In Memoriam

Vaea Alain Marx 1.7.1929–2.28.2020

Alexander Mills 8.28.1994–3.30.2020

Vaea Alain Marx passed away from lung cancer on February 28, 2020. He is survived by his wife, Brenda Luckin-Marx and son, Sébastien Marx (2003). Vaea was born to French parents in Tahiti. He and his parents left Tahiti only to arrive in France to the horrors of WWII. At the end of the war, Vaea traveled to many countries and settled in Japan, and became the student of Kawai Kanjiro, a profound ceramic artist. After being in the US for one day, he was drafted in the Korean War. Vaea chose to stay in the US after the war. He ended up at UC Berkeley’s Art Department as a ceramic assistant and developed his ceramic sculpture. Finally, his days as the French Co-President at EB were a great joy for him and his family.

Alexander Mills loved music, reading and writing—not necessarily in that order. He was able to combine his love of music and talent for writing as the West Coast contributor to Atypical Beast magazine out of New York. The ‘gig’ didn’t last more than a year, but it gave Alex a career path. Unfortunately, he passed away unexpectedly leaving his hopes and dreams unfinished. Alex will be remembered for his amazing sense of humor and as someone who kept trying, even when life wasn’t making things easy for him. There was a virtual memorial held for Alex earlier this year. Attended by thirty plus classmates and friends, we know that he was watching over everyone and he was laughing at the stories told that night. His marker in the cemetery has a quote from Johnny Cash: “Life and love go on—Let the music play.” He had it on his bedroom wall. It sums things up for those of us missing him. Alex loved Bowie and punk, but he also chilled on Cash. Let the music play.