Originally written in April of 2002 on DaveDorm:

I know, talking about my uncle Ron’s death may be growing tired, but I need to work through this. He and I were especially close. At times, I was closer to Ron than I was my father. I am trying to remember happier times with Ron, some from childhood, some from adulthood. Here is one from the good old days.

I remember in the summer of 1976, I was 8, we went to Kennedy Space Center for a tour of the place. They were having a special Bicentennial celebration. There were exhibits and attractions all over the place. All sorts of space stuff, scientific displays, and hands on panels with switches and doo-hickeys to play with.

Remember, this was before the space shuttle was operational. Saturn 5 rockets were the top technology at the time. We saw one, laying in display on its side. It was huge. We got to sit inside a real command module from the Apollo, and the Gemini capsule, too.

I felt like such a big guy, making a cross state journey with Uncle Ronny. Not Mom. Not Dad. Just us men. On the road. (Jack Keroac would be another tale)

I remember we made the trip on the cheap. We stayed in a really ratty motel in Titusville and got our meals from the Publix just up the street. We turned down the sheets on one of the beds, and stamped in big bold black letters on the corner of the top sheet was the word “REJECTED”. Now we weren’t sure who rejected the sheets, or why, but we laughed and laughed. Some crappy motel we chose, couldn’t even buy new sheets.

See? A happy moment… Thanks Ron

Originally written in March 2002 on DaveDorm:

It’s old. It’s beat up. It’s not even cool. But it was my uncle Ron’s briefcase. He died just after Christmas last year. I am slowly coming to terms with his death. They say journaling helps with grief….

Ronny went everywhere with his briefcase. When he was working as a political consultant, there were always ideas scribbled on yellow legal pads, political campaign flyers, cassette tapes for a candidate’s radio spots. He took it to work when he was a counselor for inner city youth at Operation PAR. As a book reviewer for the St. Petersburg Times, Ron would carry his copy to the typist (he never learned to type) or to his editor. Or, if he was working on his novel, was this where the manuscript was carried, too?

It’s just a briefcase. But that black hardshell Samsonite had seen a lot of miles. I identified this briefcase with Ronny, it was his livelihood inside.

I saw this among his possesions. I asked my dad if anyone had spoken for it. He said no, but we would have to go through its contents together before I just took off with it.

I agreed, we set the case on the hood of my car and opened it. Inside were papers for Ronny’s social security benefits, some medical information, and a bunch of newspaper clippings of a political nature.

Deeper inside was a small battered envelope with “photos” written on the outside. There were some jewels. A picture of Ronny with James Brown… the James Brown, the King of Soul. As soon as my dad will release the photo, I’ll get it scanned and posted. He said he would not let that one out of his sight.

I took the briefcase home and cleaned it. I found there is far less room in it than my backpack. But I am going to try carrying it to school, or at least keeping it in use somehow. To have that fragment of his life now a fragment of mine is very special to me.

It’s not just a briefcase.

I guess you could say I knew Ronny Lowe. I am his nephew David Lowe, son of his brother Nick. I knew Ron all my life and miss him terribly since he has been gone.

Ron was a large influence on my life. I did a lot of things that I can attribute to Ron’s coaching, including going back to college and getting a degree in 2003.

I have a website of my own and used to have stuff up about Ron, but lost all my archives in a failed backup file.

There was another site called Ron Lowe Write On, but it is now defunct. I am glad to see someone has put up a page about Ron and his life. I hope to bring more to the table as time goes on, but for now I will sign off. Jackofdays, darling you have done a wonderful thing here. Call me at (813) 404-7278 and maybe we can exchange stories. I’d really like that.

My website link is here, and I will leave you with a great picture of Ronny Lowe and the Dominoes circa the 80’s. He’s the one with the thumbs up!