Monte Kinsler (1950-2005) *54

Monte Kinsler I knew Monte in grade school, probably starting in the 4th grade in 1959, and into junior high school (back then going from 7th to 9th grades). Durinng the time we were in elementary school (P.S. 9 on West 82nd St.), Monte was my best buddy. We'd hang out after school in his home, an SRO room where he lived with his mom, a very hardworking woman who would come home from a full day's work to prepare dinner and deal with domestic chores. During the time Monte and I had the place to ourselves, being boys, we'd talk, arm wrestle, and wrestle. I remember Monte as intense, private, and proud. Looking back now, I would guess these qualities grew out of his personality and the challenges of being a Black boy, single child, from a one-parent, working class home with limited economic means. But Mrs. Kinsler made sure that "limited means" did not define them. She was a strong, Black, working-class woman, and must have been firm in her convictions and actions—surely another source of Monte's fierce determination. There must have been family and perhaps the church in their lives. But I didn't know about this aspect in his life. I don't recall when, maybe during the JHS years, Mrs. Kinsler got Monte a set of drums and lessons from the great Art Taylor (as I seem to remember). Miles Davis' son went to our JHS, and he and Monte became good friends. They'd hang in the Miles Davis home, not far from school on West 77th Street. By then, my family had moved from our place a couple of blocks from Monte's and I began to hang with a new circle of friends. So in time, Monte and I drifted apart. Decades later, I thought about him and looked him up, only to learn of his passing in 2005 at 54 years of age. When I picture Monte in my mind, I see his face, that now brings to mind Sidney Poitier's smooth, clear, sensitive features, a slight built (though physically strong), and, above all, an inner power and resoluteness. Monte was my first close friend.

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