In Pursuit of Fun

The last years I spent in Raleigh, before hightailing to Texas on the crest of the global economic meltdown, I became close with Peter Eichenberger. Late night encounters with one of the finest wood craftsman in the state, a stoneware potter and an expert on classical furniture, art and design, brought Peter and I to the same table.

The man generally couldn’t give a shit about what people thought about him, though I’ve met many people who’ve said he’s full of it. Peter had an uncanny knack for quickly diagnosing stereotypes in peoples’ eyes, stagnant cobwebs spun by ‘gawd knows what sick shreds of ignorance, and exploiting those impediments to, hopefully, their benefit. As a conversationalist, he always had the exact story for the situation, and I’ve heard hundreds of ‘em (oftentimes, more than twice.) A literal history book on the city, Eichenberger was an immense bank of knowledge gathered during the last half century, a complete verbal description on every building, character and noteworthy event stretching back hundreds of years—a deep well of information that is now dispersed throughout the cosmos.

Over time, our friendship grew out of a love for inquisition, writing and, well, Sadlack’s.

Peter was an expert on how things work. Especially things with moving parts. His vast knowledge and understanding of design, literature, art, politics, science and mechanics sound like the makings of a modern Renaissance man, when in fact, Peter was a true relic of the postmodern age.

Twisting the English language through colloquial rollercoasters of blockheaded niaveties and stagings of simple human enlightenment, Eichenberger’s reported musings have a very specific flavor. Whether or not one is able to guzzle down the deliberate abstruseness of Peter’s writing, he remains happily sipping on the grotesquities of our political and cultural state of affairs, burying intellectual sustenance for those adventurous enough to hang on through the party.

The time I spent with Peter was truly a second education for me, a thought that may seem frightening to some. As a continuous questioner of convention, and an explorer of all things ‘stuff, he was a brilliant thinker who chopped up life and served it right back to the world, whether it liked it or not.

Peter, I love you man, and I sure do miss you.
Mark Kuykendall

Some favorite Peter Eichenberger quotes:

“Human relationships are more valuable than all the gold ever dug out of the ground.”

“Love each other and this beleaguered planet with all your heart and soul. They are all we have.”

“Everybody needs a roof, a belly full of soup, a pad to sleep on and someone to give them a hug every now and then. What is so complicated about that?”

“Believe in yourselves and what we have to do. The future is here…”

“Go hug someone and tell them how much they mean to you. Tomorrow may be a little too late.”

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