Ezra B Titus, 43, took his life, Thursday, July 30, 2009 in Tampa, Florida. He was born Saturday, July 23, 1966 to Barry J. and Elizabeth Irene "Libby" (nee Jurist) Titus in New York.
He attended Poughkeepsie Day School, Onteora and graduated from New York University (pre med) with honors.
As a boy Ezra leaned towards the wild life. He admired nothing more than wildness and sincerity, and committed himself deeply to the life of an adolescent frontiersman. The many adventures he embarked on as a boy became the material of his first stories, and as he grew older he learned to beguile his time with this gift for writing in solitude, and embroidering reminiscence till it shone in the dark. His stories were/ are surely some of the finest of their type and age. To his disappointment this was barely recognized. His masterpiece the novel Misty’s Lounge became an internet self-publishing sensation in 2004, while a small press in London printed two editions of some of his best very short stories, titled "Vacuuming With Carolina" and "Toe-Hopping Actifed".
He feared death, yet never forgot those moments of finding glory in the overcoming of the fear of death. This is his magnificent strain, and combined with his love of beauty, makes the testament of his finest work, as in this exquisite final paragraph of one of his stories, about meeting a girl whose life he had saved many years earlier:
“Yeah!”, she shouted in victory to the world, “We got away with everything!”. We both laughed. We knew where that phrase came from. Maybe we were still invincible after all. She held her arms up and spun around, smiling at the stars the way someone smiles when they’ve lived through something very hard. She loved being alive. When I saw that, I remembered how good it was. I was glad she reminded me. Arms still aloft, she looked at me. Her eyes beamed youth in its greatest expression of strength, light and perfection. There were no more scars inside Danielle. “It’s gonna’ be a sweet memory,” she said.
He worked for Florida Department of Sewage and Wastewater. His favorite job was being head of terminations at Premier Mortgage Funding.
He was survived by his mother Libby Fagen; a sister Amy (nee Helm) Collins, Nephew Lavon Henry Collins, and Step Father Donald Fagen, all whom he loved dearly.
All his friends in Woodstock, and all the people across the world who loved him and read his stories, will miss him for as long as they live.
Holloway Funeral Home, Inc. Oldsmar 813-855-2439
Published in the Tampa Bay Times on Aug. 1, 2009
a talented, passionate writer, was the son of Libby Titus Fagen, the stepson of musician Donald Fagen, and the brother of Amy Helm Collins (the daughter of Levon Helm and Libby Titus Fagen).
Ezra, who was 43, wrote fairly recently that he considered both Donald Fagen and Levon Helm, whom his mother met when Ezra was just a toddler, his "stepfathers" and the members of The Band his "uncles."
Things you may not have known about Ezra
- he loved all animals
- he had a green thumb
- except for those times when his anxiety got in the way, he was
exceptionally kind
- while taking pre-med courses in his late twenties, he found out he was
a mathematics prodigy
- he was in touch with his anger on a very profound level
- like his mom, he was a dead-on mimic, i.e., a verbal charicaturist
- he had developed great speed on the electric guitar
- he looked fantastic in long overcoats
- he was a very excellent and careful driver
- his work was published by Orange Blossom Press in London, Tin House
magazine and many webzines
Sources: Twisted Edge, My Job As The Terminator by Ezra Titus; Obituary, Tampa Bay Times, August 1, 2009; Donald Fagen On Ezra Titus;
He attended Poughkeepsie Day School, Onteora and graduated from New York University (pre med) with honors.
As a boy Ezra leaned towards the wild life. He admired nothing more than wildness and sincerity, and committed himself deeply to the life of an adolescent frontiersman. The many adventures he embarked on as a boy became the material of his first stories, and as he grew older he learned to beguile his time with this gift for writing in solitude, and embroidering reminiscence till it shone in the dark. His stories were/ are surely some of the finest of their type and age. To his disappointment this was barely recognized. His masterpiece the novel Misty’s Lounge became an internet self-publishing sensation in 2004, while a small press in London printed two editions of some of his best very short stories, titled "Vacuuming With Carolina" and "Toe-Hopping Actifed".
He feared death, yet never forgot those moments of finding glory in the overcoming of the fear of death. This is his magnificent strain, and combined with his love of beauty, makes the testament of his finest work, as in this exquisite final paragraph of one of his stories, about meeting a girl whose life he had saved many years earlier:
“Yeah!”, she shouted in victory to the world, “We got away with everything!”. We both laughed. We knew where that phrase came from. Maybe we were still invincible after all. She held her arms up and spun around, smiling at the stars the way someone smiles when they’ve lived through something very hard. She loved being alive. When I saw that, I remembered how good it was. I was glad she reminded me. Arms still aloft, she looked at me. Her eyes beamed youth in its greatest expression of strength, light and perfection. There were no more scars inside Danielle. “It’s gonna’ be a sweet memory,” she said.
He worked for Florida Department of Sewage and Wastewater. His favorite job was being head of terminations at Premier Mortgage Funding.
He was survived by his mother Libby Fagen; a sister Amy (nee Helm) Collins, Nephew Lavon Henry Collins, and Step Father Donald Fagen, all whom he loved dearly.
All his friends in Woodstock, and all the people across the world who loved him and read his stories, will miss him for as long as they live.
Holloway Funeral Home, Inc. Oldsmar 813-855-2439
Published in the Tampa Bay Times on Aug. 1, 2009
a talented, passionate writer, was the son of Libby Titus Fagen, the stepson of musician Donald Fagen, and the brother of Amy Helm Collins (the daughter of Levon Helm and Libby Titus Fagen).
Ezra, who was 43, wrote fairly recently that he considered both Donald Fagen and Levon Helm, whom his mother met when Ezra was just a toddler, his "stepfathers" and the members of The Band his "uncles."
Things you may not have known about Ezra
- he loved all animals
- he had a green thumb
- except for those times when his anxiety got in the way, he was
exceptionally kind
- while taking pre-med courses in his late twenties, he found out he was
a mathematics prodigy
- he was in touch with his anger on a very profound level
- like his mom, he was a dead-on mimic, i.e., a verbal charicaturist
- he had developed great speed on the electric guitar
- he looked fantastic in long overcoats
- he was a very excellent and careful driver
- his work was published by Orange Blossom Press in London, Tin House
magazine and many webzines
Sources: Twisted Edge, My Job As The Terminator by Ezra Titus; Obituary, Tampa Bay Times, August 1, 2009; Donald Fagen On Ezra Titus;
Ezra B Titus, 43, took his life, Thursday, July 30, 2009 in Tampa, Florida. He was born Saturday, July 23, 1966 to Barry J. and Elizabeth Irene "Libby" (nee Jurist) Titus in New York.
He attended Poughkeepsie Day School, Onteora and graduated from New York University (pre med) with honors.
As a boy Ezra leaned towards the wild life. He admired nothing more than wildness and sincerity, and committed himself deeply to the life of an adolescent frontiersman. The many adventures he embarked on as a boy became the material of his first stories, and as he grew older he learned to beguile his time with this gift for writing in solitude, and embroidering reminiscence till it shone in the dark. His stories were/ are surely some of the finest of their type and age. To his disappointment this was barely recognized. His masterpiece the novel Misty’s Lounge became an internet self-publishing sensation in 2004, while a small press in London printed two editions of some of his best very short stories, titled "Vacuuming With Carolina" and "Toe-Hopping Actifed".
He feared death, yet never forgot those moments of finding glory in the overcoming of the fear of death. This is his magnificent strain, and combined with his love of beauty, makes the testament of his finest work, as in this exquisite final paragraph of one of his stories, about meeting a girl whose life he had saved many years earlier:
“Yeah!”, she shouted in victory to the world, “We got away with everything!”. We both laughed. We knew where that phrase came from. Maybe we were still invincible after all. She held her arms up and spun around, smiling at the stars the way someone smiles when they’ve lived through something very hard. She loved being alive. When I saw that, I remembered how good it was. I was glad she reminded me. Arms still aloft, she looked at me. Her eyes beamed youth in its greatest expression of strength, light and perfection. There were no more scars inside Danielle. “It’s gonna’ be a sweet memory,” she said.
He worked for Florida Department of Sewage and Wastewater. His favorite job was being head of terminations at Premier Mortgage Funding.
He was survived by his mother Libby Fagen; a sister Amy (nee Helm) Collins, Nephew Lavon Henry Collins, and Step Father Donald Fagen, all whom he loved dearly.
All his friends in Woodstock, and all the people across the world who loved him and read his stories, will miss him for as long as they live.
Holloway Funeral Home, Inc. Oldsmar 813-855-2439
Published in the Tampa Bay Times on Aug. 1, 2009
a talented, passionate writer, was the son of Libby Titus Fagen, the stepson of musician Donald Fagen, and the brother of Amy Helm Collins (the daughter of Levon Helm and Libby Titus Fagen).
Ezra, who was 43, wrote fairly recently that he considered both Donald Fagen and Levon Helm, whom his mother met when Ezra was just a toddler, his "stepfathers" and the members of The Band his "uncles."
Things you may not have known about Ezra
- he loved all animals
- he had a green thumb
- except for those times when his anxiety got in the way, he was
exceptionally kind
- while taking pre-med courses in his late twenties, he found out he was
a mathematics prodigy
- he was in touch with his anger on a very profound level
- like his mom, he was a dead-on mimic, i.e., a verbal charicaturist
- he had developed great speed on the electric guitar
- he looked fantastic in long overcoats
- he was a very excellent and careful driver
- his work was published by Orange Blossom Press in London, Tin House
magazine and many webzines
Sources: Twisted Edge, My Job As The Terminator by Ezra Titus; Obituary, Tampa Bay Times, August 1, 2009; Donald Fagen On Ezra Titus;
He attended Poughkeepsie Day School, Onteora and graduated from New York University (pre med) with honors.
As a boy Ezra leaned towards the wild life. He admired nothing more than wildness and sincerity, and committed himself deeply to the life of an adolescent frontiersman. The many adventures he embarked on as a boy became the material of his first stories, and as he grew older he learned to beguile his time with this gift for writing in solitude, and embroidering reminiscence till it shone in the dark. His stories were/ are surely some of the finest of their type and age. To his disappointment this was barely recognized. His masterpiece the novel Misty’s Lounge became an internet self-publishing sensation in 2004, while a small press in London printed two editions of some of his best very short stories, titled "Vacuuming With Carolina" and "Toe-Hopping Actifed".
He feared death, yet never forgot those moments of finding glory in the overcoming of the fear of death. This is his magnificent strain, and combined with his love of beauty, makes the testament of his finest work, as in this exquisite final paragraph of one of his stories, about meeting a girl whose life he had saved many years earlier:
“Yeah!”, she shouted in victory to the world, “We got away with everything!”. We both laughed. We knew where that phrase came from. Maybe we were still invincible after all. She held her arms up and spun around, smiling at the stars the way someone smiles when they’ve lived through something very hard. She loved being alive. When I saw that, I remembered how good it was. I was glad she reminded me. Arms still aloft, she looked at me. Her eyes beamed youth in its greatest expression of strength, light and perfection. There were no more scars inside Danielle. “It’s gonna’ be a sweet memory,” she said.
He worked for Florida Department of Sewage and Wastewater. His favorite job was being head of terminations at Premier Mortgage Funding.
He was survived by his mother Libby Fagen; a sister Amy (nee Helm) Collins, Nephew Lavon Henry Collins, and Step Father Donald Fagen, all whom he loved dearly.
All his friends in Woodstock, and all the people across the world who loved him and read his stories, will miss him for as long as they live.
Holloway Funeral Home, Inc. Oldsmar 813-855-2439
Published in the Tampa Bay Times on Aug. 1, 2009
a talented, passionate writer, was the son of Libby Titus Fagen, the stepson of musician Donald Fagen, and the brother of Amy Helm Collins (the daughter of Levon Helm and Libby Titus Fagen).
Ezra, who was 43, wrote fairly recently that he considered both Donald Fagen and Levon Helm, whom his mother met when Ezra was just a toddler, his "stepfathers" and the members of The Band his "uncles."
Things you may not have known about Ezra
- he loved all animals
- he had a green thumb
- except for those times when his anxiety got in the way, he was
exceptionally kind
- while taking pre-med courses in his late twenties, he found out he was
a mathematics prodigy
- he was in touch with his anger on a very profound level
- like his mom, he was a dead-on mimic, i.e., a verbal charicaturist
- he had developed great speed on the electric guitar
- he looked fantastic in long overcoats
- he was a very excellent and careful driver
- his work was published by Orange Blossom Press in London, Tin House
magazine and many webzines
Sources: Twisted Edge, My Job As The Terminator by Ezra Titus; Obituary, Tampa Bay Times, August 1, 2009; Donald Fagen On Ezra Titus;
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