Last night, September, 10th 2012 a brilliant light went out on earth, Mike Dormer passed away.
I’ve known Mike for 60 years, we shared
an apartment in Hollywood in the mid ‘50s and I couldn’t have asked for a
better roommate. He could put on a spaghetti dinner for a dozen people,
including wine, for 42 cents a person.
When Mike was drafted into the army, the
night before he was due to report to the bus station we decided he
needed a drink. We proceeded to stop by every bar in La Jolla. 2 A M
came and Mike wasn’t ready to call it a night so we hopped into my
little Berkeley and headed for Tijuana. After closing all the bars on
Avenida Revolución Mike still wasn’t ready call it quits so we asked a
taxi driver if there were any other bars still open. He directed us to a
bar on one of the back dirt streets where the taxi drivers went after
work. We ended up watching the sun rise over Tijuana while drinking beer
with raw egg in it for breakfast. We barely made it back to San Diego
in time for Mike to catch the army bus.
Mike was like a brother, he and his
lovely wife Flicka were family. No Fox family get together was complete
without them. No trip to San Diego was complete without getting together
with them.
Mike was one of the most versatile
and talented artists I have ever known. He did everything from the most
beautiful figure studies to the most abstract work you can imagine. He
often worked in media that no one had ever tried before such as his
aluminum foil and resin works. He was also great cartoonist and writer
with an incredibly fertile imagination. He was a poet, a musician, a
true renaissance man. Hopefully one day his true genius will be
recognized.
Most of all Mike was a wonderful
human being and friend. He was just fun to be around, a witty
conversationalist always upbeat and funny. He will be dearly missed by
all of us lucky enough to have known him. Our love, thoughts, prayers
and condolences go out Flicka and his family.
Rest in peace Michael.
Jim Fox
