In memoriam: Eric S. Tiedemann, 1966-2008

My dear friend, Eric Tiedemann, or "est" as he was known to many, passed away recently. 

My wife, Meredith, found his body this past Sunday, after going down to Mountain View to check in on him. We had been worried about him, since it had been over a week since we or any of his other friends had heard from him, and sadly our worst fears proved true.

This is undoubtedly the hardest thing I've had to write, and it can't possibly do justice to the wonderful person that he was. I've decided to post this information so that his friends who haven't been contacted yet, might learn of this. A memorial is being planned, though there are no firm dates yet. I will let people know when I know more.

I'm trying to post about my feelings toward Eric, and my heart is climbing into my throat. I loved him; he was family to me. I'm not sure how to express that. Everything I say feels wrong, and I'm still not fully accepting of the fact that I can't ask him for his opinion on what I should say.

Maybe in a few days I can write more. In the mean time, feel free to email me at osogato.com (username len) if you'd like to know more, and please point friends of his who may not have heard at this or Meredith's blog. We'll update as appropriate.
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Flamingo Dancer
Sympathy and hugs to you
burtonator
Very sad.....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/veeliam/2395542166/

That picture was taken just a few days ago ......

:-/
Len Sassaman

This is one of my favorite pictures of him:

http://flickr.com/photos/ioerror/427107976/in/set-72157600009566656/


It was taken on my wedding day; he was a witness. I'm really fond of this one, too:


http://flickr.com/photos/ioerror/427107181/in/set-72157600009566656/


I'll miss his hugs.

burtonator
[this is good]
Agreed... good picture. Let's remember him that way...
Gabe Wachob
[this is good]
)
Gabe Wachob
I meant my comment to simply be:

)
tracyshaun
I met Eric once and only once -- at SHDH 19 -- really, really liked him. We had a great conversation late into the night about ragas, python, just intonation, LED light boards, and on and on. My son was there, too, and he told me how much he liked meeting Eric...
Hunter P
[this is good]
He listened to multiple of my streaming concerts over the internet where I played percussion. He was a great and participatory audience and helped me grow as a musician.

Over the years, I was able to confide in est, he was a good listener and always had a zany or empathetic response, rarely ....if ever....did he close a conversation or stop participating due to impatience.

est was in touch with a spiritual side. He enjoyed communing with the ocean at night, doing primitive dance and drum, spending time at a monastery, exploring other religions and cultures. Ngawa.

We would discuss quantum physics, yoga Asanas, or cats...or all three.

I loved est as a friend, and mentor. I will keep, and honor his spirit with me along my path of music and enlightenment.

-Hunter Peress.

Leah
Hi,
We met last year at least I'm pretty sure I met your wife? At an afterhours party at Eric's house that he invited a bunch of codecon people to. My husband Sean and I were there, Sean was one of the guys DJ'ing later in the evening, early in the morning. We hadn't heard from Eric since we moved to Cupertino in March, but it wasn't unusual for the three of us to have sporadic contact. We were having a really hard time getting ahold of him though and I was getting worried. Sean has been friends with Eric for 15 years and myself for 10. I'm so sorry Meredith had to find him... Please let us know when the memorial is? I'm hoping someone has gotten in touch with his friend Keith. We will try to contact a few others to give them the news.
Len Sassaman
Hi Leah,

I just found your blog by searching for Eric's name. I probably remember Sean, since we made it to the CodeCon afterparty rather late that year. Keith knows -- he's one of the people we're working on memorial planning with. If you and Sean would like to be involved, let me know.

Eric didn't leave any instructions on what sort of funeral/memorial he would like, but he talked to a number of people about the topic, and the consensus has been that he wanted more of a "celebration of life"-style event than one of "mourning of loss", though I suspect the latter will be unavoidable. We're thinking of something along the lines of a rave-y wake. We've got a number of venues in mind yet, but no confirmation, so no date at this point. Hopefully soon.

Thanks for spreading the word -- we've tried to get word out to as many people as we can, but given how many friends he made over the years, we could certainly use the help.
Leah
Hi Len *hugs*,
I think you guys are planning exactly what Eric would want and I'm glad Keith is involved. We're pretty sure we can't think of anyone that Keith doesn't know that also knew Eric. But, there's a few people we are still trying to contact that would want to know. I'm not sure how much help we can be planning the memorial, but I'd be glad to if you all just let me know. I'm pregnant and not working at the moment so I have alot of free time during the day to make calls or send emails, etc.

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