On episode 2.3 of FLOWERS FOR LINDA, a podcast on grief & creativity, I am joined by Boyuan Gao, woman of many hats that have included music journalist, nonprofit administrator, workshop facilitator, DEI consultant and even once, to my delight, a floral arranger in a Brooklyn flower warehouse. Currently shaping her new adventure, I predict her next title will be "joy-maker."

But enough about B. This episode is about her dad, Fred. 

After growing up at the height of the Cultural Revolution, in 1985 Frederick Gao immigrated to the United States, leaving communist China behind. Earning his PhD, Fred settled into a life of teaching at a local Western Massachusetts prep school. As B has always described him, Fred was a buttoned up man, "constrained and restrained," with an out of reach and mysterious internal life. 

And then, nearing his 7th decade, Fred became a painter.

Springing from his imagination only, without formal training, Fred began to create astonishing detailed oil paintings of the local landscape. Breaking out of his rigidity to display a new personality entirely​, Fred produced over 100 works in the four years of his miraculous second act, before he succumbed to cancer. 

In this full of life and laughter, wide-open episode, Boyuan shares the process of creating her dad's first solo show, posthumously, and the vibrant community she brought in to support an active dialogue between his work and local artists. 

I truly love this episode. It models the way friendship can hold grave losses, and it plays like a movie scene. Cheers to Fred, his wild internal life, his beautiful work, his breaking open. Thank you B, for such a profound modeling of memorializing a loved one. I hope you will take a listen.