Thanks to Tommy for the compassionate epitaph. If Steve is not dead, as Tommy's piece suggests is possible, it's a call to Steve to return to a better life, where friends and family await.
I too have often wondered what happened to Steve. I remember Tom relating to me some years ago the information he has provided above; I remember feeling, "what a waste, what a tragedy." In high school Kleier was erudite, funny, brilliant, incredibly well-read, incisive--indeed, the epitome of the artist as a young man. I imagine James Joyce must have been very like him. Perhaps we did not recognize what pain, what despair nested beneath the promise of his youth.
I saw Kleier often when we were in our twenties. Good times and bad, each reentry he made into our lives seemed to come from a more distant orbit. He would show up at my door and stay a day. Two. A week. Take a job--maybe as a short order cook; get a room somewhere. A month would go by and he'd be off again on some fragmented, ill-defined mission to piece his life together--pursuing his gods, pursued by his demons.
He stayed with me for a month shortly before we lost track of him--shared a room with my son, Noah, who was, I think, six at the time. That would have made it 1989. Sadly, by then, he was inaccessable--lost in a fog that shrouded the noble genius we all saw in him.
I'm not sure that Steve is deceased. While I haven't been in touch in years, a Stephan T. Kleier live in Winter Park, Fl, age 68. I'm attempting to find him.
Stephen J Kleier age 69From: West Palm Beach, FL252 Sunshine Rd,West Palm Beach, FL 33411(407) 798-6862Previous Addresses: 252 Sunshine Blvd, Royal Palm Beach, FL 33411,
24 Elkhart Dr, East Northport, NY 11731,
24 Elkhart Dr, E Northport, NY 11731Possible Relatives: Rose Kleier,
Harold Rosekleier,
Harold Kleier
John Donahoo
Thanks to Tommy for the compassionate epitaph. If Steve is not dead, as Tommy's piece suggests is possible, it's a call to Steve to return to a better life, where friends and family await.
Phillip Houk
Even as a 17-year-old he was gifted and mature and maybe a little frightening. I marveled at and envied his talent.
Phil
Richard Dickson
I too have often wondered what happened to Steve. I remember Tom relating to me some years ago the information he has provided above; I remember feeling, "what a waste, what a tragedy." In high school Kleier was erudite, funny, brilliant, incredibly well-read, incisive--indeed, the epitome of the artist as a young man. I imagine James Joyce must have been very like him. Perhaps we did not recognize what pain, what despair nested beneath the promise of his youth.
Don Smith
It would be nice to think that Steve is at this moment reading these posts & smiling. Perhaps David Cooper knows more about Steve?
Bob Towery
I saw Kleier often when we were in our twenties. Good times and bad, each reentry he made into our lives seemed to come from a more distant orbit. He would show up at my door and stay a day. Two. A week. Take a job--maybe as a short order cook; get a room somewhere. A month would go by and he'd be off again on some fragmented, ill-defined mission to piece his life together--pursuing his gods, pursued by his demons.
He stayed with me for a month shortly before we lost track of him--shared a room with my son, Noah, who was, I think, six at the time. That would have made it 1989. Sadly, by then, he was inaccessable--lost in a fog that shrouded the noble genius we all saw in him.
Mark Pilkinton
Steve was indeed exceptional in so many ways, and my heart breaks to hear recollections of his life after high school.
David Cooper
I'm not sure that Steve is deceased. While I haven't been in touch in years, a Stephan T. Kleier live in Winter Park, Fl, age 68. I'm attempting to find him.
David Cooper
Steve did indeed pass away in 2003. Sad that such a gifted person became so lost.
Mark Pilkinton
What was Steve's middle initial?
Stephen J Kleier age 69From: West Palm Beach, FL252 Sunshine Rd,West Palm Beach, FL 33411 (407) 798-6862Previous Addresses: 252 Sunshine Blvd, Royal Palm Beach, FL 33411,
24 Elkhart Dr, East Northport, NY 11731,
24 Elkhart Dr, E Northport, NY 11731Possible Relatives: Rose Kleier,
Harold Rosekleier,
Harold Kleier
Tommy McNamee
No, his name was Stephen Thomas Kleier.