Did the Martin Trail and across Foxhollow yesterday morning. Easier and a bit faster. Quiet and moonlit. The creek is high with snow melt and winter rain. The lights of town fragment in the mist. Real becomes fairy tale at the edges. In my relentless monkey mind are instants tumbled, silence, emptiness resonant of a life lived it brings me to tears, my small gift to an absent friend.
Howard, my friend and sponsor died yesterday. He used to ask me to get him as much of this Canadian guy – Ed Bickert, an innovative and wondrous jazz guitarist – as I could find. It wasn’t hard to figure why once I listened to it. It may not be for everyone but it sure was something that brought Howard to a happy place. It seems like today is a good day to put some on the box and let it take me where it’s going. RIP Howard K
Photo Credit
Photos are © Michael Lebowitz
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I met Howie thru a mutual friend that drove a cab in New Brunswick. Howie and I had the best conversations….. he was a unique soul. I just found a letter from him written from Denton, Texas, post marked September 8th, 1982. It was full of hope and gratitude for beginning again, had just gotten a job as the only cab driver in town and was looking forward to his new life. I am happy he has a daughter and know his spirit lives on thru her. I did a search years back and couldn’t find him. I am sorry I missed saying hello to him again. I always wondered what happened to the man painting in his basement apartment and feeling like he had the whole world available to him right where he was.
Hey wait a sec. Are you Deborah Sullivan the artist? If so I went to an exhibit of some of your art in Newark at (I think) Rutgers? and am still friends with Mike.
Hi. I too knew Howie. We were both can drivers in Metuchen, NJ. I can remember picking him up early (I too lived in New Brunswick on George Street). Eventually I got married and lived right around the block from where he grew up. I even have some pictures of him sitting in a rocking chair in my home.
I also lost touch with Howie when he moved to Texas, but somehow found his brother’s phone number and called him and found out about Howie’s passing.
Hey! I still have a painting of Jimi Hendrix that he gave me. It’s an oil and very well done.
He was an interesting and talented guy.
I am wondering if this is the same Howie Kasner that graduated Rutgers University and lived in New Brunswick, NJ for many years. We were together in the late 70’s and early 80’s and he helped me learn how to play guitar. i still have the fine classical guitar he gave me. The picture looks like him, but I have not seen him in many years; I had heard from his sister Judy that he moved to Denton, TX. He also had two brothers, David and Donald. Would you please let me know if this is the same Howie Kasner I knew? Thank you and kind regards.
Diane Jean Ricciardi
Diane,
Yes it is the same Howie Kasner. I knew him also, way back when, in New Brunswick. We were good friends. I may even have met you at some time. When Howie moved to Denton we exchanged a few letters and phone calls and then lost touch. I remember that he was living with a brother, going to AA and was seeing a woman he had met at the meetings. When I became ill several years ago, I decided to try to reconnect and was saddened to find that he had passed away.
Howie was truly one of the most naturally likable, generous friends I have ever known and I regret missing the opportunity to see him again.
But I don’t want to depress you. Remember, Howie had a way of never letting anything get him down. You do the same.
Be well,
Mark Velloso
Thank you so much, Mark. I understand he died in 2011? Was he ill, or was it sudden? I’m curious, I was madly in love with him back in the day. We were together before he started going to AA, just before he moved to Denton. I still have several letters from him from Texas. I have many pictures of him as well, and as I said I still have the classical guitar he gave me. I still play, and although I have 3 guitars it’s still my favorite. My husband and I moved to Rehoboth Beach, DE when he retired a few years ago and I found the guitar in it’s case stashed away in attic about a year ago. I blew off the dust, got it cleaned and restrung and started playing again, which of course made me think of Howie and what he might be doing now. He helped me immensely with my guitar playing back then, and we played together at home and at one of the cafe’s in New Brunswick. Anyway, thank you again and I’m so sorry to hear that Howie is gone.
Kind regards, DJ
Diane,
I don’t know any derails of his death; just the little that can be found on the Internet. I do know that he had a daughter and that her mother(Howie’s wife?) had pre-deceased Howie. Their daughter may very well be an adult by now.
I do remember a Diane that Howie was dating, so I think we have met. If you remember a very tall, bearded musician/ friend at his Easton Avenue basement apartment, that was me.
By the way, somewhere on the Internet there is an audio file of Howie performing an original composition entitled “Gert the Snert”. It is not a very good song or performance but it is an opportunity to hear him once again.
Best wishes,
Mark Velloso
I miss you very much Howard you became my sponsor in the meetings where we met in California. Your wise advice sober and joyeuse way of looking at the world help me to focus in a time of need, a time of healing. I know that one day we will meet again brother friend and spirit guide to the stars. Love you brother🤗 I am Alan Parker Reid APR4U
Howard, you have no idea of how you impacted my life from a distance. I looked for something about you, your daughter’s mother and your daughter, when I thought of you today…as I so often do. I am grateful you touched my life, perhaps unknowingly, and that your baby girl is doing alright after losing the best dad in the world, as well, as losing her mother, a couple years later. Thank you for everything. I salute and cherish you. I never understood how you landed in Texas and so beautifully assimilated from Brooklyn, but I celebrate your life…all you gave, your legacy and I just want you to know….you are still giving and living in so many you left behind. I love you. https://lifeasahuman.com/…/tarmac-meditations-70-martin-ho…/
Did not know that Howard had a daughter. And she has also lost her mother. Howard was a good friend. Let me know if there is anything I can do for her.
Just cleaning out my basement and came across a 30 year old letter from Howie. Got me remembering what a unique and generous friend he was. Thought I would try to track him down via internet and came across this site. So sad to hear of his passing. Lost track a few years after he moved to Denton. Got married, raised a family, life got complicated, you know the story. But Howie was the kind of person that would not let distance or time alter a close friendship. I am the same way. I suppose that, as well as our love of music, was where we connected. I miss him. Please, if you get a chance, place a flower on his grave for me.
Thanks