Posted by Melinda Mayer on July 20, 2009:

As I write this dad has been gone for over a month. The last photograph that will ever be taken of mom, dad, and me now sits framed beside my computer so that I may look at his dear face as I work. The photo is one of the few really good and true images of him because it captures his gentle nature. This most special aspect of his character became stronger and more apparent as he aged and will be what I remember and treasure most. Art Mayer was a kind, dear spirit with an enormous heart and a deep sense of conscience. He was also a very private person whose true self I only started to know well as he drove with me from Texas to Pennsylvania when I went to graduate school. We spent those many hours in the car commencing a conversation that would continue in letters, pilgrimages to Home Depot, walks with the dogs, and more. During these past three years I have lived in the same city with my parents for the first time in my adult life. Dad and I became especially close. I always admired his character, loyalty, and values, but during these three years together, I've come to know a quality of manhood in my father that is tender and dear and that I will greatly miss. Few knew that Art Mayer was a wonderful writer. Last week I discovered a set of 11 spiral bound notebooks that he wrote in as journals from the late 1980s through 2002. That private man never breathed a word of this writing to me, yet the last journal shows that he believed if anyone ever read his musing, it would be me. What a gift I now have! My journey of knowing my father continues in his own hand. I love you, dad! Melinda

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