"Re-in-cur-nation" with George Davidson

When you lose someone, you really need people, and you never forget the people who come through for you at that time. So I won't forget that my buddy George Davidson in Athens, Georgia just sent me a batch of his prints, in the wake of the passing of my father in law, Kpakpo Mensah.

George generally shares my belief in traditional religions, so it was significant that he sent me the print "Re-in-cur-nation," since most traditional religions have the soul being recycled rather than facing judgment and segregation to heaven or hell.

The pun on "cur" (dog) is typical of George, but also affectionate toward me, since my family nickname is "Brother Dog" and George is more likely to call me "Dog" than anything else. I, in turn, call him "Dak," from his old nickname, Dak Maverick.

I also took it as an affectionate reference that this dog-themed poster he designed back in 1985 has my last name on it in the show credits.

This "cur" poster incorporates even more of George's signature imagery.

And yet another dog pun in the band name, the K-9's.

George had already made a thoughtful gesture toward my wife, Karley M. King, regarding the loss of her father. He met her for the first time during our recent Southern swing and was really taken with her and our daughter, Leyla.

George wrote and sent the following poem when he heard the news:

On Your Father's Passage

Take heart
in the joy
that lights your daughter's eyes

and in it
see through
the veil of death's disguise

your Father's soul
is free from the pain
of traveling on this earthly plane

in time
all will pass this way
for now,
that your heart be healed
I pray/

More George

Jazz destroyers, juju masks, scavenged materials
Selected juju boxes of Dak Maverick of Athens, Georgia