board. Henri was always near the top, right under perennial "champion" Don Swanton if I recall correctly. I was far down the list but Henri took me on once although my standing gave me no right to challenge his lofty posiiton. I recall his long arms moving deftly and decisively as he made each move as smoothly as you portray his movement at the piano. The match didn't last long and Henri very kindly explained how I had bungled my opening moves, facilitating his swift checkmate. Yes, rest in peace, Henri.
I remember Henri well, though we were never close friends. He lived a block away in Lake Bluff, and was always a very brainy kid! He was in my Latin 2 class sophomore year, and I remember being blown away by his ability to speak Latin with a proper accent! The rest of us just read the words like any American kid would, with no attempt at pronouncing the words like learned scholars deemed proper! Wish I had been able to reconnect these last few years and tell him that story! Rest in Peace, Henri.
Ralph - I was really touched by your thoughtful rememberances of Henri. Thank you. He was a complex guy and a friend to so many. I had a lunch with him and a couple of our other buddies about 3 years ago in Evanston...it was the first time I had seen him in at least 30 years. I mentioned to him that I best remembered him. admiringly, in a piano recital he and I and Joy Klinkman were in, and mentioned the pieces we played. Henri's sharp mind corrected me immediately on the piece he played and we all had a good laugh at the past. Requiescat in pacem.
Thank you, Ralph for sharing your memories of Henri. You reminded me of his musical talent. I knew Henri from the time my family moved to Lake Bluff; I was in fifth grade. He delivered newspapers on our street. He became a friend of my family: playing chess with my Father, target shooting with my brother and playing the piano for my Mother. While we were not close in high school we began to correspond in college as we were both on the east coast. Junior year he told me he was spending a semester (a year?) at Princeton studying ancient Persian. The last letter I received from him was wishing me well as I married. He was in the Navy by then and, having been sent to the Navy’s language school, he was working in monitoring and translating (I think it was Cuban) radio broadcasts. He was a talented and complex individual but also a good and generous friend. I am pleased that he reconnected with our class and is remembered so fondly.
Ralph Stark (Ralph Stark)
RIP, my friend.
I have so many great memories of our lives in Lake Bluff. I recall turning pages of music as you practiced piano. The third movement of "The Moonlight Sonata" is still a favorite of mine just for its difficulty and action. Your fingers and those pages flew for that one.
I remember our all night card playing sessions during spring vacation with Sandy King, Dickie White, Mike Boehm, Tom Bird, and Roger LaCroix. I think I always lost. I recall going water skiing behind your family boat, Der Fledermaus. We would sleep on the boat in Waukegan harbor and get fresh fish at Mathon's for breakfast.
I loved how we would go to your house after school and hang out. We would have coffee and toast with jam and discuss all the marvelous things we were going to do with our lives. Those were, indeed, wonderful times. Thank you for always being a youthful good friend and rest easy.
Ralph Stark
Carol Olincy
Ralph,
That is a wonderful tribute to Henri's character. I wish I had known him better. Carol Olincy
Richard DeBacher
Ralph, thanks for your lovely and detailed remembrance of Henri. I feel I know him better through your recollections. I had only two years to get to know Henri and most of our interactions were through the LFHS chess club. We met in Mr. Mullins classroom and the roster of members in ranked order was posted on the bulletin board. Henri was always near the top, right under perennial "champion" Don Swanton if I recall correctly. I was far down the list but Henri took me on once although my standing gave me no right to challenge his lofty posiiton. I recall his long arms moving deftly and decisively as he made each move as smoothly as you portray his movement at the piano. The match didn't last long and Henri very kindly explained how I had bungled my opening moves, facilitating his swift checkmate. Yes, rest in peace, Henri.
Kathleen Boggs (Mikkelsen)
I remember Henri well, though we were never close friends. He lived a block away in Lake Bluff, and was always a very brainy kid! He was in my Latin 2 class sophomore year, and I remember being blown away by his ability to speak Latin with a proper accent! The rest of us just read the words like any American kid would, with no attempt at pronouncing the words like learned scholars deemed proper! Wish I had been able to reconnect these last few years and tell him that story! Rest in Peace, Henri.
Stephen "Craig" Lewis
Ralph - I was really touched by your thoughtful rememberances of Henri. Thank you. He was a complex guy and a friend to so many. I had a lunch with him and a couple of our other buddies about 3 years ago in Evanston...it was the first time I had seen him in at least 30 years. I mentioned to him that I best remembered him. admiringly, in a piano recital he and I and Joy Klinkman were in, and mentioned the pieces we played. Henri's sharp mind corrected me immediately on the piece he played and we all had a good laugh at the past. Requiescat in pacem.
Jaclynne Horn (Laxon)
Thank you, Ralph for sharing your memories of Henri. You reminded me of his musical talent. I knew Henri from the time my family moved to Lake Bluff; I was in fifth grade. He delivered newspapers on our street. He became a friend of my family: playing chess with my Father, target shooting with my brother and playing the piano for my Mother. While we were not close in high school we began to correspond in college as we were both on the east coast. Junior year he told me he was spending a semester (a year?) at Princeton studying ancient Persian. The last letter I received from him was wishing me well as I married. He was in the Navy by then and, having been sent to the Navy’s language school, he was working in monitoring and translating (I think it was Cuban) radio broadcasts. He was a talented and complex individual but also a good and generous friend. I am pleased that he reconnected with our class and is remembered so fondly.
Jaclynne Horn Laxon