Ginger's Recollections


I had known Michael since 1991. We had become quite close friends through the many times he met with J Bartell and also because of the different jobs for which J and I would hire him, such as creating a military quiz for one of our websites and becoming one of our "pros" on guns and safety. Upon hearing of Michael’s death, we called Joyce to give her our condolences and to see if there was anything we could do to help. J had known Michael for over 20 years. I thought it might also be a good idea to talk to Joyce once again about possibly doing a story about Michael’s life. As we walked up to the door of Michael’s house, Joyce and her daughter greeted us on the steps. Joyce inroduced us to her daughter by saying: “This is J and Ginger, the two who put food on our table many times.”

When we entered the house we could see there were a lot of things missing and the house had been in total disarray. As J and I walked out into the backyard where Michael had stored a lot of his equipment plus some of J’s we also noted things missing. J and I thought we should wait until after Michael’s memorial before asking any further about helping Joyce or where J’s property might be. It was a very sad day for us but J took it especially hard since Michael was the last remaining partner of his to die. Chauncey Holt was the first. These three had a friendship that was forged in combat but you will see more about that in another article regarding the 231-Club.

After a short while, Brian Simmons showed up and said that Joyce was having him take charge because he spent a couple hundred dollars to have Joyce’s daughter fly out. J mentioned later that he was shocked by this because Brian had not known Michael for very long. We all went out for breakfast nearby and as we sat at the table, we asked Brian about the circumstances in which Michael had died. Brian said that earlier on the day that Michael died they were out shooting and afterwards had stopped at a restaurant to eat. The description from Brian was shocking. He said Michael started feeling ill and sat at the table for a long time like that, sick to his stomach and having trouble breathing. Michael then went to the bathroom and stayed there for about 20 minutes. He said Michael finally reappeared at the table and that Brian suggested calling an ambulance but that Michael didn’t want red lights or sirens. So, on the way to the hospital, with no emergency measures taken, Michael died.

I gazed over at J who was sitting there stunned. I could tell that he was holding back a lot of anger when he said quietly: 'When Michael was at the table and showing obvious signs of a heart attack, why didn’t you immediately send for an ambulance?’ Brian’s response was that he was afraid to tell Michael what to do.

In a letter I saw posted on “Gun Zone” Brian made this statement: “"I feel honored to have been the one the that God chose to have at his side, and the one to be there for Joyce when she needed it the most.” One has to wonder if someone other than Brian were with Michael at that time, if there couldn’t possibly have been a quite different outcome. Hell, not even I would have been stopped by his protestations about not wanting red lights and sirens. I know very well Michael’s sense of pride and independence but I also know that Michael was a reasonable man and if he were with someone he respected, he would have taken their advice to call an ambulance immediately, knowing that he was in an emergency situation.

Later, when we were discussing Michael’s death with Karyn Harcourt, the daughter of Chauncey Holt, a friend and partner of Michael’s for some 30 years, Karyn said she saw men loading Michael’s property into a van when she went to visit Joyce but when she asked what was going on, no one would tell. She was barely able to retrieve any of her father’s possessions from the house. Karyn then asked Joyce who the seeming "vultures" were and Joyce told her it was Brian and some of his friends.

I drove down near San Diego with Michael one year to Karyn’s house and we both stayed overnight. We were working on a film project involving her father, Michael and J. I had a great opportunity to pick Michael’s brain about certain events on the drive down. And while at Karyn’s we watched many hours of videotapes about Chauncey that Karyn had made just prior to Chauncey’s own death. I will never forget how Michael drank his coffee - about 4 ounces of coffee to 4 ounces of half-and-half. When a hefty salad was offered for dinner, poor Michael almost choked. This meat and potatoes man had to make due with Karyn’s leftovers of spaghetti and a little meat sauce. And when Michael was offered a cot to sleep on, he took to the floor instead, wrapped in the sleeping bag he had brought. He said he’d be more comfortable that way.

And finally, even though Michael wasn’t a diehard animal lover, I have to say I was surprised how well he took to our dog and the dog to him, proving once again that Michael inspired loyalty with whomever he met. I miss Michael and wish I had been able to spend more time with him. We made each other laugh. -- Ginger Marin