Daniel Rilleau 1954-1995
As long as I am on a "dead friends" kick. Dan was a beautiful and kind man who was a great friend. But we lost touch around 1985 when he was still living in Ptown. About ten years later I called his mother looking for him, and she, sounding as heart broken as could be imagined, informed me he had died in Northern California where he had been living with his wife.
Ten years later, one can not expect much of any coverage on the internet for a dead man, and Dan hardly shows up. I thought I'd put a fresh mention here, so any sentimental old friends who might Google him, will find a still warm reminder.
Labels: Daniel Rilleau, obit, personal
posted by Peter (the other) @ 7:38 AM
19 comments
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19 Comments:
Great idea! Several of my high school and college mates are already gone - most without a trace. Others may be, just dont know since Google etc find nothing. Believe I'll start your eulogy method to pop them into the search engines. And if somebody's looking for them, they'll also find me.
This is a good thing to do.
I moved so far away from everyone I knew when when I was younger that I only have two friends who remember me from my yoof. For the rest of the people I knew and who knew me, it's best to let the passage of time continue its work ;-)
daniel and I were roommates in the winter of 1980, i was 21 and he was a great friend and very much an older brother figure.we were both aspiring young chefs and worked extaordinarily well together.He taught me so much about food and the importance of laughter and song in the workplace or for that matter anywhere.I attended his memorial service back in 1995,it is still powerfully touching to think about that day.This year my wife and I had our first baby,a boy we named Daniel after my good friend and mentor.I'm still in the kitchen, a veteran chef and when a Ray Charles song come on the radio its all too easy to hear daniel harmonizing in the background. thank you so much..
Chef Mitch, thank you. My heart sings. May your boy be as graceful and handsome, as good a friend and blessed with friends as his namesake.
Danny had an old beat up soprano saxophone he kept as an art object, along with a mantle clock. I can picture them in his room when we, too, were roommates for a short spell, circa 1972. He was not a chef yet, enjoying life and looking for a passion. I never knew him as a chef, except for the day or two in the summer of 1984-5(?), I hadn’t seen him since 1973. But I remember him being specific about his food.
I can remember getting subs from the Boston House of Pizza on Comm. Ave. (by BU) in 1970. We would take them to his room in his mother’s apartment overlooking a small park, and listening to Quicksilver Messenger Service, Creedence Clearwater and Hound Dog Taylor, some of his favorites at that time.
Nice to hear the comments about Daniel. And this is a great idea..
Daniel was my uncle. My Mom found this when she googled his name. The anniversary of his death was a couple days ago. His son Jessie is ... 17 now, just moved out on his own. He's about twice the height Daniel ever was!............ Well, I guess Daniel can still smile down on him. We stay close with Sara, Daniel's wife....she takes care of my 3yr old girl once a week....
... I just had a thought ... anybody have any pictures of Daniel to link to? ..... We just got some bad flooding out here in CA, and I know Sara lost some old pictures in the process... anything posted here might bring a warm smile, and would be timely! ... meanwhile, I'll see if i can come up with anything...
One of Daniel's last gifts to me was showing me how to carve the Thanksgiving turkey. It's become my annual task. He was awesome in a kitchen. He catered the food for my wedding. My 'bride to be' was so nervous she could barely stand it... she kept asking him what he would serve... he kept telling her, "I've got it covered, don't worry about it" .... she wouldn't let up. . . He finally had to fax the menu in order to calm her nerves... ... .. .. she was astonished. The display and the quality and the buffet was unbelievable... everybody commented on it. It was SO "over the top" that she was embarrassed that she ever even worried about it. .. .. He was so cool about it...
I have never laughed so hard,as a kid, when Daniel and his brother Kim would get together.... in Ptown, or in CA ... they were absolutely hysterical.
..... I could go on ..
Thanks for the blog!
-Seth
Seth, It is soul satisfying to hear from you. Just this week, a mutual high school friend was out visiting from Toronto with his 20 year old daughter and 17 year old son. We were reminiscing how we visited with Dan in Ptown in 84 or 85, the last time we saw him. Conrad noticed I was wearing Jacks still (Purcells), a habit I got from Dan.
In all my time knowing Dan, he was always searching for what his metier (sp?) might be. I think he had just started cooking (with Pepe, his friend) a year or two before the mid eighties visit. No, I must be wrong as Chef Mitch says he was cooking by 1980 (I didn't see him between 1973-85). I would have loved to see him in his pride. He was always careful and competent at what he did, while smiling and making it look easy.
I still have my Roger Rilleau belt, although (blush) it doesn't fit me anymore.
Some photos would be nice. In february I will go dig in the "attic". I know I have one black and white of Dan sitting in the hall at school, but he is making a face by sticking his hand in his mouth. Not the best photo, although funny if you knew him. I think I might have another, standing around behind the school somewhere. I will dig it up then, so check back! My life is insanely busy (good) at the moment.
Please give my regards to his widow, whom I have never met, and a great dallop of warmth to Jessie, who is probably luckier then most 17 years old realize (when I was 17, the thought that my dad might be cool, impossible!) ;-)
Dear Seth,
I couldn't find a direct email link on your blog, so I'll post this here and on your family newsletter blog.
I'm Chef Mitch's wife, and I know he would love to get in touch with Daniel's family. His email is downtownchefmitch@yahoo.com, if you'd just put Daniel's name in the subject line I know he'd love to hear from you.
Thanks a million,
Kristina Rosenbaum
Mitch Rosenbaum
Daniel Christopher Rosenbaum, 04/25/05
Hey Kristina, just didn't want you to hang here, so lonely. My regards to Mitch and young Daniel (although in high school, he was always Dan or Danny). I hope Seth comes by again, soon.
Peter, Seth, anyone else who wants to get in touch with us regarding Daniel Rilleau....
Please send any emails to my address, kid_krishna@hotmail.com, and put Dan's name in the subject line.
BTW, thanks for the FSM link on the sidebar. Our Daniel has been touched by His Noodly Appendage.
Thanks again, hope to hear from someone soon. And THANK YOU for the pictures of Dan. Would you like me to send you a picture of our Daniel, Dan's namesake?
Kristina
Hello all,
My name is Jeff, and I'm wondering who Peter (the other) is. Were you the photographer of record for the photo's of Dan Rilleau? I have a couple of the same era, from Brookline High School. I'll attempt to post them in a few months when my workload quiets down a bit.
I remember all too well, buying pizza and subs at The Boston House of Pizza, with Dan, and he turned me on to Quicksilver Messenger Service in no small way. Along with Otis Spann and other Chicago blues artists, early Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green doing beautiful guitar work. My appreciation of all music, and of all life was greatly enhanced by having been associated with and by having been befreinded by Dan Rilleau.
As I recall, Dan's first cooking job was on Block Island during the summer of 1972. His then girlfriend, Vicki Merrick, had gotten us all jobs on the Island when we all ( Dan, myself, Doug Brown, Bruce Rosen, and Vicki's friend ummmmm, last name Marcoux? Also of Brookline ) went down to her stepmothers' families home on the island, during April school break.
We all spent a memorable summer listening to Duke Robillard lead the band Roomful of Blues, at the Block Island Inn, across the street practically from The yellow Kittens, where Dan began his cooking career, and Bruce washed dishes during that summer.We'd play pool and listen to Duke play riffs from Charlie Parker, Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, Duane Allman, Loony Tunes cartoons, etc, etc. Duke was(is) one of the greatest and soulful guitarists we'd ever heard.
I was sent to this site by Dan's brother Kim, and I am so pleased to see that Mitch and his wife have named their son after Dan. Dan's own son, was named after Jessie Ed Davis famous for his wonderful guitar work for Taj Mahal, as told to me by Sara, who had been a good friend with Jessie Ed Davis for many years.
I was given perhaps one of the greatest gifts by Dan Rilleau. That being: he taught me that having an opinion, and a point of view were critical, and "OK".
Among other things, Dan opened my ears to music in ways that cannot be quatified. He opened my mind to concepts not easily demonstrated. He made me understand the value of laughter in ways that caused many, many a sore cheek, or a splitting gut.
Dan told me that Roger Rilleau, his dad, had impressed upon him as a young boy, that there was nothing more important to honor, than friendship.
I'll write more as I'm able to, but for now, living on Martha's Vineyard, I am closing in that time of year known as "summer Season" and so it may be some time before I write more, and I'll try to locate those pics of Dan from Brookline High days.
Thank you Peter for this blog.
Holy Jeff! We must know each other. Vicki, The Yellow Kittens, I had forgotten all about it.
Thalia (nee Suzy) Marcoux (or Sandy?).
I think Doug Brown took these shots of Dan.
Jesse Ed Davis!!! We went to the new Tea Party (after its move from Berkeley St. to just behing Fenway, to see Taj Mahal, I think at least a couple of nights. The Natch'l Blues (I am in Paris at the moment, so I do not have my records to check back).
My regards to the Vineyard
Every time I hear a great new artist ( like Amos Lee ) I think about Daniel, and how he would like their music. Miss that man.
Noelle Rilleau
Little sister again.....I emailed Kim a nice photo of Daniel and Jesse with a Christmas Tree in the background. They looked so very happy...I miss the way he could make fun of me but make me laugh at myself at the same time. Like:
" Hey Noelle. Did you get dressed in the dark....? " Or.....
Hey, that dress looks like a feed sack.......
Hey Noelle, if you might e-mail a scan to me, I'll post it here (if it is okay with Jesse).
Peter
musbib (at) gmail (dot) c o m
Thank you, Peter. I'm going to
add a music link, keep the good
music playing.....Noelle.
http://tiftmerritt.com/?page_id=15
http://tiftmerritt.com/
Try that one (sorry).
I'm finally coming back here after I don't know how long. My name is Sara, i was married to Daniel for 8 years. The first few times I looked at this page, I wasn't ready to participate. It's been a little over 14 years. When Daniel died, Jan. 3, 1995, our son, Jesse, was 7. He;s now 21, 6'2", and living in San Francisco w/ a friends. I'll post some photos. Thanks for making this page happen, Peter. I still miss Daniel everyday. I'll try to check back in and fill in some gaps.
Enjoy the photos ( if I can get them uploaded).
I give up. How do i upload pictures? Can anybody help me out?
sarajames1247@yahoo.com
It's Noelle, Daniel's sister. I came across a remarkable organisation called playingforchange.com
The guy basically goes all over the world taping unsigned, unheard of musicians, and then mixes them professionally, then electronically "publishes" the results.
It's going to be interesting to see what grows out of this musical project.
:) Noelle
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