Goodbye, Dave Freeman

A friend and former boss of mine, Dave Freeman, died. He's in the news because he wrote the book, "100 Places to See Before You Die," but I didn't even know he wrote that book. I just know he could crack anybody up and he always seemed kind of fearless.

I remember one day, I was feeling incredibly overwhelmed at work. Dave had recently become my supervisor and told me that he would be as hands-off as I wanted him to be, until I didn't want him to be. Well, I was cracking. He suggested we take a walk and we ended up in a city playground, blocks from the office. I sat on a bench and started babbling about how overwhelmed I felt. I cried. I mean, there may have been blubbering. Dave listened, told me I was doing a good job and probably cracked a few jokes.

Then Dave quietly went into action. He got me an assistant, had a heart-to-heart with my client and really, just stuck up for me. He heard me. He helped me.

Yeah, he was a really cool guy.