My Friend Leo

Leo Graskowiak was my best friend during junior high and high school. We met in gym class, of all places. They were having us run the 50 yard dash in pairs, and Leo and I paired up. There we were, two slow skinny kids running together—my recollection is that we had the two slowest times in the class. From that first moment, we had an instant connection.

I have so many memories of Leo, but the thing that stands out to me in these memories is not any particular incident, but that in every memory I have of us together, we were laughing. That invariably when we would see each other, we would both be laughing within a minute. It was just infectious; whatever we would start off looking at or talking about, we would find something funny in it and would set each other off. Whenever we were together I was permeated with a feeling of joy that I still feel today when I think of him.

Thinking about Leo, I also realize just how much of my personality was formed by my relationship with him. He introduced me to Kliban and his cats, and James Thurber and his dogs. To Madeline L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle in Time” and Norton Juster’s “Phantom Toll Booth.” He introduced me to the music of Spike Jones—on original 78s no less—and from there the short and inevitable step to Doctor Dimento. All of these sources helped us create a mutual view of the world where you can find humor in any situation—usually from a somewhat skewed perspective.

There is so much more I want to say about Leo, but for now I will only mention the following. Leo was a brilliant artist and writer, and I was his biggest fan. To this day one of my most prized possessions is the back cover of one of my high school notebooks, on which Leo had doodled and written whatever inventive and slightly twisted thing that was on his mind at the moment. Crazy chickens doing crazy things. Poetry (with an accompanying illustration, of course): “It’s a dare, it’s a bet, it’s Captain Tuna-fishette!” (Our rule was that if it rhymed, it must be good.)

I know that my life has been better—and that I’m a better person—because I had Leo in my life. And, as far as I can tell, there are many other people who can say the same.