Forever Twelve - Chris Sparks Was Here

Chris Sparks was one of my best friends growing up in Yellow Springs Ohio, a Progressive small college town in rural Ohio which was the last stop on the underground railroad during slavery.

Chris was a terrific guy. He was a really good athlete and was untethered by much, a cool guy. He was a free spirit and very popular with the other kids. I used to see him outside of school playing with his big dog on the playground, so joyous to watch. He lived across the street from the school playground and became their playground after school.

I moved to New York when I was ten so the impression he made was quite impactful.

When I was 12, I received a letter from a friend Jimmy Neiswander from Yellow Springs. This letter contained a newspaper clipping with a picture of Chris Sparks holding a baseball. The heading said something like “ Halloween prank kills student”, something to that affect. The story is that Chris with some other trick or treaters were playing pranks and Chris tripped at the top of concrete stairs going to a basement. He fell and hit his head and that was it. He was twelve years old and all who knew him still honor him.

This is my painting of my young friend.

It's called “Chris Sparks was here, Forever 12”.