My old friend, Anise Annette Thiele-Columbry, passed away quietly in her sleep, sometime in the early morning hours of Wednesday, April 29. She was 89 years old. She spent her last days in the bedroom of her bungalow in Lonavala, in the company of her furry friend, Oxie, and her longtime companion, Dr. Vivek Chavan. She was lucid and in good spirits right till the end. In accordance with her wishes, she will be cremated as soon as possible, and her ashes will be spread at sunset from the top of Lion's Point, where she similarly spread her late husband Paolo's ashes back in 1997. There will be no funeral or memorial services. (For those who are curious, Oxie will be going to live out her remaining years on Dr. Chivan's estate, where she will find many human and animal friends.)
"I wear mostly colored underpants, but I do have a few pairs of plain white ones. I like Canasta and drilling holes in things. Once, when I was young, I broke a bottle of milk over a hobo's head. His name was Topo. I sometimes feel like I'm worth no more than $1.09, but then my friend Matt explains to me how improbable this is, and I feel much better. Roosters are my favorites. And Toffifay. "What's in YOUR wallet, motherfucker?" is something I say A LOT. I know a girl who is ACTUALLY green. I like to read poetry and Jim Thompson novels. When I go outside, which isn't very often these days, I always wear my Sanguinello hat to protect my head and shoulders from outdoorsey-type things. I once ingested a dung beetle and a thumbtack in the same day, without needing to go to the hospital. (I passed them both with a minimum of discomfort.) I once had a DP three-way with Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb, who were, at that time, the rhythm section for the Miles Davis Sextet. Miles thought I was weird. I love late night phone calls and a shower after THE ROCKFORD FILES. Remember "Where's the beef?"? When I was eleven, I got my foot caught in a rabbit hole, and the neighbors had to send their dachshund, Artimus, down through the other end to dig me out. It took two hours, and a bluejay pooped on me. I like rabbits. I've been waiting for something to arrive since 1992. I share my bungalow with a blind pygmy goat named Oxie Yow, and she often accompanies me in my astral travels. Konrad Steiner's Neo-Benshi work cracks me up. Alone is not lonely. The end."
— Anise A. Thiele Columbry, January 2013
I will miss Anise's biting sense of humor, and the way in which she so effortlessly and flawlessly understood even the most complex person or situation. She was a mentor to me in so many ways, and the idea of moving forward in this life without her counsel — especially as the world around us grows so ugly — has me frightened, to say the very least.
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As some of you already know, Anise and I shared a passion for music. Back in 2008, I came across a Japanese band called mama!milk, who had just released an album entitled Fragrance of Notes. One of the most distinct tracks on this record actually bore Anise's name, and I immediately passed it along to her. She loved it, and asked if, when the time came, I might share it as part of my remembrance. So, here it is, in loving memory of "Anise":
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