Since the BMW CCA redesigned their website, the tributes written after Dan Erwin's death have been lost to the internet, which I find very sad. So here is what I wrote in memory of Dan, which was also published in the Roundel, the BMW CCA magazine:
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If Dan Erwin had lived in the days of the Wild West, he would have been a cowboy who could make his horse dance and a fearsome gunslinger who preferred to shoot whiskey over his fellow man. I can imagine him as a fighter pilot in World War I, a cigar clamped in his jaw, laughing in his open air cockpit as he buzzed over the local farmer’s daughter on his way to strike fear into the enemy.
In his way, the Dan Erwin I knew was just as iconic a figure, but in these modern days his steed was invariably some BMW or other, and he lived a lot of his life out on the edge, those bone-white teeth bared to the world in a crooked grin capped by that outrageous mustache. His eyes were often hidden by big black sunglasses that were years ahead of fashion, so as often as not you were greeted by that grill, a wry salutation and a laugh. His worn, leathery skin came from years outside among the beasts he tamed and immortalized in words. Dan always seemed comfortable, whether in a triple-digit trail braking turn, exhorting the lukewarm tires for grip or striding amongst the cars he loved so much, looking for inspiration.
But at the end of the day, Dan was about people and the adventure of life. He drew stories out of people, not because it was his job, but because he knew experience is the paint applied to the canvas of life. He was a connoisseur of that art and took slivers of it to make his living, offering his rich narratives to the many who weren’t lucky enough to be wherever Dan was. He’d make them feel like they were. And when you were fortunate enough to be in his company, you’d find yourself sharing stories and re-living experiences you might not have appreciated as much at the time. Dan made everyone around him more of an enthusiast. When you could get him to share his yarns, you got the same experience as his writing – vivid and seen from a slightly different perspective than the typical.
For those of us in the SouthEast SharkFest clan, Dan was one of the original members, and was in fact the first to declare it a family in his article in 2003. He saw it really before anyone else did. He was the brother who cast away the boundaries of the mundane corporate world and seized life by those trademark teeth, chased what he loved and made a living at it. And yet for all his zeal for adventure, he always seemed to draw other people in, make them feel important and leave them feeling a little richer. He shared his wealth of knowledge and experiences freely, and one never got the sense that Dan had anywhere else to be other than with you, as often as not with a beer in hand, carefree.
I said once that my biggest problem at SouthEast SharkFest was a wealth of good company. Dan was a big part of that, and I'm very, very sad to lose him. Vaya con Dios Dan.
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