As Great as the Ride has been, Songwriter StClair Reminds Us Boomers, We’re in the Departure Lounge of Life
When NBA legend and avid golfer Charles Barkley once suggested “I’m on the ‘back nine’ of life,” I brought it up to my longtime friend Michael StClair (born McDougall). We joked that fellow boomer Barkley was right, that it’s been one amazing ride for the three of us: Barkley became an NBA champion; when we met back in high school, my pal Mike had wanted to become a professional musician, which he did and then he earned songwriting honors, and most recently, he was preparing to release a new EP called Shining; back in school, I had wanted to be a professional writer and do interviews with big name people like Tom Brady, Bruce Springsteen, and Paul McCartney, and the like, and also publish books — my fourth book, Harlem to Hollywood, about famous French Connection detective turned producer Sonny Grosso.
My dear pal Mike upped the ante on the “back nine” metaphor by aptly describing it as being in the “departure lounge” of life. Indeed, I had once randomly run into Henry “the Fonz” Winkler in an airline’s departure lounge, and we had joked about waiting and waiting for our flight to be called. Recalling that encounter, I added to Mike’s observation, saying, “In the departure lounge of life, hoping our flight will be delayed for more time.”
We cracked up.
But despite the dash of gallows humor, it was such a poignant way to look at our long-ish lives, so far. We boomers, born in the freedom of the post-War peace, between 1946 and 1964, have seen the advent of space travel, personal computers, electric cars, legalization of marijuana, AI created art and products, and event spaces like the Las Vegas Sphere, where the lines between reality and illusion have been intoxicatingly blurred.
“Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends…Come inside, the shows about to start/Guaranteed to blow your head apart/Rest assured you’ll get your money’s worth/The greatest show in Heaven, Hell or Earth/You’ve got to see the show, it’s a dynamo/You’ve got to see the show, its rock and roll, oh…” — ELP’s “Karn Evil 9”
Mike and I had gone to the same high school, Dunbarton, outside of Toronto. Both our families had emigrated from the UK to Canada. We met with music being a common bond. We and our gang of guy and gal pals (Claus, Gary/Karen, Cindy/Lori, Frenchie/Donnie et al) went to concerts and festivals together (Bowie, Pink Floyd, Prince, to name a few). We were a tribe. We all experienced our first drug highs, with Chicago’s memorable “25 or 6 to 4” — and its reference to LSD-25, and “6 to 4” being a street nickname of LSD — being an early anthem, along with “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and the like.
“Staring blindly into space/Getting up to splash my face/Wanting just to stay awake/Wondering how much I can take/Should I try to do some more/25 or 6 to 4…” — Hall of Fame rock band Chicago
Over the years, as we both moved to the Left Coast — he to Victoria and I to Los Angeles — we kept in touch, trading stories about our respective artistic careers, helping each other out, while laughing and living and aging.
Last summer, Mike and his partner Rachael visited LA to see his daughter Taija graduate with her PhD degree. They returned in late summer to walk his daughter down the aisle — joyous, fun times, not realizing that as mentioned in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, “something wicked this way comes.”
At Christmas 2023, I talked about getting my fourth book out and Mike talked up his newest EP release.
So, with 2024 underway, we both pushed to complete those artistic objectives. My Harlem to Hollywood came out in May on Amazon. And, Mike’s EP, Shining, was released in June across all major streaming platforms. I actually wrote a story on Mike’s record, titling it, “Award-Winning Songwriter/Musician Michael StClair Lays Out his Soul Print on ‘Shining’ EP.”
In the story, I made mention of Mike’s press package which suggested, “Shining is StClair’s personal signature, one that plays out the contour and content of his soul — his special soul print.”
Adding to that, I wrote:
“That is an awfully insightful and progressive way to describe some new music — a songwriter/musician’s own ‘soul print.’ Not comparing StClair to other musicians or songs or even styles. In many ways, megastar Swift, just like the Beatles or Michael Jackson, in their time, created their own signature style like StClair has done here. Personally, for this writer, I know what I like, and I like StClair’s soul imprint on Shining.”
That was in June, but Mike had already been diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, and after consultation, it was recommended he start taking a battery of tests to see if he was eligible for a lung transplant.
Hello! Then out of nowhere, his “flight out of here” had been called. Exit stage left from that aforementioned departure lounge.
But, we shouldn’t be surprised. With practice spanning many millennia, life sure knows how to throw curveballs. Just when you accomplish a hard-earned goal and celebrate, that sneaky pitch comes in under the radar. In this case, as he was anticipating the possibility of a double lung transplant, complications intervened, and our pal Mike sadly but quietly passed away in his hospital bed with his family present on July 27, the month after releasing his EP.
Tributes poured in from all over on social media:
“Today we are losing one of Canada’s greatest musicians and a truly awesome guy — Michael StClair, a world class guitarist and composer Those of us who knew him — or were lucky enough to make music with him — will feel this loss greatly. Michael and I collaborated on songs and arrangements and recordings when he was my bandmate during the Queen Street (Toronto) years (pre-Nylons). And, I was always so happy to reconnect whenever touring through Victoria where he settled with his wonderful love Rachael. Michael is surrounded by family today, and we, his musical family far and wide, are wishing him an angels’ flight! You are loved Michael StClair, and thank you for all that you gave us!” — Micah Barnes, chart-topping musical artist
And, his sister Lorna added:
“I never imagined this day would come so soon. I flew back to Victoria, BC this week and today, with family surrounding him, we said goodbye to my lovely older brother Michael. His name means ‘gift from God,’ and I celebrate all his gifts to us! His beautiful music will remain with us and his caring heart, in his two kids, Taija and Ryan, as well as his spouse Rachael will live on. Last year when I went to visit him and Rachael, I asked him to play for me (if interested, please check his music out on Spotify and Apple Music — Michael StClair). We all had such a beautiful time together. I love how he looks up at the end of the video. Goodbye beautiful boy! Farewell older brother!” — sister Lorna McDougall
And, his longtime partner Rachael Lovewell fondly remembers:
“After almost a quarter century of partnership — romantic, artistic and professional — it has been a life-transforming shock to realize that his beautiful mind and soul are no longer with us. Thankfully the legacy of his musical genius endures.”
A mutual pal “Ms. P” reminded me that in As You Like It, the Bard wrote: “All the world’s a stage/And all the men and women merely players/They have their exits and their entrances/And one man in his time plays many parts…”
With that Shakespeare quote in mind, Michael’s daughter Taija Mars McDougall added what her father always practiced: “This isn’t a rehearsal. You’re on stage. The lights are on. Everyone’s watching.”
Indeed, every single time.
The thing is about this “stage” where we “play” out this wonderfully inexplicable adventure called life, whether we be boomers, Gen X-Y-Z or Millennials — none of us gets out alive. So, live and do it with “every fiber” of your being, as my pal Det. Sonny Grosso would say.
True that, as this way may indeed come just once.
As for my friend Michael StClair, his family let me speak via phone to him in the hospital, and while he couldn’t respond, I left him this message before he gently soft-shoed off: “Michael, just wanted to thank you for your long-time friendship, for the laughs, for the insightful chats and your brilliant music. Thank you also for allowing me into your life and your family. Your family and I will see you again, somewhere over the rainbow, where we’ll continue the laughs and music. Hold a seat for me, brother, I’ll be along shortly. Love ya, man!”
To honor Michael StClair — check out his Shining EP on all major music platforms, including: Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon Music, iHeart Music, Pandora. And, Ashley Jude Collie’s newest book, Harlem to Hollywood, is available on Amazon, worldwide.
