Laddie

Dear Family and Friends, by now you will have heard the very sad news that Harold passed away in his sleep Saturday night, at the house of his friends, Donald and Deb. The letter below was sent to the family this morning by Tom, Harold's brother. I thought I'd post it here. If you have photos of Harold you would like to share here please send them via email and I will post from time to time.

Dear Family,
 Laddie died yesterday, Sunday, 18 October 2009.  He died while sleeping and apparently without pain.  He’d had dinner Saturday night with his close and longtime friends, Donald and Deb, and was spending the night in the guest room of their home in Berkeley when he died.  The cause of his death is unknown, but it probably was a complication of his multiple myeloma.  
 Many of Laddie’s friends and family went to Donald and Deb’s house on Sunday to visit with each other and to see Laddie’s body before it was taken to the mortuary.  Sierra, Rosemary, Jackie, Rose, and I were there, along with a lot of friends.  I think everyone was very glad to have some time to be together with others who loved Laddie, to remember him, to learn from each other about him, and to start to say good bye to him.
 Laddie’s body will be cremated and the ashes will be spread over Mt Tam in Marin County, a beautiful place that Laddie has loved to explore since he was a teenager.   The cremation will occur this week and the spreading of the ashes will probably occur sometime during the next 3-6 weeks as part of a memorial ceremony.  The plans for the ceremony are just getting started and the date has not been set yet.  I expect Sierra will be taking the lead on planning the ceremony.
 Please pass on this news to others who might want to know.
 Goodbye, Laddie.  We love you.
 Tom