Saturday, April 19
At a loss...
Last week my family and I went on a great vacation, had an incredible time, and I came back refreshed and ready for work again.
Went to work on Monday and Tuesday, had great days, worked 10 hours each day, got a ton of stuff done.
Then Tuesday night, while looking for something on the net, I ran across something that completely deflated me. A good friend of mine, Bill Burton, had taken his own life last May. The news in and of itself shouldn't have been such a shock, Bill had been diagnosed Bi-polar and had severe depression. On May 29th last year it got to him and he ended it all.
It really upset me, and I had to do a lot of digging to find out any more detail than that he was dead. It was also jarring to find out so late, and have no way to express condolences to his family directly. We had been e-mailing, and in fact I had sent him a message around noon on the day he died, I don't know if he ever got the message. When I got no reply I just figured he had been getting things together and didn't have time to reply, messages on his blog showed some signs of progress:
Bill' Blog
Here is his Obituary, published in the Austin American Statesman - it will go offline there soon, and was hard to find as they block Google and other services from indexing their obituaries:
William "Bill" Burton Feb. 18, 1956 - May 29, 2007 William "Bill" Burton died Tuesday May 29, 2007. He moved from Riverside, CA, to Austin in 2005. He was a kind, intelligent and artistic man. He had been an editor in mobile electronics and a writer in New York, California, and for awhile in Austin. He loved animals, philosophy, Formula 1 car racing, music, painting, and writing poetry. He was preceded in death by his father Howard, his mother Charlotte, his sister Joy and several beloved dogs. He leaves behind his girlfriend, Christina; her son, Sean; his precious dogs, Clyde and Luna; his brother, Bruce; his uncle, Emory; his aunt, Dorothy; his cousin, Mike; his best friends, David and Tom; his friends, Christopher, Rich, Shane, Deborah, Mark and Linda; as well as many other friends and relatives who loved him. Life was a struggle for Bill in the last few years. We hope he has finally found peace. We will miss him. For memorial arrangements see www.me-mag.com Donations can be made in Bill's name to Austin Aussie Rescue, Town Lake Animal Center; or Depression and Bi-Polar Support Alliance.
Published in the Austin American-Statesman on 6/10/2007.
I also found some nice stuff on his life at Mobile Electronics Magazine and Car Audio & Electronics Magazine websites:
Bill Burton Memoriam
Bill Burton Tribute
So, here is what I remember about Bill Burton. I got deeply involved in Car Audio in about 1988, but 1990 I had the goal of winning the International Autosound Sound Challenge Association's (IASCA) World Finals. It took me till 1996 to achieve that goal
In 1997 I took the year off from competition to judge shows. That year in Perry, Georgia I judged the big show run by Terry Miller and Audio Sports. Terry set me up with a great bunk mate, Bill Burton. I had been reading Bill's columns for years, and was at first a bit intimidated at meeting someone so influential in the industry. However, I was quickly put at ease, Bill was a great person to hang out with, had a rental car and knew some great places to eat in Perry. It turned out to be a great weekend, Bill was great to hang out with outside the show, and I learned a bunch.
Bill was a hippy. He rode a recumbent bike, voted democratic, loved dogs and pretty much seemed to believe they should have the same rights as people. He was diabetic. Most of all he loved audio, and especially mobile audio.
After the weekend in Perry we stayed in touch via e-mails, and would bump into each other at shows and always have great conversations.
In 1999 I dropped out of car audio to focus on other aspects of life, but stayed in touch with Bill via e-mail from that point forward. He offered me great help in 2003 when I became diabetic.
I knew via his e-mails that he was struggling with numerous problems, but like I said, I thought things were starting to look up for him. I wish I could have done more for my friend.
Bill, wherever you are, I hope you found the peace you sought. I was really looking forward to meeting up with you in Austin next time I made it out that way, I'll drink a beer in your honor next time I'm out that way.
I hope that if your family or other friends that find this will know what a wonderful friend and person you were to me over the years, you will be missed.
Went to work on Monday and Tuesday, had great days, worked 10 hours each day, got a ton of stuff done.
Then Tuesday night, while looking for something on the net, I ran across something that completely deflated me. A good friend of mine, Bill Burton, had taken his own life last May. The news in and of itself shouldn't have been such a shock, Bill had been diagnosed Bi-polar and had severe depression. On May 29th last year it got to him and he ended it all.
It really upset me, and I had to do a lot of digging to find out any more detail than that he was dead. It was also jarring to find out so late, and have no way to express condolences to his family directly. We had been e-mailing, and in fact I had sent him a message around noon on the day he died, I don't know if he ever got the message. When I got no reply I just figured he had been getting things together and didn't have time to reply, messages on his blog showed some signs of progress:
Bill' Blog
Here is his Obituary, published in the Austin American Statesman - it will go offline there soon, and was hard to find as they block Google and other services from indexing their obituaries:
William "Bill" Burton Feb. 18, 1956 - May 29, 2007 William "Bill" Burton died Tuesday May 29, 2007. He moved from Riverside, CA, to Austin in 2005. He was a kind, intelligent and artistic man. He had been an editor in mobile electronics and a writer in New York, California, and for awhile in Austin. He loved animals, philosophy, Formula 1 car racing, music, painting, and writing poetry. He was preceded in death by his father Howard, his mother Charlotte, his sister Joy and several beloved dogs. He leaves behind his girlfriend, Christina; her son, Sean; his precious dogs, Clyde and Luna; his brother, Bruce; his uncle, Emory; his aunt, Dorothy; his cousin, Mike; his best friends, David and Tom; his friends, Christopher, Rich, Shane, Deborah, Mark and Linda; as well as many other friends and relatives who loved him. Life was a struggle for Bill in the last few years. We hope he has finally found peace. We will miss him. For memorial arrangements see www.me-mag.com Donations can be made in Bill's name to Austin Aussie Rescue, Town Lake Animal Center; or Depression and Bi-Polar Support Alliance.
Published in the Austin American-Statesman on 6/10/2007.
I also found some nice stuff on his life at Mobile Electronics Magazine and Car Audio & Electronics Magazine websites:
Bill Burton Memoriam
Bill Burton Tribute
So, here is what I remember about Bill Burton. I got deeply involved in Car Audio in about 1988, but 1990 I had the goal of winning the International Autosound Sound Challenge Association's (IASCA) World Finals. It took me till 1996 to achieve that goal
In 1997 I took the year off from competition to judge shows. That year in Perry, Georgia I judged the big show run by Terry Miller and Audio Sports. Terry set me up with a great bunk mate, Bill Burton. I had been reading Bill's columns for years, and was at first a bit intimidated at meeting someone so influential in the industry. However, I was quickly put at ease, Bill was a great person to hang out with, had a rental car and knew some great places to eat in Perry. It turned out to be a great weekend, Bill was great to hang out with outside the show, and I learned a bunch.
Bill was a hippy. He rode a recumbent bike, voted democratic, loved dogs and pretty much seemed to believe they should have the same rights as people. He was diabetic. Most of all he loved audio, and especially mobile audio.
After the weekend in Perry we stayed in touch via e-mails, and would bump into each other at shows and always have great conversations.
In 1999 I dropped out of car audio to focus on other aspects of life, but stayed in touch with Bill via e-mail from that point forward. He offered me great help in 2003 when I became diabetic.
I knew via his e-mails that he was struggling with numerous problems, but like I said, I thought things were starting to look up for him. I wish I could have done more for my friend.
Bill, wherever you are, I hope you found the peace you sought. I was really looking forward to meeting up with you in Austin next time I made it out that way, I'll drink a beer in your honor next time I'm out that way.
I hope that if your family or other friends that find this will know what a wonderful friend and person you were to me over the years, you will be missed.
Labels: auto sound, friends, funeral, suicide
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