#I WANT TO MAKE USE OF THE DEATH NOTE MUSICAL KARAOKE TRACKS BUT I CAN'T SING A DUET BY MYSELF

[musical-chick-13]

[weekendwarriorblog]

R.I.P. Nathaniel Pinzon

The last couple years have been pretty tough for everyone, but this is another death that really hit me hard. Nathaniel Pinzon was a young guy, full of life and spirit and to use the old cliche, to know him was indeed to love him. I don't know all the details, but Nathaniel had a really bad stroke a few months back, and he seemed to be recovering and pushing through it when on Friday something went horribly wrong and before I even knew about this bad turn he took... he was gone.

But I'm starting at the end of Nathaniel's story, and I really should explain to you who he was (at least from my perspective, because he was very much an enigma to me, and as with anyone who passes suddenly, you wish you had spent a lot more time with them)...

But more importantly, I should explain to you who Nathaniel was to my long-time friend and colleague, Kim Voynar, as they were partners for many years. I first met him through her, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one who thought of Kim and Nathaniel as their favorite couple. I'm definitely misremembering, but I believe they had somewhere between 4 and 6 kids between them?

I remember getting a lot of moral support from Kim when I was going through my own health issues about eight years ago. Oddly, for a long time, I was never sure whether Kim even liked me from our brief encounters at Sundance. The more I got to know her, the more I realized that much of any coldness I felt was more to do with the industry we were both in, which sadly, creates factions... but that was all a long time ago.

I first met Nathaniel, probably at my first Oxford Film Festival in 2016, because he and Kim were handling the VR portion of the fest. We socialized quite a bit because anyone who goes to Oxford knows that it has almost nightly parties, and it's impossible not to make fast friends of filmmakers and fellow jurors when the drinks begin to flow.

But I got to spend a lot more time with Kim and Nathaniel the following year when I was invited back to Oxford and was on the jury for the VR portion, because I was basically hanging out with them for the good part of a day, and I really got to talk to Nathaniel and learn more about him then.

And I say that, not even sure I really knew him that well, because he was a mystery. I knew that he was a part of the Seattle music scene and had lots of friends within it, but more than anything, I was immediately captivated by his positive energy and free spirit... maybe he was a bit of a hippie, in some sense, but I wouldn't have been remotely surprised if he had fronted a punk band. I always got the impression that he was someone who always supported the underdog.

Anyway, I got to spend a lot more time with the both of them that year, but unfortunately, the sporadic nature of my attendance and them not doing the VR track the last couple times I was in Oxford, I didn't get to see them that much.

I was pretty happy to hear from Kim when she and Nathaniel came to New York to do something VR-related at Tribeca a few years back, though, and I got to have a nice dinner with them and friends of theirs, which will probably be remembered as the most quality time I was able to spend with Kim and Nathaniel.

That is, until the pandemic, when Kim graciously invited me to join their normal Seattle karaoke crowd for some late night Zoom fun... a bit too late at night for me over on the East Coast, but those were fun and sadly it would be the last time I would see or hang with Nathaniel. Hearing about his stroke was pretty shocking enough, and Kim was giving us almost daily updates on his condition. He seemed to be improving. I was sure that he'd get through this, and I'd be able to see them both again. Some Seattle bands had even planned a benefit* to help them with the financial burden of Nathaniel's treatment, and I assume that will still go on as much as a memorial/tribute for Nathaniel.

This all happened so sudden that I'm not sure if there will be any sort of public funeral for anyone outside his family and close friends, but I've already thought that I should make an effort to get to Seattle for it, pandemic be damned.

I wish I could put together a better string of words to describe what Nathaniel meant to me, and as devastated as I am, I know that it's going to be much harder for Kim to get through this emotionally, but I also know that she has a good support team of friends and family around her. I wish I lived close enough to give her a big hug, because it's really the only way to express how much love and sadness and grief I feel more for her than I do for myself.

Like I've said, this is a terrible loss. A guy who was too young, who left us too soon, who was hit with this horrible stroke that we all thought he could beat... but nope, can't always get what you want, I guess.

Be at peace, Nathaniel 7777777

*Note: There was a fundraiser set up for Kim/Nathaniel because the amount of time Nathaniel had spent in the hospital and in surgery and physical therapy is going to add up even after he's gone, and if you have some money you can spare to help Kim from being hit too financially on top of this deeply emotional loss, I'd appreciate it:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-nathaniel-kim-thru-stroke-recovery?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_campaign=m_pd+share-sheet