Yesterday, on Sunday, July 26, we held a memorial service in my garden for my dear friend of 33 years, Roy Tokuhichi Iwaki.  His nephew, Michio Valian, brought Roy's ashes (center) and constructed an altar commemorating Roy's unique sense of style and humor.  The centerpiece of my garden is the fountain that Roy designed and constructed about three years ago.  

 We had over fifty friends at the gathering to offer incense and share stories of our completely one-of-a-kind friend.  We all miss him terribly as the quirky, generous, thoughtful and soulful friend who was loyal, funny, wise, and self-deprecating. Many friends expressed how he loved nothing better than to give us a well-meaning and playful hard time over whatever we were currently taking so seriously!  

Roy, a second-generation Japanese, grew up in the poorer parts of Los Angeles in a hotel owned and run by his mother. At the age of ten he was placed in Manzanar internment camp along with his mother and siblings. 

 His experience which he described as "kind of fun because I had other kids to play with" left him with a life-long ability to live simply and seek value in things that were cast off.

As an adult Roy began to develop a unique kind of paper round folding that grew into an impressive array of paper sculpture.  

To read his biography as written by Michio, please refer to my column on this web site.

I am deeply grateful to everyone who came to send Roy off with love.