DAN WILSON, RIP

A friend of mine died earlier this month, and I want to pay my respects here.  If it hadn’t been for him, this blog probably wouldn’t exist.

Dan Wilson was my age.  Technically, he was 8 months younger than me, but when you reach a certain age, a few months either way is a meaningless distinction.  Our paths finally crossed about fifteen years ago, as students at Yoga Oasis.  We were regulars in two or three YO classes, but the one I remember best was Mira Shani’s Saturday morning 8:30 class at YO Central.    

Time passed, and Mira talked me into becoming a yoga teacher.  That was in 2009; a year and a half later, Mira left town, and I was teaching at Three Jewels on Sixth Street.  By 2012, my wife and I were running Three Jewels Tucson, and I’d drifted away from Yoga Oasis.  Sometime around then, Dan had open heart surgery, which limited his asana practice. 

Vicki and I would occasionally go out to dinner with Dan and his wife Yvette, and he was also a supporter of Artifact Dance Company, whose board of directors my wife serves on.  But my main contact with Dan soon became his blog, THIS JUST IN.  He wrote movingly about his struggle to escape his father’s legacy, and his determination to set a good example for his nephews.  He was remarkably candid about his perceived shortcomings, and also about his desire to make the world a better place. 

I would sometimes offer comments on his blog entries, and Dan was kind enough to invite me to write occasional guest posts.  That experience gave me the confidence, a few years later, to start a blog of my own.

Dan was respected and admired at Yoga Oasis, by teachers as well as his fellow students.  It iss obvious from comments on his Facebook page that he had friends and admirers from all walks of life.  He was a good man.  I will miss him.