I was very sad to hear about the death of my dear friend Max Gold and my thoughts are with his beautiful wife Kimaree, his two beloved children Grayson and Georgia and his parents. Max was a quiet shy guy but through our love of film, popular culture, cigars and a good steak, we became unlikely friends in college and better friends during our early days struggling in NYC. Never one to admit a movie made him cry, Max would always say that he got a little "dusty" if the film was sentimental or sad. I have some really awesome memories of my times with Max over the past few years which only make sense in the context of our friendship and to our core group of Rat Pack friends but I'm going to share them anyway in his memory. Like many of you, I get so caught up in my life I don't have the time to tell all those out there how much they to mean to me, and Max was someone very special in my life--a constant person of sanity, generosity, fun and serenity and the namesake for Maximillian Cat. I'm sorry I never got to say goodbye. These are some of my favorite moments with my friend Max:
1. Donna Martin graduates party and his devout love/hate of Tori.
2. The night Max got his first paycheck and treated me and Al for steaks at the The Palm when I was dirt poor.
2. Seeing Lost Highway together 4 times in the theater and always making time with me to play video games prior to the film.
3. The crazy El Paso lobster dinner with my mother, sister and other random friends where we insisted that the guitar player serenade my mother with Light My Fire since she hates that kind of stuff.
4. The Five-star day where Max took me to see the Oscar red carpet, ate fish tacos for the fist time from a stand on Venice Beach and then watched the show at Randy Newman's lover's house (don't ask). Max didn't want to drive me downtown for the red carpet part, but when I got a little "dusty" he took me out of sympathy. He, however, did drive me without hesitation to the exact spot where Biggie got shot.
5. The George Clooney Dr. Ross bar incident
6. Every Rat Pack/Swingers night we ever had with Phil, Al, Dupes and Ro. It was fun to be the girl in a group of such boys.
7. Max's beautiful wedding to Kimaree that hot August day in New Orleans and the fun we had that awesome weekend when we were all together in NOLA.
8. Driving around LA in Max's car singing Sugar Ray when he moved out west and I visited him for the first time. That song Every Morning was on the radio every five minutes and we couldn't get enough of it and I still think of Max when I hear it.
9. Smoking cigars on the street to celebrate me and Kimaree's 30th birthdays.
10. The week that Max lived with me before he moved to LA and how annoyed I was that he had to watch Sports Center hogging the TV before bedtime but when he moved away, how much I really missed seeing him all the time.
Rest in peace, gentle friend.
