Person Page 3,027

OBITUARY:

Lynn Stoller passed away peacefully in his sleep Sunday, July 19, 2009, after a short bout with cancer.

Lynn was born Feb. 15, 1933, in San Francisco. He was nearly born in the window of a department store to bohemian parents who were writers and performing puppeteers traveling from Greenwich Village.

He grew up in the streets of NYC, completing high school in Anchorage, Alaska. He won scholarships in mathematics to MIT and USC but chose work as a commercial fisherman instead. He ultimately got his bachelor's degree in mathematics at UCLA via scholarships and put his education to work at IBM and started his family.

At age 38 he dropped out and opened Up the Creek Records in Boulder Creek, Calif. He became immersed in the music of the 70s, acquiring an Indian Tamboura and other Middle Eastern percussion instruments. He eventually moved to Southern California where he accompanied modern dance performances around Los Angeles.

In 1989 he began creating computer-sequenced compositions with various synthesizers and moved to the Mendocino area to further study his musical passions. He played with several local musical groups including Transfusion, Bahkti Tribe, Cloud Fire, EZI and Senchant.

His strong spirit and resolve to live his life as a juggernaut for free expression touched hundreds of lives in Mendocino County and beyond. He relished almost anything that brought the zest and flavor of life to the fore.

His interests stretched from improvisational music, all forms of dance to poetry readings and book clubs. Lynn approached all the joys of life full throttle.

The love from his friends was felt by all present throughout his final days of care and support during the many Celebrations of his life.

He leaves behind three children, Rebecca, Rand, Brad, and a granddaughter, Sophia, all of whom send out their appreciation and gratitude for the many friends who supported the family and each other throughout.

From a poem Darryl Oasis Hasten wrote and read to Lynn on July 12:

Lynn Stoller, Poet Provocateur

... a shaman evoking trance

plucking every heart string

fostering a myriad to dance

you never hid from language,

shooting poems from the hip

telling the naive, how it is

if they don't get it, well, that's their trip

you've had your festivals and freedom

your family and your work

you know how to structure reality

to allow for the berserk

as you embrace the completion

of this dervish overspin

now we'll be loving you in absence

till the mystery lets us in.