Dear Phil. How can you be gone dear friend? You always kept us together. Please keep me a special place near you and I will run through your gap created. You know what I mean! We can never look back truly until we are at the end. So sorry I am not going to meet again at our 55th, wear our letterman jackets together or laugh talking about everything you knew about BH and the characters you created. Your memory carries on in all of our hearts. Rest in pure Peace.
Such a profound loss. Phil was a wonderful and talented genius. I am having difficulty dealing with this. We grew up together and shared our love of television. The only thing I could draw were block letters so we collaborated and created the Savenick, Wald, Walter (Lance!), Futz, -Sadie - (Fictional student character!) Corporation and drew up all the hall posters for Beverly Hills High School upcoming events that we painted at Lance's house. My favorite was our pitch for the Seniors' trip to Disneyland which said, "Spend the Night with Snow White". We got in trouble for it! No sense of humor at the principal's office.
My home office is adorned with two Phil Savenick originals.
Note the caption on this one:
We were friends all these years and I will treasure the memories forever.
I got to know Phil a little bit late in life, through reuion related activities. And I'm very grateful that I did. He generously volunteered to bring his giant copy of our senior class picture to a Hawthorne reunion we had. That picture was awesome, and wouldn't fit in a normal vehicle. Looking at the piece of art by Phil that Jeff Wald posted (thanks Jeff and lucky you!) you get a sense of what Phil was about. TV: it was his life and his love. As I first started watching TV in the early 50's, when you turned off our black & white set, the picture would collapse into geometric shapes that ended with a little round dot in the middle of the screen. That dot would persist for a few seconds and then vanish. My four year old self thought that the entire world created by TV had disappeared into wherever that dot had gone. Maybe Phil is there now, waiting for us.
Some people seem to wrap their arms around entire communities. Phil was ours. His ever present smile and laugh were infectious. Hard to believe he isnt walking with us anymore, or that i wont run into him again.
Everyone has expressed it so well. Phil was our history caretaker. He was so exceptional in preserving so much of who we were at Beverly High along with the city itself.
Does anyone know if there will be a Memorial Service for him?
Having read all the comments, I'll say I've gotten to know Phil better than the little time we conversed at school and the reunions. He always seemed to convey a sense of exuberance and positive energy. I thought I'd catch a glimpse of mischief in his eye, as if he knew an inside joke but couldn't share it with everyone. There's an inscrutable part to us all that can't even be discerned by the closest observation, at best one can assemble memories to tell the tale. We're all a work in progress until the last chapter. Thanks to the many who could share his story and perhaps understand what he truly was about—condolences to his family and friends.
Although I only went to Beverly as a senior, I've gotten To know Phil much better through the collective Posts from folks who knew Phil for decades.
At some point in our lives, we all awaken with the realization that we must absolutely become the best version of ourselves. Phil woke up much sooner than most of us, and we should all be incredibly appreciative to have been in the the presence of a human being who continually pushed toward his own version and iteration of a "better self".
Phil will rest in peace, having made the world a better place for those who surrounded him.... And those who never met him, but benefited through his work.
First, a thanks to our classmates; there are many more sincere and classy comments regarding Phil's passing on this site than I have seen elsewhere. I expect to see many of you at the 55th reunion, and we can trade specific memories, but a few general memories and thoughts here may be appropriate.
First, to steal a line from Life of Brian - "He's not the messiah; he's a very naughty boy!" That attribute, usually expressed though laughter and comic stories allowed him unique relationships with both women and men. His naughtiness also permitted him to drive his mom crazy, which they both enjoyed, while they both denied it.
In second grade I thought he was a nice, chubby boy who was not so smart. My goodness, was I wrong!!! It was easy to be seduced by his talents in television and fine arts but I think that was the tip of a much larger iceberg. There were several times when I did not see him for periods of five years, but on reconnecting decade after decade, ... impossible for me to put into words. I particularly appreciated his ability to let me know in no uncertain terms how wrong I was on various life decisions. Strangers will tell you how great you are; it takes a lifetime friend with a frame of reference to straighten you out. I am really glad my kids knew him a bit, He was generous in conventional and unconventional ways without any ulterior motives.
Most of his friends are familiar with his televisionary art, among many other types of his painting. When I turned 70 I asked him to paint me something small, and a few days before my 71st birthday, ... (I think Phil would have wanted me to share)
I, too, was a friend of Phil...and classmate (from such an exceptional class!). Words and sentiments had failed me; however, after reading Michael Doland's comments I feel he has expressed most eloquently sentiments lingering within. RIP PS
Lindsay Wellman
Dear Phil. How can you be gone dear friend? You always kept us together. Please keep me a special place near you and I will run through your gap created. You know what I mean! We can never look back truly until we are at the end. So sorry I am not going to meet again at our 55th, wear our letterman jackets together or laugh talking about everything you knew about BH and the characters you created. Your memory carries on in all of our hearts. Rest in pure Peace.
Jeffrey Wald
Such a profound loss. Phil was a wonderful and talented genius. I am having difficulty dealing with this. We grew up together and shared our love of television. The only thing I could draw were block letters so we collaborated and created the Savenick, Wald, Walter (Lance!), Futz, -Sadie - (Fictional student character!) Corporation and drew up all the hall posters for Beverly Hills High School upcoming events that we painted at Lance's house. My favorite was our pitch for the Seniors' trip to Disneyland which said, "Spend the Night with Snow White". We got in trouble for it! No sense of humor at the principal's office.
My home office is adorned with two Phil Savenick originals.
Note the caption on this one:
We were friends all these years and I will treasure the memories forever.
John Mayer
I got to know Phil a little bit late in life, through reuion related activities. And I'm very grateful that I did. He generously volunteered to bring his giant copy of our senior class picture to a Hawthorne reunion we had. That picture was awesome, and wouldn't fit in a normal vehicle. Looking at the piece of art by Phil that Jeff Wald posted (thanks Jeff and lucky you!) you get a sense of what Phil was about. TV: it was his life and his love. As I first started watching TV in the early 50's, when you turned off our black & white set, the picture would collapse into geometric shapes that ended with a little round dot in the middle of the screen. That dot would persist for a few seconds and then vanish. My four year old self thought that the entire world created by TV had disappeared into wherever that dot had gone. Maybe Phil is there now, waiting for us.
Marvin Wolf
Some people seem to wrap their arms around entire communities. Phil was ours. His ever present smile and laugh were infectious. Hard to believe he isnt walking with us anymore, or that i wont run into him again.
Gary Raymond
Everyone has expressed it so well. Phil was our history caretaker. He was so exceptional in preserving so much of who we were at Beverly High along with the city itself.
Does anyone know if there will be a Memorial Service for him?
Dan Burstein
I hope the library has a copy of Phil's pioneering "Your Book." If not, I will happily donate mine. I will miss Phil and his many talents.
--Dan Burstein
Brian Grad
Having read all the comments, I'll say I've gotten to know Phil better than the little time we conversed at school and the reunions. He always seemed to convey a sense of exuberance and positive energy. I thought I'd catch a glimpse of mischief in his eye, as if he knew an inside joke but couldn't share it with everyone. There's an inscrutable part to us all that can't even be discerned by the closest observation, at best one can assemble memories to tell the tale. We're all a work in progress until the last chapter. Thanks to the many who could share his story and perhaps understand what he truly was about—condolences to his family and friends.
Henry Siegel (Siegel)
Although I only went to Beverly as a senior, I've gotten To know Phil much better through the collective Posts from folks who knew Phil for decades.
At some point in our lives, we all awaken with the realization that we must absolutely become the best version of ourselves. Phil woke up much sooner than most of us, and we should all be incredibly appreciative to have been in the the presence of a human being who continually pushed toward his own version and iteration of a "better self".
Phil will rest in peace, having made the world a better place for those who surrounded him.... And those who never met him, but benefited through his work.
Michael Doland
First, a thanks to our classmates; there are many more sincere and classy comments regarding Phil's passing on this site than I have seen elsewhere. I expect to see many of you at the 55th reunion, and we can trade specific memories, but a few general memories and thoughts here may be appropriate.
First, to steal a line from Life of Brian - "He's not the messiah; he's a very naughty boy!" That attribute, usually expressed though laughter and comic stories allowed him unique relationships with both women and men. His naughtiness also permitted him to drive his mom crazy, which they both enjoyed, while they both denied it.
In second grade I thought he was a nice, chubby boy who was not so smart. My goodness, was I wrong!!! It was easy to be seduced by his talents in television and fine arts but I think that was the tip of a much larger iceberg. There were several times when I did not see him for periods of five years, but on reconnecting decade after decade, ... impossible for me to put into words. I particularly appreciated his ability to let me know in no uncertain terms how wrong I was on various life decisions. Strangers will tell you how great you are; it takes a lifetime friend with a frame of reference to straighten you out. I am really glad my kids knew him a bit, He was generous in conventional and unconventional ways without any ulterior motives.
Most of his friends are familiar with his televisionary art, among many other types of his painting. When I turned 70 I asked him to paint me something small, and a few days before my 71st birthday, ... (I think Phil would have wanted me to share)
Douglas Erenberg
I, too, was a friend of Phil...and classmate (from such an exceptional class!). Words and sentiments had failed me; however, after reading Michael Doland's comments I feel he has expressed most eloquently sentiments lingering within. RIP PS