Rudy Rauben
Was just thinking about Rudy (formerly Roger Raupp) again. We started up a regular correspondence in 2007-2010 following this 2 part written interview.
I helped him set up and release The Medicine Show, although it was something of a disappointment for us both because Mythos Media never really took off as we'd hoped, and on Medicine Show, we sold fewer copies than even the setup costs and initial run for Cons. It's a shame, because he was really a master-level practitioner. (You can see some of his inks from The Medicine Show included inline with the interview.)
Nevertheless, we kept up regular correspondence up until 2016, following a trip to the hospital where he came close to dying (he told me). He said he wanted to spend his final time just living, although we had been up to that point discussing his involvement in Tales From When I Had A Face.
He disappeared for several years, and then I started getting emails from people who were looking for him, and found me due to our mutual acquaintance -- and through them, I discovered he had died. I had mostly suspected, by that point, though I periodically still shot him an email, in hope that I’d get a reply one day.
He was there at ground zero for many of the subcultural movements that were fundamental to my own life, and more importantly, I valued our conversations a great deal. He helped show me just how little this society cares for its artists, but also, the importance of going your own way no matter the cost.
I'm sad we never got to work on Tales together, though in the years I've made it, he's often been in the back of my mind. His ashes were scattered, he had no obituary or large service. It's sad in a way, but I also know in another that it's what he wanted -- he had already learned how to walk away from a life a long time before.
