I was looking through my e-mail history with Bill Walton the other day, trying to find out how to pay tribute to his astonishing life, when I found this reply, in response to the first note I’d sent him, cold, wondering if one of my favorite people on Earth would maybe wanna meet up at All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles.
The timestamp was February 16, 2018, at 2:07 a.m. Eastern:
E-mailing with Bill Walton, in other words, was a lot like listening to Bill Walton. He thought in stanzas, freely bestowing kindnesses, and unrelenting joy.
Listening to him broadcast games is how I fell in love with Bill Walton.
E-mailing with him is how we became friends.
But when Bill died of cancer, late last month, I was shocked. A lot of us were, I think. A lot of us called him a friend, because he so freely granted us permission to, and yet a lot of us didn’t actually have access to his interior life.
And so what I wanted to do today — on a very special Share & Tell, with my pals Katie Nolan and (Oregon’s own!) Ian Karmel — was share what I found out after taking to a man named Jeb Barton. Whose access to Bill’s interior life, unbounded by time and space, was the entire foundation of their unique friendship.
ALSO: Katie’s Bible study, Fat Bastard, and Ian’s new book.
DKN/YOUTUBE SPOILER ALERT:
Here we go,
Pablo