“Happy birthday (a day belated) to that beautiful soul called River Phoenix. He would have been 44 had his flame not dimmed so early. But while he burned brightly, I was blessed to cross his path several times, and he was every bit that delicate combination of earth-bound yet ethereal that can often weigh down those bestowed with greatness and purpose. And tragically, It proved too much to handle. I loved him as artist and human- and will PETA Benefit Concert in 1989 at the Beacon Theater in New York where River performed live for the first time with his band Aleka’s Attic- which was Seattle Alternative two years before ‘grunge’ was even a musical sub-genre. An unlikely lovely addition to the party was my dear late friend Calvert DeForrest (aka Larry “Bud” Melman) and his pal, character actor Frank Colangelo. Together we organized to bring attention to cruelty against gentle creatures. At the time, little did I realize dear River was the most fragile creature of all… and would be broken and gone a few years later. I miss him. I cherish him. “I’ll see ya when I see ya…” - Tim Sullivan