Yvonne always had a feel for the best in things – not the most luxurious, or stylish, or trendy – but instead, the actual best: the most well-made, the most useful, the warmest, the most honest, the highest quality, or the longest-lasting, and so forth.

Her knowledge was ‘Renaissance’ in nature, and covered an incredible scope of subjects, from art, literature and the use of language, to the broader aspects of life and living things. She appreciated intelligence, and viewed truth as a necessity, like oxygen.

She cared very much about all of her friends, and really for all good people, and she held the highest standards for both behavior and intentions.

Yvonne was a tigress in her views about life, and would put her philosophy into action without hesitation. She was never afraid to say what she felt, or how she thought things should be. She also had a deep sense of humor, and an appreciation of life’s comedy.

To me, her greatest, or perhaps her most defining attribute, and the one I think of every single day when I remember her, was a certain unique fearlessness – she would simply go straight down her chosen path once she made up her mind about something, or she was doing what she felt should be done.
Still, her courage, which is a somewhat different thing, could sometimes fail her, as it does all of us at times.

My friend Yvonne was the very finest person I ever met, and I still love her more than anything.
I was her friend from 1966 onward.
Now I live 500 miles away from L.A., so I conclude this post with my best wishes for all the participants of tonight’s Center event, and the hope that they and their own Departed find Peace.

Love,

Ray

PS— Use the website link on this post to see a picture from a few years ago of Yvonne doing some cooking, which was just one of the things at which she truly excelled.

RT

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…I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library. – Jorge Luis Borges