My friend Frank Tavares died on December 30, 2019. As I write this I still can’t believe it.

Frank was one of my communication professors at Southern Connecticut State University.

During a fundamentals of professional presentations course that he taught, I decided to do a presentation about The Discovery Museum, where I worked as a planetarium lecturer and as a mission commander In our Challenger Learning Center.

No doubt inspired by that presentation, Frank wrote a story about me for my bachelor dinner in 1997. He couldn’t be there in person, so my brother Jason read it, to the enjoyment of my friends and family in attendance.

My wife Linda asked Frank to record it for her in his, “NPR voice.” In 2009 the recording arrived in the mail.

Frank has been off the air at NPR for a number of years, but I expect that many of you will recognize his voice.

I can think of no better way to illustrate what our friendship meant to me than to share this with you. Scroll to the bottom of this post to listen to it.

Godspeed, Frank.