In Memory of Amit Ettore

Amit Ettore was an incredible, genuine, endearing friend who left this world much too quickly. Unfortunately, we were only recently informed of his passing. He had the habit of being intentionally unreachable and out of contact, and it was not unusual to not hear from him for lengthy periods of time.

Amit was what some might call an “intellectual tramp”. He traveled the country, mostly by rail, and later the Pacific, as an, albeit reluctant, member of the US merchant marine. A little more than a year ago he left the West Coast to embark on a new adventure, to work short term as a crew member, an Ordinary Seaman, on one of the container ships so common to West Coast ports. It was his typical practice to try and find short stints of work – to offset a minor criminal lifestyle – in order to fund much longer periods of relaxation and leisure.

Amit was also an amateur writer and journalist, which he might have jokingly regarded as an affirmative way of saying “unemployed”. His “articles” and letters mostly assume the same tone, and at times are hardly distinguishable. Everything he wrote he would eventually send to pen pals. He also took photographs from time to time, but preferred that the complex experience of life imprint its own memory, rather than be diluted by its representation, and because of this he would never refer to himself as an “artist”.

Although he was not from California, Amit had many ties in the Oakland/Bay Area anarchist/anti-authoritarian scenes. Many elsewhere in the U.S. and Canada, living in towns serviced by freight train traffic, may also remember him from his travels. His particular way of thinking, his attentiveness to the details of friends' lives, his amazing warmth, will all be greatly missed. The way he regarded us, as his closest friends and accomplices, will continue to be an inspiration to how we perceive and attempt the experiment of friendship.

Amit, we are yours in struggle.

Amit Ettore
June 1984 - January 2011
"Life is only impossible to those who fear its loss."