Before hearing last weekend that Joey Lutz had drowned in Panama, I had not seen or talked to him in over 8 years.
However, there are some people who are so electric, that specific things that they do and say stay with you for years, regardless of the level of continuing contact.
I became friends with Joey while we were students at Culver City Middle School back in the early 1990s.
Both of us were interested in music. We got to know each other while playing in Mr. Nazzaretta’s band classes and in the pit orchestras for the high school musicals.
Happiness Was the Goal
When you were having a bad day, Joey’s constant sense of humor, his empathetic manner, his selfless interest in seeing everyone happy was a real comfort to those of us struggling through adolescence.
We always sat next to each other in the pit at Robert Frost Auditorium during musicals (I played the clarinet and he played the saxophone).
Joey would make all of us laugh and get us in trouble with the teacher.
I always thought that as good of a musician as he was, he really belonged on stage. He must have been thinking the same thing since he ended up on stage and became an active member of the High School’s Academy of Visual and Performing Arts.
I distinctly remember him playing the lead in “Little Shop of Horrors” and doing slapstick with the talking plant!
Students Will be Grateful
I only found out about Joey's decision to take on an even harder role, that of high school teacher, when reading his obituary in the L.A. Times on Monday morning.
Although I haven’t seen him in some time, I am sure that he was among the more popular teachers at Santa Monica High School.
Although I’m sure that students appreciated his humor, his youth, his creativity and his passion for the arts, there is no question in my mind that as they look back at their time with Mr. Lutz 8 or 10 years from now, they will most appreciate his caring spirit, his empathy, the way that he makes their difficult lives a little bit easier.
I wish his family and friends the best luck as they deal with this loss and hope that all of us can work a little harder to support each other in Joey’s 25-year-old image.
