I am very sad to share that my dear friend, Larry Bedini, passed away this week after battling cancer. In addition to being an important person in my life, he was a source of inspiration in the San Francisco community as a teacher, author, counselor, spiritual leader and philanthropist. A former actor and singer, Larry established the Y.E.S (Youth Excellence Scholarship) Foundation for the Arts to help young musicians achieve their goals. He also opened his home to those most in need, providing meals to the homeless during the holidays. As a member of the Community Miracles Center, he shared his spiritual beliefs and teachings with others, serving as a guide and counselor.
In addition to being a leader in his community, Larry was an unequivocal fan of my clothes, which is how he and I met. In fact, he once wrote me a hilarious letter about an experience he had wearing one of my shirts. I loved the story so much that I posted it on my web site when he first shared it with me. I am reposting it again below as one of my favorite memories of him. I hope you enjoy reading it.
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My dear Jhane,
Recently, on one of our "typically" beautiful days in San Francisco, I was leaving a Sunday Service at the Community Miracles Center and heading home. I was crossing in the middle of the block (jaywalking) on Market Street to go to my car, which was across the street in the parking lot of a funeral home. I usually cross in the middle of the street and very carefully, I might add.
I looked to my left to see if there were oncoming traffic. The cars had stopped at the red light, so I proceeded to cross. I got to the island in the middle of the street and saw traffic coming my way at my right. I waited for the cars and a street car to go by. When it was all clear and I could see the traffic at my right had stopped because of the red light in that direction, I walked slowly across, knowing that it was safe. I kept looking to the right to make sure no one was coming when all of sudden, wham!!! It felt as if someone had come up to me at my left side and gave me a sharp shove as if to knock me down. Well, down I went, totally dazed. I remember thinking to myself, "I'm alright. I'm not hurt." Then I realized I had been hit by an SUV which had backed up in order to get the parking space I was walking towards. I swear I did not notice the SUV before I crossed. The driver came running toward me, asking if I were hurt. I said I didn't think so and told him to get Tom and Tony from across the street. I gave him the address and told him to hurry, which he did.
I remember telling myself that I was not going to be hurt by this in any way. I remember saying to myself, "I'm not hurt and I am not going to have it!" I also remember taking a mental inventory of how my body felt. My left heel was in sharp pain and my upper ribs felt bruised.
In a little while, several people from the Center came running towards me and were expressing concern. I started to get up and someone helped me to the curb. I was shaking and limping badly. A woman from a phone store came out and said to go in and sit down. Another person called the police and an ambulance. I was surrounded by people and they were, of course, expressing concern about me. I kept reassuring them that I was fine, even though I was shaking like crazy.
Within minutes, three policemen and one police woman arrived. They asked me how I was feeling. I told them I was O.K. One of them asked my name and where I lived. I told him. Right then the ambulance came and three attendants began asking me questions. One of the medics asked me my name, address, who was the president and what year it was. I answered all of the questions, slowly and correctly. Then he asked me to remove my jacket so he could check my blood pressure. And here, my dear Jhane, is where I was no longer in the picture, all on account of you and your damned shirt.
As he was rolling up the sleeve of my shirt, he said to another medic, "Hey June! Look at this shirt. Wow! Where did you get it; it's really beautiful. I started to tell him, when June came over and got heavily into the shirt, i.e., the colors, the design and the texture. She asked where I got it and said she would like to get her husband to wear something like it. A medic took my blood pressure as one of the policeman came over to look at the shirt. He was commenting on how beautiful it was. Trust me, Jhane, I was no longer in their thoughts. I know it sounds like an exaggeration. Who would believe it? One would have to have been there. My friends started talking to them about you and your designs, fabrics, etc. They mentioned about my collection of your clothing. I noticed that two firemen appeared out of nowhere. The police seemed to know the two firemen and they began to talk among themselves. I heard the policeman explain what was going on about the accident and that I was alright. One of the policemen said to the firemen, "Come and look at this shirt. Did you ever see anything like it?"
The firemen came closer and started to admire the shirt and asked me the old familiar questions about where I got it, was it expensive, etc. Again, they were talking among themselves. At this point, I got up and went over to the man who had backed into me and reassured him that I was O.K. and was not going to sue him. He had a baby in his arms and I played with the baby for about a minute. He expressed his sorrow and concern about hitting me. I comforted him and told him to go home and not to worry. The police took all his pertinent information and the man left with his baby. I talked to some of my friends as the group of officials were talking over old times. Finally, they asked if I were O.K.; I said I was. They said their goodbyes to me and again, almost in unison told me how beautiful the shirt was.
I was still shaky when they left and sat down trying to make some sense out of what had happened. I was absolutely bewildered as to how the shirt became the focus of all the attention and where I fit into the picture as anything but the model for the shirt. The event wasn't about me and the fact that I had been hit by a car! It was about the shirt! If this sounds like a made-up story to you, I can assure you it isn't. Tom, Tony and several other friends were there and were laughing about it.
Tom and Tony took me to the emergency room at the nearest hospital, at the request of the medics. We walked in, registered and waited to be called. When I was called, the nurse took me into one of the cubicles and asked me to take off my jacket and roll up my sleeve so she could take my blood pressure. I took off my jacket and started to roll up my sleeve when she said, "My, that's a beautiful shirt." I could have screamed.
When we left the hospital, we went to get something to eat in the neighborhood. It was a warm sunny day, I was hungry. I left my jacket in the car. Tom parked on the side of the street where the accident happened. As we were crossing the street (this time at the corner and with the light-I had learned my lesson about jaywalking!), a street person kept looking at me and I thought, "Oh, dear. He's going to hit me up for money." I was very tired and in no mood for it. As he came right up to me, he said, "Hey, that's a beautiful shirt, man." He walked on. We all laughed so hard we could barely walk.
A couple of weeks later I received a ticket for jaywalking and a bill from the fire department, emergency ward and the ambulance. Talk about adding insult to injury!!! They should have paid me!
That, dear Jhane, is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Suffice it to say, the fire department, the police department and the ambulance department in San Francisco all agree: "That's a beautiful shirt."
With it all, my dear Jhane-love ya!
- Larry