David Shachnow

Saddened old neighbor

1984ish or so

David, my heart breaks for you and your loved ones. My mind is frozen in time as I remember you as a sweet happy-go-lucky elementary schooler nearly 25 years ago. I did not know you well (I was in high school at the time), but my impression of you was that you had a kind soul. They say that if you live long enough, you will experience tragedy. Your death is beyond a mere tragedy, it's incredibly unfair. I am so sorry :****(

Lifelong Friend

1980

I was profoundly saddened to hear of Davids passing. My heart goes out to Davids family.

Reading some of these posts, peoples names and seeing these pictures broke the levy in the deep recesses of my mind and opened up a floodgate of memories long past. David quite simply was one of my oldest friends. The list becomes very short when one thinks of people they have known their entire life. There are many stories I can recall that exemplify why David was such a kind, compassionate, funny and interesting friend to have.

Although not the earliest memory I have of David, The Dukes of Hazard battle cry mentioned previously was one instance that showed Davids dependability as a friend. The alert would be sounded from Caspers back yard and within minutes David would appear for our afternoon session of kick the can.

At the age of 12, I was over at Davids house and he introduced me to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Truth be told that at the time I didnt understand why David thought this movie was so funny. It dawned on me years later that David was ahead of his time and possessed an advanced intellect and comedic presence that comprised such a large part of his humanity. That experience helps me to this day to better understand the dry humor of the Brits here in London.

Trips to the 99-cent matinees at the Scarsdale theatre. Being the first responder when someone (wont mention any names) broke my nose with a baseball. A great partner for stickball, boxball and stoopball. The late nights in Peter Bookmans basement. Uniformly dreading football practices. Fighting over who would pick up trash for the Good Humor man (for the 50 cent credit one would get in return). Treks to the Scardsdale diner for those infamous plate of fries. Dealing with mean Mrs. Levine. Almost passing out from the smell Mr. Sloan's liverworst sandwiches. The list of good memories is endless.

These and many other positive memories have left an indelible mark on me and I will so very much miss him. His kindness and humor has left this impression on many of us and he will live on in our hearts and minds forever.

Speechless

1980's

I am speechless, I just found out about this.
David was my best friend in Fox Meadow.
We were inseparable; we did everything together.
I will contribute again once I can gather my thoughts.
My heart goes out to his family.

Lots of love,

David

Not fair

Earlier

I just found out about this today and it sucks. Dave was a good person and loved the hell out of Franklin. He used to come to my room (it was next to his), Franklin would run in ahead, and just talk about nothing. Franklin forever wanted to play ball, and Dave talk. I miss it now that I think about it. I lost touch with him about a year ago, but Im glad he finally got the peace and quiet upstate doing something he likes.

Karl

Dave's Memorial

12/14/2007

It was great seeing many of you at Dave's memorial last weekend. I just posted my pictures on KodakGallery and you can view/order them here:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=18jzhoyz.1s8j5go7&Uy=l3a7o3&Ux=0

MEMORIAL

12-10-2007

Memorial to be held Friday, December 14th at 7pm
19 Delvan St. 2N
Brooklyn, NY 11231

Option 1(10-15min):
take the F train to the Carrol stop.
exit front of train.
Make a right(west) onto 2nd place.
walk 3 blocks, make a left on Henry.
Right at 4th place or Coles rd.(4th place turns into Coles rd. at Henry)
Coles Rd. is a dead end, walk over the pedestrian bride at the end.
After bridge turn hard left.
Follow the side walk onto Luquer st.
left on Columbia, right on Delavan
second door on the left 19 Delavan 2m

Option 2:
Take the f,A or C to Jay St Borough Hall
Exit Jay st.
Take B61 bus toward Red Hook
Get out at Commerce and Van Brunt
Walk another block further make left at Delavan St.
middle of second block 19 Delavan St. 2M

Best Option:
Take the F to the Carrol stop or the F,A,C to Jay St.Borough Hall and
take a Taxi from there.
.
Print out this map and bring it:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=19+Delavan+St,+Brooklyn,+NY+11231,+USA&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title

French Fries

12-8-2007

Ever since I read of David’s passing last week, all of these memories of him have been flooding back to me. Please forgive me if I ramble. I will do my best to be brief.

As the new kid in the neighborhood David was the first friendly face I saw and made me feel welcome by opening up his group of friends to me, which included David Pressman, Casper Johansen, John Goodman and Noah Breslow.

During our elementary school days I remember us playing with my Voltron and GIJoes, fooling around with his home computer and playing football in my backyard.

When David and his family went away for a few days, I got to walk Patches, which was really cool. I know it sounds funny, but you have to understand that as a young boy in my household I was not allowed to have pets so any opportunity to play with Patches was always welcome.

In high school, David on several occasions invited me over to watch his band rehearse. At one of the rehearsal’s I played the Faith No More song, From Out of Nowhere, to see what they thought. His band weren’t too crazy about it but David liked it.

The funniest story I have of David was back in elementary school when we went to the Scarsdale Diner for fries. Throughout the meal I was a little concerned because David ended up ordering more than a plate of fries and I wasn’t sure if we would be able to cover the bill. David on the other hand was not nervous at all, in fact he was smiling the whole time and apparently found my growing panic quite amusing.

My worst fears were confirmed when the check came and we were both short by a couple of dollars. For a tense couple of minutes I was pondering our options of washing dishes or calling our parents while David just grinned. Then he put down another five bucks on the table and we both laughed.

I would just like to end by saying that the outpouring of love for David Shachnow is absolutely overwhelming. It just shows what an amazing and beautiful person he was.

David, when we meet again, the fries are on me.

Third Grade Class Picture, Fox Meadow Elementary School

1984

I remember meeting David in third grade in Miss Vopicelli's class, racing David in the fifty yard dash, building rockets with him in rocket club, all of the moments with him in Mr. Haupt's sixth grade class, Friday nights in Josh Cohen's basement, going to the movies in Scarsdale Village (the theater that was on Garth Road), playing with Patches, double dates with David Press and Michelle Cho, my first kiss. I will never forget his warm smile and great laugh...I will never forget him.

Dave Classics

1991

Dave's little acts of silliness always struck the recipient when least expected. Dave however, was always prepared. The randomness of Dave's humor was part of his charm. A few little incidences stand out in my mind as 'Dave Classics'. One such incidence occurred in our sophomore year. There was a popular commercial on TV where someone asks someone else for Grey Poupon mustard in a random place, and the person says "but of course", and hands over a jar. One day Noah and I were driving around Scarsdale, and we noticed Dave's car in front of us. We pulled up alongside him, and Noah jokingly said, "Pardon me sir, but do you have any Grey Poupon?"
"But of course" replied Dave, promptly pulling a little jar of the yellow mustard in question out of his glove compartment!

unbridled & unfiltered PASSION

10-30-2007

david shachnow = unfiltered, unbridled passion. Thank you for sharin with me/us the manifestation of our reality in this plane: joy, pain, caring, volatility, nuturing,loyalty, energy,helpful, guiding and LOVING. If you came into contact with Davije as i "coined" his energy you would get at least one or all of these emotions. i LOVED him as a brotha/fellow-sojourner on this journey/quest to find our purpose. Davije we LOVE you one of your more poignant quests was to find this "state" where you could always turn to in times of need or just to turn to. i hope you realized you had found it with me/us all and we still have it now. Again thank you for sharing this experience with me/us and on your transition to the next phase know that you have done this phase of the quest/journey with all the tools you had magnificently. I say to you go onto the next phase with strength, peace and LOVE knowing that we will all benefit from the interaction with you. LOVE and Blessings Always