Robert L. Peters

30 April 2013

Goodbye, my friend… rest in peace.

Sam_W_Reimer_1949-2013

Vancouver, Canada

A funeral was held today on Mount Pleasant for my poet-cousin/friend Sam W. Reimer. He will not be forgotten…

Samuel Wayne Reimer was born in Steinbach, Manitoba, Canada on 26 May, 1949, the second son of John K. Reimer and Leona Ruth Reimer. Raised on “the Bible, hymns, porridge, borscht, home-baked bread, and prayer,” he discovered Shakespeare around the age of eight by means of a copy of Hamlet found in his grandmother’s basement. As he put it, “this confirmed my life-long passion for ‘the Word Over All,’ as the Beatles (John Lennon in particular) would do again a half dozen years later.”

In 1964 his family moved to Meade, Kansas, where Sam lived until 1968—“just long enough to be eligible for the Vietnam War and the draft”— an entitlement that caused him to “skip back home” to Winnipeg. Sundry jobs held him in Manitoba for a year or two (Winnipeg Supply & Fuel Company, & Canada Dry offices, etc.) before the happening zeitgeist of “tuning in, turning on, dropping out” swept him west to the BC coast (en route to San Francisco). In Vancouver, a ‘Jesus Rediscovered’ experience and a sojourn with Dave Milton at The House of Daniel would deeply influence his life-course.

Sam married Elizabeth St. John in 1970, a union that would bear a daughter, Jennifer, and a son, Dylan. A stint of writing for Maranatha Free Press in Vancouver predated a 1976 move with kids in tow to Mission, BC, then to the mountainous country of Robson Valley, with spells of work as railway section-crew and in a plywood-veneer plant. A short-lived teaching role in creative writing followed, via Fraser Valley College’s Community Education program— two complete semesters with students aged 18–80! Then it was back to the urban setting of Vancouver, a separation in 1981, and a divorce in 1984.

Since 1987, Sam lived on his own in the Ivanhoe Apartments in Vancouver, where he penned literally thousands of poems. In 2008, a collection of 200 of his works was published in the book Gray Matter Graffitti.

Sam passed away peacefully at Vancouver General Hospital in the early hours of 26 April, 2013, with family members by his side. He is survived by his daughter Jennifer (Kaleeg) Hainsworth; son Dylan (Tonya) Reimer; granddaughters Ella, Huelwen, and Bridget Hainsworth; father John K. Reimer; brothers David (Katy) Reimer and Rod (Deborah) Reimer; sisters Lucille (Jim) Pfeifer and Arvella (Mike) Lucas. Sam was predeceased by his mother Leona Reimer.


29 April 2013

Being a humanist means trying to behave decently without expectation of rewards or punishment after you are dead.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922-2007)


28 April 2013

Be careful about learning more and more about less and less… until you know everything about nothing.

Thanks Dad!

Wise words of advice from my dear, recently-departed father… and likely a key reason why I have embraced being a “generalist” as opposed to a “specialist” for most of my life.


26 April 2013

Happy Birthday, Icograda!

Icograda_forever_young

 

Icograda_@50

Montreal, Canada

27 April 2013 is Icograda’s 50th birthday, World Communication Design Day… here are a few more graphic iterations to mark this auspicious occasion and global celebration.


25 April 2013

The soul of the soul of the universe is love.

—Rumi


24 April 2013

The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.

George Orwell (1903-1950)


23 April 2013

On perfection…

George_Orwell_human_perfection

As a recovering perfectionist, I will continue to strive to be more human…

(painting of St. Mark by Angelo Bronzino, c. 1527)


21 April 2013

Icograda turns 50…

icograda_aim_higher

Icograda_seeing_feeling

icograda_signs_symbols

icograda_touch

icograda_design_is_love

design_application_of_intent

Montreal, Canada

27 April 2013 is Icograda’s 50th birthday, World Communication Design Day. To mark this auspicious occasion and global celebration, I’ve composed a few graphic iterations and collages. Icograda invites contributions on a Facebook page set up for international “graphic sharing” here.

The Icograda 50th Anniversary logo was designed by Omar Vulpinari and a creative team at Fabrica.


20 April 2013

We miss you, Dad…

John_Jacob_Peters_1920-2012

As far back as I can remember, this is the first April 20th that we’re not celebrating your birthday with you… R.I.P.


19 April 2013

Historically, the most terrible things… war, genocide, and slavery… have resulted not from disobedience, but from obedience.

Howard Zinn (1922-2010)


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