Gavin Walker & Alan Jacques

There is a tradition in Latin America where some writers are also called chroniclers. In Mexico the most famous one was called Carlos Fuentes. In Argentina Jorge Luís Borges often wrote of the peculiarities of his fellow Argentines.

In this century I put my blog links into Facebook and Twitter. At the same time I study (spy?) on trends and how people are changing in this century of emojification (my coinage).

One trend is obvious and this is the loss of manners. What would Emily Post write about this ugly happening?

The two gentlemen in this blog are now dead. They died within months of each other. I was friends with saxophone player Gavin Walker from the late 70s. We talked a lot on the phone. He was always polite and gracious. The other gentleman died by MAID on June 9^th in the afternoon. In the morning he sent me a text “Dying is untidy. Thank you for being my friend.” I cannot get these two men from my mind.

The above is to cite how manners may or may not be applied now. I called a very good friend from the early 60s on WhatsApp. The instant answer in bold letters was “Call Declined”. I would have thought that he might have texted something as to why he could not answer or call me hours or days later. He never called.

What should I do? Should I insist? These days, my melancholy days, I simply feel that I should remember the friendship well and then just let it go.