A Warm Place
A beautiful, wise, and warm man's book has closed. His name was Tim Kimrey. Tim was warmth. Tim was welcome. Tim was a friend as soon as you crossed his threshold.
Many of us crossed his threshold over the years. Tim had a physically debilitating disease which made it difficult for him to go out. So... he created a house concert series at his home so the music and the friends came to him.
He still went out now and then though. The last show I watched alongside him was on June 18, 2005. Alejandro Escovedo, Caitlin Cary and Thad Cockrell were at the Cat's Cradle, just down the road from where Tim lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. We talked for a long time before the show, he sitting in his wheelchair, me scrunching down beside him, basking in his amazing spirit. We talked about birds and shrubbery and Los Angeles. The show was sublime, seeing it with Tim made it all the more special.
Here is a very nice photo essay about him by a UNC-Chapel Hill student.
Peter Blackstock, co-editor of No Depression magazine wrote this tribute to Tim on his blog, "Peter's Postscripts."
"Music Loses a Friend" was written by David Menconi for the (Raleigh, North Carolina) News and Observer.
Tim was a wellspring of love, passion, fascination and awe. He lived deeply and truly. Many will miss him ~ everyone whose life he touched was changed for the better by him.
Peace to you, my friend.
posted by ~mona~ @ 4:56 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
.
Seen in a cafeteria :
Shoes are required to eat
in the cafeteria. Socks can
eat any place they want.
A shrimp sole my girl; I lobster
and haven't flounder!
A note left for a pianist from
his wife: Gone Chopin, have
Liszt, Bach in a Minuet.
I was just thinking about Tim. I attended Church of Reconciliation while a student at UNC, 1985-87. Tim was a good soul and I wondered if he was still living. Googled his name and found this old blog post. Thanks for sharing this about him. It's a shame none of the links work anymore.
I've found most of them on the Internet Archive.
You can see a few captures of Afternoon Nap here: https://web.archive.org/web/20050701000000*/afternoonnap.org Some photos and MP3s are still accessible.
A couple of pics from Nathan Clendenin's photo essay (#2 & #3) are also available: https://web.archive.org/web/20050219085535/http://nclendenin.com:80/portfolio/j80/timkim/pages/clendenin_6b.htm
Peter Blackstock's tribute to Tim can be viewed here: https://web.archive.org/web/20080113120719/http://www.nodepression.net:80/blogs/peter/2006/02/#000040
I can only find David Menconi's News & Observer article on a subscription website, so I reproduce if for you here:
Music loses a friend
February 26, 2006 | News & Observer, The (Raleigh, NC)
Author: David Menconi | Page: G10 | Section: Arts & Entertainment
372 Words
On Wednesday night, word went out on the local Guitartown discussion group on the Internet: Tim Kimrey, music fan and all-around nice guy, had died of complications from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. He was 63.
Kimrey was a pastor by trade, retired since the early 1990s. But in recent years, he was better-known as a grass-roots concert promoter on the local house-concert circuit. Kimrey's Chapel Hill living room was one of the best alternative-country venues in the Triangle, attracting acts from all over the country. The Silos, Jason Ringenberg, Mary Gauthier and Beaver Nelson were among the national acts to play Kimrey's "Afternoon Nap" series, as well as Tres Chicas, Chatham County Line and other A-list locals.
Kimrey was unfailingly cheerful, despite having Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, an incurable hereditary condition characterized by loss of touch sensation and muscle tissue. Kimrey, who used a wheelchair, didn't let the disease keep him from painting, sculpting and posting good-humored quips on Guitartown (www.guitartown.org).
In fall 2001, when former local Ryan Adams was arguing online with various Guitartown locals, Kimrey posted a photo he claimed was of Adams. It showed a scarecrow bent over, "mooning" the viewer with two pumpkins for a rump.
"It seems a little wrinkled-y for a young feller like him," Kimrey wrote, "but perhaps it's had lots of exposure."
Kimrey's health took a turn for the worse after the last "Afternoon Nap" show, which featured guitarist Rosie Flores on Dec. 3. He was hospitalized for several months, but he returned home and passed on surrounded by family.
"It was wonderful that he was able to be at home the last week," says his daughter, Erin Kimrey. "He was intensely happy up until the end, doing art, thinking about music. He was just where he wanted to be.
"Seeing his house filled up with great music and great people, there are so many great memories. It's great to know that so many people loved him. Not everybody has that."
Plans for a memorial were still being completed as this section went to press.
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