Fathers Day 2026

It's no secret, I am a proud Papa. More importantly, I am so very proud of the parents my kids are to those boys born in 2016 (Lawton and James)

Rememboring Dave

David Peter Drimer passed on April 26, 2026, at the age of 69.

Born on July 20, 1956, David lived in Long Island City, New York.

Morgan’s Life of Drimer

Note: Dave Drimer predeceased me (in April of 2026) and thereby wins the wager we laughed about as college colleagues fully certain that our futures would be newsworthy. Back in the day, we imagined that our individual accomplishments would make a meaningful mark on the world. I regret that my account will be inferior to anything my dear friend Dave might have written about me. (He always was a superior wordsmith.)

Little things are big things. It’s in those simple gestures in life that you see (usually too late) just how much those simple things add up. With Dave there are so many memorable things that may have gone unrecognized (or under-recognized) at the time that add up to a mountain of goodwill. I wish I could create a tapestry or weave a rug that might illustrate what a remarkable person he was and how fortunate I was to have him as my dear friend.

Having lost Dave just a few weeks ago, I so easily feel the tears of my loss. (I know, that is selfish and self-centered.) This might just be the time to record a few nuggets that will likely form a sort of mosaic. The picture, if well crafted, will provide a portrait of “Maurice” the music fan, or any number of attributes from “joker” to “midnight toker” or “gangster of love” and beyond. (Apologies to Steve Miller).

“Hey, nice shirt. Got any others?” I made a crack something along those lines (maybe in August 1974) when the kid from the dorm at the end of the Mahoney Hall second floor past by my room #234 (which I shared with my brother Greg). It was Dave in a black button-down shirt he seemed to be wearing for a week. This exchange happened and Dave was not amused. It would be a while before we would become the closest of friends. We shared adventures in creative writing classes with Professor Lester Goran and in that crash course in business – Program in Management Studies (PMS) that made the two of us Liberal Art Students qualified to pursue an MBA.

Dave and I were in a small group of students who decided to visit Mexico. Since we were in Miami that short trip was accessible (maybe 1977). We climbed the structure at Chichén Itzá, a spectacular ancient Mayan city located in the Yucatán Peninsula. We went to Cozumel. I had a backpack for this kind of travel. Dave was lugging a valise like a kid from New York.

Dave and I became a sort of comedy team. We wrote (and performed) mostly for our own amusement. We were fans of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore (I had a recording of Good Evening). We Wrote a Mothers’ Day Song that mocked our inability to express true appreciation for Moms everywhere: M is for the MANY things she gave me, O is for the OTHER things she gave me, T is for the THINGS she gave me. H is for the HUNDREDS of things she gave me. E is for EVERYTHING she gave me. R is for the REST of the things she gave me. Put them all together they spell MOTHER. 

We liked to role play job interviews: "So you are applying for the assistant book-keeper position. How would you feel if the head book-keeper job opened up?" (In our sketch the interviewee cannot see opportunity in that scenario since assistant is as high as his ambition can take him.)

Dave and I were fortunate in being selected to be regional representatives of the University of Miami Admissions office. In exchange for representing UM admissions at High Schools and College Fairs regionally we got a modest stipend and Gold American Express Cards. Through this program we learned some valuable lessons in salesmanship and academia. We were filling out applications for the Admissions Office at one point. It was a formality really and I recall laughing and telling Dave “You don’t have to tell your family history on this thing, ya know.” Dave went for the joke with his simple question “How do you spell Schnauzer?” (As if including his family dog was an essential part of the application.) Funny, Dave.

Kidding aside, David P. Drimer shows up. He has shown up for me again and again. When my wife lost her Dad in 1993, Dave was graveside in Neptune, New Jersey along my wife and kids (about 10 and 6 years of age). He was also present when my wife passed in 2022. I shared Dave’s comment about my wife after he and some others, Lynn among them, shared a house rental in Miami (around 1978). “When Lynnie’s Happy, I’m Happy. When Lynnie’s Mad…I’m Scared.” (So cute and a telling insight.)

Dave shared my quest for exploring Art. I was bouncing around Advertising Agencies as a account manager in New York beginning in 1982. I’m pretty sure Dave and I visited the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), The Met, The Whitney, The Guggenheim and the Frick and more. 

In fact, in 2025 Dave agreed to meet me at MoMA. I flew in from Saint Louis (where I’ve lived since 1996). I hadn’t seen Dave in years but it was like old times. When he spotted me sitting outside the gift shop he did a double take. “Oh, I was looking for the 30 year-old Wes Morgan.” (Funny, Dave.)

Dave and Donna lived on Avenue A in Lower Manhattan. They were most gracious in helping me settle in when I returned to NYC to work at BBDO around 1989. I shared a story of a photo of my parents at the Stork Club (early 1940s). I casually mentioned that I would love to have one of those Stork Club ash trays as a souvenir. Dave gestured me to follow him outside. We walked just a couple of blocks when Dave pointed into a restaurant supply/décor store window. There in the window: A Stork Club ash tray. (It cost me $30.00 but it is a prize possession and a memory of Dave to this day).

I'm Just James

 

James Benjamin Morgan is my granson. He is my son's son. His name honors his great grandfather James O'Connell Morgan (my dad). He was born December 19, 2016, just six months after his cousin Lawton (my daughter's boy born 7/5/2016).

He was only about 4 years old when, on a visit to his Maternal Grandmother's house in Memphis, I found myself on the living room floor involved in a pretend game in which a birthday party was taking place around some poker chips. James was eager to to participate so he cast himself as a threatening dinosaur. Ready to crash the party he growled. Slowly he lumbered to the birthday cake of poker chips and stomped the birthday party - cake and all.

 

Papa (that's me) pretended to call the police to report the disturbance. My son Ben was brilliant in the role of an authoritarian policeman. Surveying the damage, he commenced his investigation. The questioning turned to the recently reformed dinosaur. The policeman (dad) asked the suspect to provide evidence in the case and report. 

"I'm just James?" was the sum of his witness testimony. 

I just love how he was able to switch from terrifying dinosaur to innocent  bystander in that little play. (The policeman could not apprehend the perpetrator).  

I'M JUST JAMES

James at Granma Jean's house in Germantown (Memphis).

James with Papa Wes in NJ Liberty State Park

James and his dad (Ben) at Purple Glaze in Asbury Park, NJ

"I'm the rightful ruler. Anyone can see. Nobody's gonna make a monkey out of me." (K Rule in Donkey Kong)

LSP Art Fair 2026

 

The 39th annual Art Fair at Laumeier Sculpture Park is upon us. I've agree to again serve as a volunteer during the weekend event. I just had a weekend visit to New Orleans (May 4-6) along with my brother Greg, We went to visit with our brother Sundance. But to appease my art museum junky habit we visited the New Orleans Museum of Art and the adjacent Sculpture Garden. While I continue to think of Laumeier as a gem in our region and a wonderful showcase of world class sculpture, New Orleans impressed me with their collection of over 90 works on view outside and wonderfully presented along a well maintained trail. 

NOLA Morgan meeting

 

An historic meeting of Morgan boys takes place over May 3-4 in New Orleans. Sundance suggested Betsy's Pancake breakfast diner on Canal Street. It was an ideal place to review a variety of topics including: 1. How we might get Sundance's TV working again? 2. Is the Degas House worth a visit? 3. Can Greg add Dan via facetime on his iPhone? 4. Will our waitress, Katherine be amused by the comic sardonic wit of the Morgans ordering breakfast (after 10:30am when the specials are no longer offered)? 

Edgar Degas, the French born Impressionist visited family in New Orleans for five months in 1872, a fact that is celebrated within the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) and a house that is in the Register of Historic Places. (Of course Greg and Wes visited both NOLA and Degas House).

I pondered Richard Diebenkorn painting of a woman on a porch at NOLA before Greg and I visited the remarkable Sculpture Garden adjacent to the museum on a beautiful day for viewing sculpture by Robert Indiana, Keneth Snelson, Louise Bourgeois, Deborah Butterfield, George Rickey, Claes Oldenburg/Coosie Van Bruggen, George Rodrique, Henry Moore, ...and More. (A truly amazing collection on view at the Sydney and Walda Bestoff Sculpture Garden)

 

 

We visited the WWII Museum, where we joined an audience, composed largely of seniors for a 4-D Movie complete with a 7 minute introduction by actor Tom Hanks. (The 4-D experience included jaring moving seats and noise and lights that includes being run over by a tank! War is Hell.) Of course I could not resist the display of the Hitler declared DEGENERAT ART (with appropriate inclusion of St. Louis favorite Max Beckmann).

We also caught a glimpse of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art including a terrific exhibition of classic photos of Jazz legends including the singing great Billie Holiday. 

Greg rented a car so we covered a variety of Nawlins' vistas like Bourbon Street, Lake Ponchetrain, and Loyola University. Greg doesn't mind driving. GPS allowed us to find Hansen's Snow Bliz shop and a brand extension of the Cafe Du Monde for coffee and beignets. 

We were well fed at the Fairfield by Marriot in Metierie breakfast fare (including a make your own waffles station and a variety of toppings). I lost my wallet on the floor at Metierie's Buffalo Wild Wings (which was fortunately returned to me by the festive group who were at our table after us).

Katherine, our server at Betsy's photo-bombed us at breakfast. A few minutes earlier a guy (Benny) carrying take-out stopped for a moment to recognize Sundance. "My two girls took tennis lessons with you...They're doing well" (How wonderful is that random recognition of impact?) 

The famous quote from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) is: "This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend". It is spoken by newspaper editor Maxwell Scott to Senator Ransom Stoddard, deciding to bury the truth about who actually killed the outlaw to preserve a more inspiring narrative.

Where Art Meets Nature: The Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden explores the history of this award-winning space and highlights works from its superb collection ranging from the 19th to 21st centuries. The Garden’s founding patrons: Sydney and Walda Besthoff.

Greg - 

Even though Katherine (our server at Betsy's) called security on us. And I lost my wallet at Metairie Buffalo Wild Wings. And we couldn't find a parking spot on Bourbon Street. And I got run over by a tank at the WWII museum. In spite of everything, it was big fun being with you and visiting with Sundance in New Orleans. 

Love, 

Wes

     

MDMC 2026 Renaissance

 

It happens again. Dr. Perry Drake produced a blockbuster Midwest Digital Marketing Conference, The event held Wednesday and Thursday April 28 and April 29, 2026.

Speakers, Exhibitors, Marketers aplenty. 500+ in attendence at the Renaissance Hotel on Natural Bridge Road. 

David P Drimer

 

David P. Drimer died yesterday morning (4-26-1926). I'm devastated. His memory will forever be a blessing, I know. The photo above was taken at the University of Miami. We became friends as freshman but that friendship grew as we were both Admissions Representatives and Graduate students in the MBA program at UM.

I cried like a baby as I imagined the impossible notion that I wouldn't hear his voice again. Naturally, his passing made me keenly aware of my own mortality. In hindsight, I realize now that reflections and memories of Drimer put into focus the dreams and ambitions we shared as young men about to make our way in the world. 

I cherish a million things about him. We spoke in a kind of code with references to inside jokes and references to times and places. Upon graduation, I was determined to pursue a career in Advertising in what I regarded as the advertising capital of the world (New York City). Dave, the quintessential New Yorker, was there too.

May the memories be a blessing. That profound wisdom became a notion I embraced when my wife Lynn passed away peacefully in her sleep on February 3, 2022. It's a beautiful thing to ponder but it never displaces the the void left when someone so near and dear to you is gone. 

The last time I saw my friend Dave, we met at the Museum of Modern Art in June of 2025. We posed on either side of Picasso's Goat. Dave deserves GOAT status too, I think. 

Stories abound and will keep him in our hearts.

- How do you spell Schnauzer?

- Warehouse space

- Airplane parts warehouse

- Mr. Nimmer warehouse billboard

- A&C Granadiers (Grenades)

- Hurricane Swagger

- Dads (when Lindsey was a todler and we hung out in NYC)

- Pee Wee run in Central Park

- Cricket Club

- Raffles, Duffy's, 27 Birds, Bananas, Monty's

- Coconut Grove

- valid license and auto insurance

- Suzie Keller the Bank Teller

- Coconut Grove Bank - even when you live on Kendall

- Tom Parsons, Eric Urben, Rick Ziezer...