Ronald Tarentino - Colleen's Soul mate

Ron Tarentino - (sigh, my soul mate - he passed in late fall, 1998, just 3 months after my dad - sigh again) - had contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion, which had changed his life completely.

I met him in spring of '98, when I was driven to return to B.A. after a long absence - I had just found out that my dad was dying of colon cancer - and my release was in writing volumes of bitter, vituperative poetry about how unfair life could be, and inflicting my diatribes upon the poor audience at Beaux Arts.

Whereas Ron had been a wild man before his illness, he got religion, and recorded with a couple of Christian bands. He also had a solo CD. Every week, he had a brand new optimistic song for open mic. Ron was like a balm to heal my wounds. One time, he put one of my poems to music - what a wonderful moment.

When Jenny Neal got married (to a sweet guy she met at open mic whose name escapes me right now) at Heritage Village, Ron and I drove with took Tom. Jenny could tell you more about Ron - she knew him for a long time before I did. Ron passed shortly after the wedding, rather suddenly. [I recently heard somone from B.A. refer to him as 'the tarantula,' apparently referring to his name. I had never heard that before.]