Unvarnished Hero

One of the heroes of my life has left this life. Nick Stump died this morning, and the news has devastated our community.

Whether you admired Nick as an 80s blues rockstar/fabulous guitar player or a fan of his songs or whether you loved his writing, Nick was an artist and he was an artist's artist.

When I wrote an article a few years ago about a local lady who is a famous painter, she wanted to bring Nick to the interview. Of course, I agreed, but then she kept directing me to interview Nick, and not her. I finally had to tell her that it wasn't an article about Nick, it was about her new art project. ================ 《Sorry I used screenshots versus a cropped photo...kjt》 ================ However, she would not let me delve into her background very much at all, she insisted on speaking about Nick. We were at the Common Grounds Coffee shop, and I'll never forget the sheepishly shy-ish smile on Nick's face every time she tried to talk about him.

Nick had an Ale-8, I recall and gave me some really good interview material, but it's fascinating how his celebrity status would carry him into a conversation, and he wore it all so well. He seemed unaffected by fame and was a surprisingly gentle man, a thorough Democrat, and a patriotic hero.

I say patriotic, because he served our country in Vietnam, and the fellows who served in Vietnam were never celebrated the way they should have been. I hope when he is celebrated or the celebration of his life occurs, that he is given full military honors. Unless Nick didn't want that, and then of course, whatever he wanted, it should happen.

However, I'm not going to talk about any of that stuff. I'm going to tell you about my experience with Nick. I met him at the Chevy Chase Inn, He was playing guitar alongside Roger BonDurant one night, and I loved his music. I grew to know him because he only lived a block away from me. In our neighborhood, there are a number of hungry people. In my STAVE project, I have registered dozens of people for Pantry food, but Nick reached many more. He organized a once-a-week dinner in his backyard. It was free for the entire neighborhood, and I took advantage of their Fried Chicken a few times. Nick was happy to be the jolly host, and always attended to every single person that would come to his dinners. There would be a hundred people in his backyard! I will really miss those dinners, but most of all I will miss my friend, Nick. He was a real source of light, in a world of darkness. Sleep well, my friend. Love, Kimmy