My Uncle Mark was one of the kindest, funniest, and most interesting people I have ever met. Over the years, I have heard a lot of praise for his many attributes and talents. I wanted to take a minute to focus specifically on one: his excellent taste.
Growing up, I went over Uncle Mark’s house at least once a month. Uncle Mark would take each of these visits as an opportunity to teach me about music, movies, and food, three things for which he had enormous passion and in which he had exquisite taste. When I was 12 years old and growing out of teeny bopper music, I started to listen to the Beatles with my mom. I mentioned this to Uncle Mark and within the hour, he had burned me a mix CD with songs from all of his favorite bands from the 60s and 70s – the Grateful Dead, the Velvet Underground, Led Zeppelin, and many more. That CD changed my world! I listened to Uncle Mark’s mix CD constantly, and then eventually branched out to learn more about each of the bands on it. His excellent taste in music and his generous gesture of wanting to share it with me forever changed how I listened to music and what I listened to.
I also remember when, a few years later, I told Uncle Mark that I had never seen Blade Runner. Uncle Mark sought to remedy that right away! Even though we were in the middle of a family gathering, he sent me to the basement TV room to watch it and insisted I tell him what I thought when it was over. As a result of being exposed to movies like this by Uncle Mark, I am a SciFi fan to this day. More importantly, Uncle Mark’s enthusiasm for film taught me that movies could be more than just entertainment; they could be transcendental experiences.
Finally, food. Some people can’t eat food when it’s too spicy; I can’t eat food when it isn’t spicy enough! Uncle Mark played a key role in developing my appreciation for spice. With my mom, he cooked his way through several dozens of Thai and Indian cookbooks, in order learn the styles and perfect his favorite recipes. His approach was scholarly: he would make different versions of the same dish, testing each in order to determine which one was “the best.” He was always going to specialty stores to get the most exotic and authentic ingredients, and he was always excited to share a new chutney or chili pickle with me. I will miss having Uncle Mark as a comrade in the pursuit of enjoying all things spicy. I will especially miss cooking and eating with him at our Annual Indian Food Christmas dinner, an initiative started by Uncle Mark when he rightly decided, in my opinion, that traditional Christmas food was too bland. This has always been my favorite holiday event of the year. I wish I could have kept sharing Indian Food Christmas with Uncle Mark for years to come.
Uncle Mark, I am so sad that I will not be able to continue learning about music, movies, food, and other aspects of your exquisitely developed taste from you. I will also miss so much more about you, especially your humor, your kindness, your intelligence. Rest in peace. We love you.
Alexandra Brewer
Niece
Winston-Salem, NC