I'm afraid I have some very sad news. Our friend Steve2 passed away yesterday.

I saw that the first day I came to the site...probably Gail's...& I wondered what I was getting

myself into.

Fun guy!!

 
After reading Gail's for a while I got up my courage to join in on a thread about Julia Child (duh)

and I referred to her as "Sainte Julia," noting that the French had given her the Legion of Honor and that was the same as "cannonization." Steve caught my misspelling in a nanosecond and said, "They shot Julia out of a cannon? No wonder she passed!" It was the beginning of a long, funny, sarcastic exchange that led to us meeting in person. I will miss him terribly.

 
Oh, you remember I'm sure. It was a little unsettling to some and

it got posted here. Paul finally came in and gave some context to it. I believe it was a section of Hunter Thompson's writing (I think) and it included a naked man driving 100 MPH, swigging whiskey in the middle of the night in L.A. until he drives off the cliff. It was very puzzling. What happened was Paul was building the new site and asked him to try out the email feature. Steve mistakenly sent it out to everyone instead of just those who were testing the site for him. It made me laugh and I've never forgotten it. I'd never be able to find it here because the search hates me.

 
You can see why he was such a great mentor for my son. He had such...

...a great resumé that when he was hired by Disney, they handed him the paperwork for the Aladdin show at Disney California Adventure and he went right to work. IN CHARGE from day one! That's how good he was!

There's a million more stories, but suffice to say he gave my son advice only a PRO could give. Steve got my son excited about his future. He gave him the good and the bad, and made sure he knew the pitfalls as well as the peaks. My son came away knowing he had a handle on the reality of what the profession entails, and, as such, he gained confidence it was exactly what he wanted to do.

He is studying at a major university in LA, and is a sophomore. He's double-majoring in Technical Theater and Business. Thanks in a large part to Steve and his generosity with his time and teaching, my son is flourishing!

Oy. Such a tough loss. My goodness!

Michael

 
Yes! You are remarkable lady. I see the content was removed

but you get the idea of the freak out that took place! Hilarious!!! I pulled up my email first thing in the morning and I read it to John and said I just didn't know what to think about it. And then it started here. To this day when I read something that Steve would write here to John he would say...driving off the cliff naked guy? Seriously, I still smile when I think about it!

 
Here is what his brother wrote for the San Francisco Paper

Steve Donner, beloved husband of Merry Lynn Donner, died after a long illness. The son of Jack and Marie, brother to Michael, Uncle to Ilana, Shelly, Haley, Aaron, Ryan, Hannah, Audrey, Lauren, Lindsey, Courtney, Matthew, Sam, Adrian, Caroline, Kristen, and friend to too many to count.
Steve was Stage Manager for over 70 equity productions including; A Chorus Line, Ain't Misbehavin', Best Little Whorehouse, HurlyBurly, Cabaret, Carousel, Crazy For You, Damn Yankees, and Dreamgirls. He started his career at The Old Globe in San Diego, TheatreWorks in Palo Alto and worked at nearly every major theater and company in Southern California including The Mark Taper Forum, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, La Mirada Theater, Los Angeles Opera Repertory, Westwood Playhouse and the Southbay Civic Light Opera. In between, he was a writer and stunt designer for The Price Is Right, Face The Music and Beat The Clock.
Steve ended his career "working for the Mouse" at Disneyland, behind the scenes of Snow White, Fantasmic! and Aladdin. Steve was also a master chef who loved to cook and share his recipes. He was the Chef Tech on the TV show Melrose Place and the go-to kitchen expert, a lifeline for anyone needing a cooking consult. The inheritor of his grandmother's recipes for cookies, pies and jams, Steve made good use of them, to the benefit of everyone he knew. Steve wouldn't bake just one loaf of bread, he would bake half a dozen and share them with his friends. If you worked on a set with Merry or Steve, you would be the lucky recipient of his baking skills and loving generosity. Pies, cakes, cookies and jams would show up, leaving us all waiting for the next visit.

 
I thought I knew him pretty well, but I had no idea how extensive his career had been.

Of course, we mostly talked about food.

 
Steve didn't get into the particulars of his career. He sent me an email after a thread...

...on this site about "celebrity encounters" that showed how he valued his experiences greatly. He didn't want to share all the crazy stories that he could easily have detailed. He knew that his "access" to the industry was not typical, and he didn't want to throw anyone under the bus.

Much of this he shared with my son, not as a way to brag, but in order to give my son a picture of the reality he would face in the industry.

He was a humble guy, cloaked in an irreverent but somehow respectful persona. (And rolled in panko and deep fried to a lovely golden brown.)

Oy. Steve.

Steve "got it".

Michael

 
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