Latham died in a fire, early in the morning on the 10 th day of July 1995. His first night home (after spending a week at the Rainbow Family National Gathering) he woke to the fire and crawled into the closet of his room; where he covered himself and his dog (Comet) with blankets and succumbed to the smoke and heat. It appears he lit a candle (remembering the campfires he loved so much?) and it was somehow knocked over, though we’ll never really know.
These pages are a compilation of his works that survived on the hard drive as well as contributions from people that knew and loved him. Latham had been home schooled for the previous year, his reports and stories are here. The Greeting above was recorded the spring before he died.
It is my hope that these pages add to the “community” of the Web. Death is a fact of life. I am so glad and proud that this medium allows us to preserve and share the work of the ones we love. Latham had a full life, as short as it was. He played bass, [taught by the greatest bass player in the Southwest, James Whiton, he traveled, had good friends, and was loved. Latham’s brother Rigel loved him so much, he ran into Latham’s burning room, trying to save him. Because Latham had hid from the fire in the closet, Rigel couldn’t find him; fortunately he saved himself, after suffering third degree burns over half of his body.
Rigel and I miss Latham, it is hard to even describe. We are glad he was as special as he was, and that we have our memories. Writing and other forms of recording allow us to share ourselves even after we are gone. May your life be a productive one- and through the sharing of it, may we will all learn how much we are alike, and how special each of us are.
p.s. in case you haven’t guessed– green was Latham’s favorite color:-)