A Passion for It

I have been a writer for as long as I can remember. I always knew that writing would be my vocation, that it would define my way of being in the world. Of course, I also love to read; that goes with the territory. Writing is my passion and I have pursued this activity fiercely. This week I realized that I passed my unwavering singular dedication to my chosen creative outlet on to my son Sudi, who has a similarly fierce passion for creating music. His first independently produced album entitled “You’re There” was released by Brooklyn-based music producer Astro Nautico last week and the following day Sudi was featured in the East Bay Express with a well-written (by Will Butler) article about him and his music.

In the article, Sudi shares that he is constantly writing music everywhere and anywhere. He always has his computer with him and he makes music whenever his busy schedule with a work-study job and as a fulltime CCA student allows, including while waiting for class to begin, while grabbing lunch, while riding the shuttle back and forth between the Oakland campus and the San Francisco campus, and in the evenings in his tiny attic garret that is presently his home.

When I speak to students during my author visits to schools, I tell them to figure out whatever it is that they feel passionate about and to pursue that. If you spend your life doing something you love, whatever that may be, I tell them, then you will be happy and you will have made good use of your life. Sudi and I were both lucky enough to find our passion early in our lives and we have both pursued that passion with tenacity. I have always seen so much of Ron in Sudi. His musical talent and his love for music (and hunger for knowledge about it) certainly come from Ron, but this week I saw that the nature of Sudi’s commitment to creating music is my imprint. We have a similar intensity about our creativity; a similar high level of perseverance. We have a passion for it. Me for my writing. Him for his music.

Click hereto check out Sudi’s new album. You can download it for free. Click here to readthe article about him in the paper. Click here to read a short piece in whichhe shares his thoughts on the development of the music on the album. My understated and laid back youngest, who communicates in three-word emails, is becoming startlingly profound. 

Here is the photo of him that was used in the East Bay Express, taken by photographer Jess Suttner.