Brian was truly a sweetheart. I can't exactly remember, but I think Brian died when we were sophomores. He sadly committed suicide, and we were all devistated. I remember his wonderful friendship with Tom Kirby, and as Mark said, the fun and often crazy times with Brian. One time he invited a ton of us to come to party at his parents boat house in Wisconsin. It was a freezing, snowy night. We packed in a couple of cars and hit the road after many lies to various parents about faux sleepovers and such. When we arrived, it was just that. A non-heated, cement floored, freezing cold garage type building, filled with boats. No where to sit, pee, or do anything but wonder why the hell we did this. Tom Kirby drove one car, John Borre the other as we headed back. It was about 4 in the morning when we got to Hubbard Woods...and got pulled over. I squirmed to hide my bong in the back seat, which all of the friends agreed is what got us dragged into the Winnetka police department. Perhaps it was also the astonishing display of parafinalia (sp?) that was emptied from all of our pockets, and spread over the trunk of Tom's car. One by one, our furious parents came to get us (mine was the last called and the first there by what felt like hours...not good) and we were all in huge trouble...except Tom of course, who's parents were out of town and never found out. Brian was a wild one...but I remember him as kind and simply a real good guy.
Brian unfortunately tackled with addictions. He went through rehab. more than once. I believe he came back to NTE to finish his senior year and then unfortunately took his own life @ his familie's home....he was a sweet guy. I remember back before kindergarten "playing" @ his house & many a peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. Rest in peace, Brian.
Hey Patti - You are right on about how absolutely wild he was (in both good and bad ways), but it was just after we all graduated in '78 when he passed away. If you recall, my older brothers Ralph and Stu as well as I were friends with him, and I'll never forget Stu walking into my room to tell me. I cried for days :(
Brian and I were good friends in elementary school at South School. We used to go to his house and bake the best brownies. We were too young to add additional ingredients. Brian and I spent lots of hours at Glencoe Beach until his mother would make him come home. He had infectious laugh. When we played hide in seek in the neighborhood he would always start giggling and he was easy to find. That smile...
Brian Mackey died shortly after graduation from NTE in 1978. He either slit his wrists or had a drug overdose. I don't remember which. He was found at his parent's condo downtown. Sadly, this was not his first suicide attempt. It was a sad time. I drive by his old house on the corner of Washington and Greenwood and think of him sometimes. I remember talking to him at a party at Maggie Niebank's house shortly before graduation. That was the last time I saw him.
I stumbled across this page and had to stop in and say a few words about Brian.
I didnt go to Central, but Brian and I became best friends at NTE. He was such a sweet and fun guy, but he had that wild streak. I remember sitting on the bluffs at McCormick mansion where we always thought about scrambling down but nobody had the guts. One day Brian just jumped over and started scrambling down, slipped, and slid-fell all the way down to the beach and didnt move. It was a long way down, but he was OK.
We had many great times together. Up at Lake Beulah and the surrounding areas, all around the North Shore. We used to roam around in all the places at NTE where we werent supposed to-the bomb shelters and maintenance tunnels under the school, various passageways, catwalks in the auditorium. We called these exploratory adventures "Expeditions" and we were going to go on real world wilderness expeditions after high school.
He had all the best medical/psychiatric help money could buy, but he liked alcohol and he liked pills and nothing could stop him. When he put the two together he became suicidal. When I realized this I would take his pills away from him (he wasnt very strong, haha!!) if I knew he was going to drink. I tried to protect him from himself but you can only do so much. He attempted suicide several times, including on my 17th or 18th birthday after we had been out together. I remember seeing the pill bottle in his pocket that night while we were in the back seat riding to the Clearwater Bar in Chicago where we knew we could get served, and we wrestled for it while he laughed and laughed, but I won. I always won but I think he always had other secret stashes.
He almost succeeded in killing himself later that night, after he went home. I think that was his second serious attempt, not sure-there were three altogether, i think. After a point I wouldn't drink with him either because it was obvious by that time it was a real problem for him. He died in late July 1978, after drinking a lot (and probably taking pills too, but I dont know). I wasn't with him that night. His death crushed me. I didnt go home for 4 days, and it haunted me for years. He left suicide notes, to me and others. They were very short, affectionate, heartbreaking little scribbles, but he gave no explanations. They were so nice because he was thinking of us, but they made it all even harder. It was just so tragic.
I had got him to promise he wouldn't kill himself, and I hoped I didn't need to worry about it after that. We had our whole lives ahead of us and it was inconceivable to me to want to die at that point. I could never get him to say why he tried to kill himself-he would just give that giant, mischievous grin of his.
Its nice to see other people's recollections of him here. I will always remember that smile and that laugh of his.
Mark Metzger
Saddened as i remember back to the fun we had along with a fair bit of mischief :-)Jim Swenson
Wow. I remember Brian and some crazy times. What happened to him?Patti Katz (Black)
Brian was truly a sweetheart. I can't exactly remember, but I think Brian died when we were sophomores. He sadly committed suicide, and we were all devistated. I remember his wonderful friendship with Tom Kirby, and as Mark said, the fun and often crazy times with Brian. One time he invited a ton of us to come to party at his parents boat house in Wisconsin. It was a freezing, snowy night. We packed in a couple of cars and hit the road after many lies to various parents about faux sleepovers and such. When we arrived, it was just that. A non-heated, cement floored, freezing cold garage type building, filled with boats. No where to sit, pee, or do anything but wonder why the hell we did this. Tom Kirby drove one car, John Borre the other as we headed back. It was about 4 in the morning when we got to Hubbard Woods...and got pulled over. I squirmed to hide my bong in the back seat, which all of the friends agreed is what got us dragged into the Winnetka police department. Perhaps it was also the astonishing display of parafinalia (sp?) that was emptied from all of our pockets, and spread over the trunk of Tom's car. One by one, our furious parents came to get us (mine was the last called and the first there by what felt like hours...not good) and we were all in huge trouble...except Tom of course, who's parents were out of town and never found out.Brian was a wild one...but I remember him as kind and simply a real good guy.
Maggie Niebank (Ornduff)
Brian unfortunately tackled with addictions. He went through rehab. more than once. I believe he came back to NTE to finish his senior year and then unfortunately took his own life @ his familie's home....he was a sweet guy. I remember back before kindergarten "playing" @ his house & many a peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. Rest in peace, Brian.Edie Cutler (Hirtenstein)
Hey Patti - You are right on about how absolutely wild he was (in both good and bad ways), but it was just after we all graduated in '78 when he passed away. If you recall, my older brothers Ralph and Stu as well as I were friends with him, and I'll never forget Stu walking into my room to tell me. I cried for days :(Tom O'Rourke
at some time we all rember the day , he was a wild guy, with history for all the gtown boys, live learn, it was a very sad time , tom orourkeKaty Phillips (Blackhall)
Brian and I were good friends in elementary school at South School. We used to go to his house and bake the best brownies. We were too young to add additional ingredients. Brian and I spent lots of hours at Glencoe Beach until his mother would make him come home. He had infectious laugh. When we played hide in seek in the neighborhood he would always start giggling and he was easy to find. That smile...Markham Thomas
Brian Mackey died shortly after graduation from NTE in 1978. He either slit his wrists or had a drug overdose. I don't remember which. He was found at his parent's condo downtown. Sadly, this was not his first suicide attempt. It was a sad time. I drive by his old house on the corner of Washington and Greenwood and think of him sometimes. I remember talking to him at a party at Maggie Niebank's house shortly before graduation. That was the last time I saw him.Markham
Wayne Steffens
I stumbled across this page and had to stop in and say a few words about Brian.I didnt go to Central, but Brian and I became best friends at NTE. He was such a sweet and fun guy, but he had that wild streak. I remember sitting on the bluffs at McCormick mansion where we always thought about scrambling down but nobody had the guts. One
day Brian just jumped over and started scrambling down, slipped, and slid-fell all the way
down to the beach and didnt move. It was a long way down, but he was OK.
We had many great times together. Up at Lake Beulah and the surrounding
areas, all around the North Shore. We used to roam around in all the
places at NTE where we werent supposed to-the bomb shelters and
maintenance tunnels under the school, various passageways, catwalks in
the auditorium. We called these exploratory adventures "Expeditions" and
we were going to go on real world wilderness expeditions after high school.
He had all the best medical/psychiatric help money could buy, but he liked alcohol and he liked pills and nothing could stop him.
When he put the two together he became suicidal. When I realized this I
would take his pills away from him (he wasnt very strong, haha!!) if I
knew he was going to drink. I tried to protect him from himself
but you can only do so much. He attempted suicide several
times, including on my 17th or 18th birthday after we had been out together. I
remember seeing the pill bottle in his pocket that night while we were
in the back seat riding to the Clearwater Bar in Chicago where we knew
we could get served,
and we wrestled for it while he laughed and laughed, but I won. I always
won but I think he always had other secret stashes.
He almost succeeded in killing himself later that night, after he went
home. I think that was his second
serious attempt, not sure-there were three altogether, i think. After a
point I
wouldn't drink with him either because it was obvious by that time it
was a real problem for him. He died in late July 1978, after
drinking a lot (and probably taking pills too, but I dont know). I
wasn't with him that night. His death crushed
me. I didnt go home for 4 days, and it haunted me for years. He
left suicide notes, to me and others. They were very short, affectionate,
heartbreaking little scribbles, but he gave no explanations. They were
so nice because he was thinking of us, but they made it all even harder. It
was just so tragic.
I had got him to promise he wouldn't kill himself, and I hoped I didn't
need to worry about it after that. We had our whole lives ahead of us and it was inconceivable
to me to want to die at that point. I could never get him to say why he tried to kill himself-he would just give that giant, mischievous grin of his.
Its nice to see other people's recollections of him here. I will always remember that smile and that laugh of his.