Web Mechanic Remarks

Observations & Illustrations—of Jerry Reynard

Remarks from Jerry's Obituary

I have so many fond memories of Jerry, but among my favorites were our Friday night movie going rituals that went on for years. We would meet up after work on Fridays at the Subway sandwich shop on 9th Street, just around the corner from where he worked at the Secret Service building in DC. We would get our sandwiches, pack them up, his in his tote bag, hidden under magazines (Scientific American or Infinite Energy) and mine in my backpack. Then we'd walk down to the E-Street Cinema to see one of the independent films. Picking the film would be the subject of lengthy discussion earlier in the week usually. We'd ride the escalator down from the lobby (all the theaters are located one level down from street level) and settle in, to "blab" until the lights went out. As the film got under way we'd unpack our sandwiches, trying to be careful not to crinkle the paper too much and disturb the people around us, and then gleefully enjoy our dinner in front of the big screen.

After the show we'd wander down to the end of the next block over and check out the magazines at Barnes and Noble, perhaps making a purchase if an article caught his eye. Then we'd walk back up to the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station where we could spend up to an hour talking, usually about various schemes and ideas to better promote his Comedy Recycling Theory of the Entire Known Universe. Finally we'd call it a night and he would descend down the escalator to catch the train, and I'd wander back up to that parking lot where the DC Convention Center used to be (it's since been replaced with shopping and condos).

We did this for years, starting when we worked together, and then after I changed jobs and moved a few blocks up the street, all the way until I got married and moved to California. And even a couple of times after that, when I'd fly into DC, take the metro downtown and meet up with him as he got off work. We wouldn't have seen each other for the better part of a year, yet we'd resume our ritual as if we'd never taken a break.

Jerry was a delightful and interesting man, and a very good friend who was kind-hearted, had a great sense of humor, would not say an unkind thing about anyone, and always saw a glass half full. I will miss him terribly.

June 12, 2016