Szymon Choynowski obituary

Szymon Choynowski (Simon Chase) in 1986

I just got word that Szymon Choynowski, aka "Simon Chase" died in November (2011) in Mexico City where he'd resided for that past fifteen years or so. Szymon was a deeply private person and rarely shared personal information with anyone. I feel privileged that I had become his friend and that he had re-established contact with me in the last year of his life. He was born in Poland and moved with his parents to America in 1967. I recall him talking about the Expo in Montreal, one of the first North American experiences he had. I'm not sure how much time he spent in Canada in 1967, perhaps only days, perhaps longer, but it had a lasting impact on him. Eventually his parents took up residence in Mexico City and Szymon studied filmmaking in California. Shortly after the completion of his MFA at southern California, I think it was at Cal Arts (thanks for correction Amnon ), he saw an advertisement for a job teaching in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. He applied and was given a phone interview by Terry Marner who then hired him. Szymon put all of his worldly possessions into his car (a Volvo I believe) and drove from California to Regina to become a professor in the Film and Video Department at the University of Regina. That was probably 1982 or 1983. He bought a house near the south end of the city, a flat roofed bungalow off the main bus routes since he didn't want to see people too often. He was very popular with the students, bringing in strange cult films he'd studied in California, using comic books as references, and listening and caring about people's ideas. I took a class from him in the summer of 1984. He hosted a Christmas party within the UofR film department that Christmas, wiring speakers and coloured lights between a number of the classrooms and work rooms, There will likely never be another party like it inside of the University. One student was fire breathing, the bar flowed freely, and the students bonded like never before. Somehow over that next year, we became friends. The politics at the university were hard on Szymon. He felt that the film department head was using him in bizarre political fights with the other fine arts departments. He was in the middle of things but given no respect. Szymon told me that he liked to be anonymous  to be able to go to public places and just blend in and be invisible. However, after a couple of years of teaching, he began to encounter people who knew him almost everywhere he went. He began to withdraw from social gatherings. He covered his house windows with aluminum foil, partially to subdue the light, but primarily to disguise his presence from people outside. He rarely answered his phone. The only reason I knew we were friends was that, on occasion  he answered when I began talking on his machine. He even called me. We used to go to diners for breakfast or cafes for deserts. I drove because he had sold his car. In 1986, when the university finally offered him tenure, to promptly resigned. I helped him with his garage sale as he tried to rid himself of material and become portable again. His massive record collection which contains such treasures as an obsessively complete set of every T-Rex recording, was sold to collectors. His porn was cataloged by year and sold in bundles at the garage sale. Richard Kerr, Szymon's replacement at the university, arrived in Regina during the garage sale and came to it (my first meeting with Richard). One of the only times he allowed me to bring a camera into his house was when the courier was scheduled to take his stuff (see above, my only clear photo of Szymon). A few days later, Szymon got on a plane and flew to Montreal. The next few years I only knew of his activities through people like John McCullough with whom he'd been in a band while in Regina (they once played at the UofR student bar, The Owl, and were kicked off the stage during a ten minute performance of one chord). Through John, or perhaps someone else, I was told that Szymon looked at Regina receding into the distance through the plane window and fell into uncontrollable laughter. However, Montreal French didn't come easily to Szymon and he moved within about a year to Vancouver where he lived for a few years. He worked at a company that sold professional electronics of some nature, going by the easier to spell name "Simon Chase". Sometime in the 1990s, his parents became sick and he returned to Mexico City to care for them. After they passed away, he stayed there, always a foreigner  never mixing in. Most information about him ended until he emailed me in February 2011. His letter begins

 "Dear Gerald,  I have wanted to write to you for well over 20 years. Why didn't I? Well, I suppose for the same reason that I haven't done much of anything.I really don't want to tell you about my life, because it is best left not mentioned."

Szymon in 1973 courtesy Elin Emilsson

Szymon suffered from what he called a "Borderline Personality Disorder" and his last message to me on November 3, 2011, although in many ways far more positive than the February message, hinted again at suicide. He never wrote to me again. His friend, Mark Bloom, informed today that Szymon died in November. I did not ask how, I don't want to know. He wouldn't have wanted me to know.

In April, 2014, the following photos of Szymon and his mother were sent to me by his friend Paulina Carlisle of Michigan:

Szymon Choynowski, early grade school

Szymon's mother

Szymon Choynowski, "a few years back" (2005-2010?)

"Here's one from a few years back of Simon, his mum and Lupe, their housekeeper.   I love his glasses... I have a vintage pair of Nicole Miller sunglasses with  frames the colour of orange sherbet ... one sunny day I was out and about driving and had those on .... and T-Rex (Get It On / Bang a Gong) came on the radio ...    I was suddenly washed over by a good, carefree and almost other-worldly  feeling and a thought:   "this moment IS Simon" ... he was quite into mod fashion and of course T-Rex ..and for some reason that perfect moment on that perfect day  FELT like Simon in a way.   Either you understand OR maybe think I'm nuts!!  I have a feeling it's the former."  Paulina Carlisle, April 4, 2014

Szymon as child, always loving animals

Szymon as teenager? and potential rock star

Szymon Choynowski in his 40s?

Szymon's parents, Mieczyslaw and Hanna Choynowski

Szymon's mother in newspaper for art exhibition

Szymon, sometime after 2000