Remembering George A. Romero by Taso Stavrakis
I was a kid. What did I know? I liked Errol Flynn and John Wayne. I wanted to be like them. I was a star onstage at Churchill High School, and I was becoming a star at Carnegie-Mellon University. That’s where I met Tom [Savini]. He liked the same things I did, and he had the same ambitions, but he already knew how to go after them.
He went to meet George. Tom was a fan; George could see that he was going places. They began to work together. Tom took me along for the fun of it.
Wow.
Taso, squibbed and ready on the set of Dawn of the Dead.
I saw the real thing: Local guys, Pittsburgh guys, making their own movies. Making history and having fun. Only George ever felt any pressure from above, and he never passed it on to any of us… only support and kindness.
Two hundred people have careers because of him. The last time we met, we hadn’t seen each other for ten years. George made it seem like yesterday.
It’s the end of an era. He’s already a legend. And he’s already missed. But he’s not gone. He’ll live forever with that big smile.
Very un-zombie-like.
– Taso Stavrakis
Categorized:News
