November 1955 - October 2024
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We invite you to share your photos, memories, and stories about Eric - or maybe one of his jokes. Or his worst puns.
10/19/2024
Dear Eric, Here are some things I admired about you: You were strong, fearless, smart, and tenacious. You loved learning and you had excellent and eclectic taste in reading material. You fought to overcome many of your limitations. You loved sharing your unique story in English, Mandarin, and Spanish. You were gregarious and irrepressible. I love remembering how you could crack us and yourself up with silly puns and jokes.
Penny Peak (your sister-in-law)
10/20/2024
First memory of Eric was made before actually meeting him. I met Jennifer and learned wild stories of how Eric, post brain injury and all its lasting effects - including memory loss, was at that time traveling around China, teaching students English in far away villages. What courage and determination.
Russ Sampson
10/22/2024
I was part of Eric’s crowd at Webster Junior High and Venice High. I remember hanging at band practices in that extra house (now I guess it would be called an ADU) behind the Gaal home on Ashby Avenue in West L.A. Eric was a brilliant superstar at Venice High. I was sure he would become a famous astronomer and have a galaxy named after him. I remember visiting Eric in the hospital after his accident when he had recently emerged from a coma and had not yet relearned to speak. I remember how sad it made me that his head injury would prevent him from reaching what seemed like unlimited potential. But then I was amazed to see Eric fight back and prove that he was even more remarkable than I thought. Traveling, learning languages, and accomplishing more than most people without the challenges he faced. Eric after the accident seemed even more thoughtful and even more of a mensch than before it. And through it all, the common thread that made Eric Eric were those god-awful but hilarious puns. Oy, those puns! I’m not thinking of any of them right now, but the groans and laughter will stay with me always. Wish I could hear him tell just one more.
Bob Fordham
10/24/2024
I will be there to relate a little history of the Kuhn-Gaal family, and honor the number one child of the next generation. Love to all from Cousin Paul and Darlene
Paul Kuhn
10/28/2024
Eric absolutely corrupted me with his pun-aciousness. He had a few gems in there in the seemingly bottomless reservoir he would gladly share. Bay-gulls, anyone?!!
Barry Cowan
10/28/2024
I knew Eric since last year, he is so warm. I am just a visitor of Berkeley for couple of years and don’t have too much friends in the town at that time. Eric introduced me to all of his friends in Berkeley Espresso and taught me English and Spanish.
Richard Zhang
10/29/2024
What's the difference between snow men & snow women? = SNOW BALLS! I work at Bobby G's Pizzeria & Pub! We like to think it was Eric's home away from home. Watching him walk through the door everyday put a smile on everyone here's face. I personally looked forward to his daily joke. I am personally thankful to have known his story through Eric himself. His determination and zeist for life always found him reading or learning something new. To the family our deepest condolences and always know there will forever be a chair for Eric at Bobby G'S! LOVE & MISS YOU ERIC!
John Kennedy from Bobby G's
11/2/2024
I shared two months with Eric at the Bar 7 outpost at the Bar 717 Ranch. I remember a funny, outgoing, honest, hardworking guy -- a few years older than me but someone to look up to as a positive role model. Such sad news.....
Daniel Burke
11/5/2024
I met Eric at Venice High School and together with Neal Heidler, Bob Fordham, and others in our nerdy, music-y cohort shared many, many adventures, and misadventures, along our intertwined paths to adulthood, or what passed for it. Fond memories of our epic winter weekend trips to Joshua Tree with Bob Funke, senior year at VHS! Eric was effectively part of my family, well known by my parents and siblings and a participant in numerous trips to the Sierras for skiing and the desert for hiking. This was both before and after his accident. Eric could just show up, often unexpectedly, and naturally become a welcome part of whatever was going on. And Eric’s postcards and letters from around the world, filled with his wry observations of humanity’s, and his own, foibles! Eric was without question one of the most remarkable people I have ever known. Then again, What do you get when you cross an elephant and a rhinoceros? Elifino! Oh man…
Peter Curtis
11/7/2024
Eric was a teacher. He did his best to make numbers less puzzling on my last visit to Berkeley. I got the gist after a while. He was so patient. I’ll always remember Eric and Eli at the table in the kitchen.
Matthew Peak
11/9/2024
I met Eric at Webster Junior High School. I was initially jealous of the lunches his Mom made, sandwiches on toasted bread. I had dinner at the Gaal house and remember vividly his father discussing the intricacies of heart surgery. It was then that I remember being initially excited about medicine. We went to different high schools but stayed in touch. We talked on the phone about chemistry, which we were both studying. He was patient and insightful. I visited him after the accident. We played ping pong and shared stories. It was clear that his long term memories were precise and intact, but he was struggling with short term learning. It was sad. But I was happy he and his sense of humor survived. My memories of him are a blessing.
Todd Strumwasser
11/11/2024
I was with Eric on that hike the day of his accident so long ago. I really didn't know him well before that day. I remember when he got out of the rehab hospital watching his physical struggles, but always being totally blown away by his smile, humor and kindness and amazing spirit. Today I learned that he passed. Reading all these posts from people who knew Eric far better than I makes me realize what a truly incredible man he was.
Charlie Kert
11/15/2024
Even before I met Eric, I knew about the determination, tenacity and spirit that he showed ever since his accident. Linda talked about her brother with such admiration and wonder for who was and all he had done. When I finally met Eric, it was his big smile, warmth, punny brilliance and sheer joy in laughing and making me laugh that made the biggest impression. He is missed.
Rachel (sister-in-law)
11/15/2024
Eric and I were besties from the 4th. through 7 grades. Eric had an I.Q. that was fairly off the charts. What I remember clearly about Eric was pondering. You could almost see his wheels spinning when it came to any subject. And when he would give his answer or opinion, it was something you could take to the bank. As a boy, I found Eric pretty serious at times that I equated with his thinking/pondering. Of course he was mostly just a lot of fun. In almost all situations, he would be considered very polite. My mom used to say, why can't you be like Eric? One time though, on either a cub scout or other type of outing I saw my bestie in a new light that was outrageous. This is not a slur by any means...he was a little wild and crazy, letting out so much mischief. Whoever was chaperoning us was exasperated, and I loved EVERY minute of that :).
Jeff Winett
11/15/2024
Eric was/is so strongly a part of my memory in my early 20's when I was a new high school English teacher. His sister, Linda, was in my first class and-- through her-- I met and soon became part of the Gaal family. I remember Eric's voracious appetite for knowledge and conversation and community and physical exertion and music and nature and his family and his friends and his love of Charcoal (the dog) and games and puzzles and puns and making people laugh and his delight in laughing at his own cleverness and hearty meals and bike riding and walking and cereal. This young man could put away a family-sized box of cereal like no one else (with the exception of his brother Ronny). Although his life took a radical turn after his accident, his resilience and charm and remarkable staying power and his Ericness persists. He was a most loveable, unique character. May his memory be a blessing.
Natalie Plachte White
11/15/2024
In addition to being a cousin, I was Eric and Linda's babysitter ( and later, Ronny and Jenny too). These pictures are from about 1957 to about 1961.
I babysat Eric and Linda from the time they were toddlers. Then came Ronny, and finally Jenny. Now for most people, 4 young kids would be a lot to take care of, but not the Gaal kids. I had a blast with them. You may not remember the kiddie park on Pico and Overland, but we went there several times. And to the beach to play in the tidepools, I think by public bus. Aileen trusted me to take care of you four, and I never wanted to let her down. In fact, I was at your house on Ashby so often, it came to feel like a second home.
Eric visited my family in Houston in the late 1980's or so. He had a deck of cards, and most of the cards had a number and a math symbol, like +4 or -12 or x6 or ÷7. Some of the cards had only a number. Eric dealt out 5 of the math symbol cards to each player, and one number card to each person (or maybe it was one card for all the players). The idea was to create an equation with your math symbol cards such that the answer to the equation would be the number card. Eric was a whiz. I certainly couldn't do it, and neither could my PhD Physics husband. Twenty or thirty years later, I made up my own version to use with my students.
As for Eric's puns, Isaac got them right away. Me, not so much. And my girls were in elementary school, so those puns just flew over their heads.
Ellen Rosen
11/16/2024
Memories of Eric for me were through family visits to Berkeley and New York – walkabouts and over the table. Eric was always a large presence and of course a constant punster – pundit, pun addict…. Going out with him also meant anyone of Chinese heritage being the target of a friendly exchange, presumably to practice his Mandarin, but did he also pun in chinese? As this photo shows, Eric-the-intrepid was always equipped with a flask and some weighty reading matter.
I will miss Eric for who he was.
Graeme
Editor's note: Eric has mentioned that he tried to make puns in Chinese, but people just thought he was saying things wrong. –Eli
11/16/2024
Eric was my first cousin, born a few months after me. We grew up more than 5000 miles apart so my memories of him are episodic.
Photos indicate that we were taken to Disneyland together in 1960. If he was already punning then I can't remember.
My first clear memory of hanging out with Eric was in 1969. It's of having a foot race, at altitude in Idyllwild, to see how much more difficult breathing would be than at sea level.
Then in 1979 Eric turned up at my large student house in Bristol, England. He arrived having walked across Europe in a straight line. He figured that he'd never remember directions or be able to follow them. So instead chose a compass direction and stuck to it. Apparently this left him in a few ditches but people always rescued him and took him in.
He fitted in to my household, of about 12 people, easily. So easily, that we subsequently discovered, that some evenings he ate 3 dinners believing each one was his first meal of the night.
After about 2 months he carried on his journey and it was another 10 years until we hung out together again.
Tom Bloom
11/16/2024
Even before I actually met Eric, I saw him around Berkeley quite a bit and was curious about him. He seemed like an interesting character. I got to know Eric over the last year or so, hanging out with him at Berkeley Espresso. My suspicions were confirmed that Eric was, indeed, an interesting character.
I appreciated Eric's humility and curiosity about people and the word. My image of Eric at the cafe is of him sitting at the big, round table in the center with his books and collection of newspapers spread out around him, a water cup or two, and a thermos. He would be studying Chinese, or reading a novel in Spanish, jotting down words and translations on various pieces of paper, including copious notes in the margins of the newspapers. He taught me a couple of mathematical games, and then beat me handily at them.
And, of course, there were the puns. I can remember some of the punchlines but not the exact set-ups. One of them was about what you can find for under a buck and the punchline was "deer nuts". Another was about dogs and the rules of grammar and the punchline was something about "paws/pause" and "claws/clause". It was quite a complex joke.
I miss Eric's presence at the cafe.
Rufus Silber
Editor's note: What's the difference between a dog and a comma? One has claws at the ends of its paws, and one has a pause at the end of its clause. –Eli
11/16/2024
Me? A pun? Ha! Ha! You’d never catch me entering that arena anywhere near the master. But I did enjoy seeing the glee in Eric’s eyes anytime he spun one out, whether or not I got it. I was introduced through marriage to the Peak-Gaal clan and came to know Eric at least a decade after his accident. It’s wonderful hearing the stories of Eric in his youth, but, I must say, Eric exuded all the same qualities every time we spent time together at many holiday dinner tables. Condolences to dear family and friends. May his memory be for blessing.
Mo Morris
11/16/2024
Time flies like an arrow.
Fruit flies like a banana.
Eric smiled at that one. A win for me.
Natalie Plachte White
11/19/2024
I was part of Eric's Winter Park, Colorado family for many years. His mother, Lee, became a dear friend of mine after she moved to the area. Eric started coming to stay with Lee during the wintertime and he participated in the National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) at Winter Park Resort. He really seemed to love skiing!
I have a disabled brother (Patrick) who also was part of the NSCD. Numerous winters he came to visit me and ski. He really loved to ski too! Patrick, Eric and I spent numerous days on the slopes together over the years. I have cherished memories in my mind of Eric's icy beard and huge smile at the end of a day skiing!
MJ Davison
11/22/2024
I work with Ronny and for the 13 years our office was in Berkeley I delivered items to their home directly, by bike and car so I could enjoy hanging out on their wonderful porch talking with whomever was there. I could almost always count on Eric to answer the door and get the conversation started. Welcoming and happy to see me. We had fun with puns and also other more profound feeling discussions. He was on a different wavelength than other people, but right there in the moment. As Eric often said to me since I enjoyed it so much (from the Dylan song) "The ants are my friends, their blowing in the wind". I don't get to their porch much these days now that our office is back in S.F., but sad to think that Eric won't be there in person next time I do, although I'm certain I'll feel his welcoming presence when I'm there.
Richard Lesnick
11/23/2024
I met Eric about five years ago at Berkeley Expresso. He was playing his famous tic toe type game with two people. I noticed they couldn’t defeat him. I grew up in a competitive family environment. After they left, I decided to challenge Eric. That day I probably played with him maybe thirty-five times and he decisively beat me. I also got a taste of his fire speed pun delivery. I found him to be a unique person.
Over, I always greeted him and got one pun or two. However, every Sunday around 6:15pm, I sat down with Eric to either hear one of his puns or play chess. We always started our conversation with favorite Lagunitas beer and a toast with a smile. He shared his life adventures with me. I never heard anything negative from him. He was all positive energy. I came from country called Eritrea in Africa and in our language Tigrinya who have two words for someone like Eric- Gobez and Maskin. The closest translation for Maskin is innocent. However, in our language it also has a connotation of angelic. I just believe Eric was an angel walking among us mortal. I miss him already. In a way, he was my older American brother that I met weekly.
Josef O.
6/2/2025
Sorry about the amount of “me” and “I” here, but memories are like that I guess. Also, turns-out, I can't seem to separate my Eric-appreciations from the rest of Eric's Ashby household.
I remember Eric, of course. My first feelings were grief, and then remorse. Bob, an Ashby Ave (LA) childhood neighbor/friend, mentioned Eric's passing in our perchance sidewalk meeting, end of May 2025.
I have had shame/remorse for decades, because Eric wrote to me (from Ronny's?) in the 1990's at a time when my to-do list was way longer than my got-done list, so I was a poor pen pal. I'm OK holding on to the shame, because it is rooted in love.
Eric was a friend to admire, and really to depend on; to the extent that well cared-for kids need to depend on other kids. His mom (we called Lee) cared for me too, most memorably when I was preschool age. Being tucked in at nap time in the East bedroom is one warm early moment of caring etched into memory. Lee watched me as a favor to my working mom; Pete was an established and successful provider.
A much later memory has Eric and I in the NE corner bedroom (his?) where he gave me the inside scoop on converting Celsius to Fahrenheit (9/5 + 32, as I recall).
Later, since I fear I was a bit of a scamp, Pete/Dr Gaal was not shy about correcting my wayward actions and mis-perceptions. I think Eric's parents put up with me because Eric liked me, not because I was a good influence. Lee always seemed caring/loving. Homemade popsicles also stand out for me. My sister Nancy reminds me that our childhood Christmas stockings were Lee-made.
I remember Pete being a little irked because, when I happened upon some casual thieves who had his drill in their hands, I had not the presence of mind to collect a license number. (They handed the drill to me and apologized! I think I was still a bit afraid of two grown men who would trespass like that. Open garages on alleys are mostly a thing of the past now).
Eric and Nini (NeeNee, Nene?---Linda) were like a linguistic single-entity in our house-hold in the early days, one came with the other. Things got more complicated when Ronny, and later Jenny, emerged onto the scene.
Jenny and Sesame Street are both stored away in the same corner of my brain and heart. Maybe my TV did not get UHF? ---or maybe my 'tween self was on to more grown up things? In any case, I was fond of that little girl.
While he was at Webster, and I at Emerson JH, we would meet up after school in his backyard to play ping-pong or in the “Outhouse” to “push balls around with sticks” ---perhaps each an early indication of Eric's propensity to play around with words.
Transiting from backyard ping-pong to the kitchen door involved navigating around Sugar's bathroom spot. Charcoal, was a large, rowdy and protective presence in the Gaal backyard for years. The two, who would naturally be predator and prey, got along well.
Another memory has us capsizing his Sabot near the slips and loosing a large sized bottle of Coca-Cola in the “depths” of Marina-Del Rey. Another, not as comical, nautical moment revealed my lack of sea-legs while over-nighting in the Gaal Cal-20. We both coveted the sleek and fast HobieCats. Eric taught me the basics of sailing. I had forgotten, until I looked at the photos here, that Eric was an avid user of the (school?) weight-room, and had the muscles to prove it (Is this memory right?)
Recalling (1969?) rock band practice in the Outhouse brings up both admiration for the musicians (Eric on drums, naturally) and a bit of lingering guilt on my part. I did fess-up to the owner of the aluminum-dome JBL PA speakers, when I touched (and dented) that alluring (and expensive) shiny frequency-extending bullseye—he (a somewhat older guy) was as gracious as one could possibly be under the circumstances. Was the singer named Sterling? I remember that he did a convincing “Proud Mary”.
I now like Willy and the Poorboys just fine, but when Eric first played that record for me, probably on the old mono Bogen tube set, it seemed a little too backwoods to me. Rock is shot through with Americana, but that seemed too raw at the time.
Being a sophisticated household, it was at the Gaals that Tom Lehrer's musical social and political commentary was burned into my brain, as it issued joyfully and irreverently from that same venerable old Bogen HIFI set. Look on u-tube for: That Was the Year That Was (1965). I recall Eric emphasizing Lehrer's connections to Harvard.
I think that Jazz-band was a big draw for Eric---was this true for both Webster JH and Venice HS times? Around the same time a young woman named Rosemary was a big draw as well.
Later HS and college years we had little contact, though after the accident, I did get to visit with him at home. I did not see him a lot then, as I was away, mostly. I do remember his dedicated work running on Ashby. Our neighbor Bob said he recalls Eric working a 3 wheel bike on the Ashby sidewalk during those times.
As others have said, he also told me that he went to Europe and ran/walked between cities! I don't recall the part about the ditches. Whatever life brought to him, he would make the best of it.
Howard Grim