Danny Boyd: Being the risk taker
I’ve been thinking a lot about creativity lately. What it means and what it means to me. There is a level of inherent risk that comes with being creative. You can make things in your basement and never show them to anyone, but that’s not how you grow.
Sort of a “if a tree falls in a forest” question.
Three weeks ago, I learned of the death of a good friend. Danny Boyd never met a fun project he wasn’t up for. He directed three locally produced feature films (Chillers, Invasion of the Space Preachers and Paradise Park) in the 1990s, long before high definition video and nonlinear editing made that accessible. He was a professor at a small college in West Virginia, but always considered that more of a feature than a flaw. He produced Emmy-award winning documentaries and served as a Fulbright scholar three times.
Realizing he didn’t have the energy for a new film, but with loads of stories left to tell, Danny shifted gears into graphic novels and then musicals when Paradise Park was adapted for the stage. He even wrote a few children’s books.
Danny encouraged me on several of my personal projects as well. Most recently he lent his voice to the radio drama Last Train to Glen Alum. And he inspired the audio doc I produced with West Virginia Public Broadcasting called Batter Up: Baseball in Charleston as we sat behind 3rd Base discussing the game, projects and whatever else was going on. He loved the game.
Danny didn’t try to prove anything to anyone. He just did stuff.
The most amazing thing Danny did, every spring, was organize his neighborhood garden club. He set aside a portion of his front yard to grow sunflowers. And he brought in the neighborhood kids to do the planting and they took ownership of the flowers. I’m sure he chose sunflowers because they grow so tall that the kids could see them from all over.
Then Danny hit up friends in the comic book world for donations that he would give to the kids who helped out.
That wasn’t for any recognition and he didn’t make money from it. It was just about helping his neighborhood. He did write a children’s book about it, though, to share the story with a wider audience.
Danny supported other creatives. He went out of his way to pump up current and former students and others in the community.
Of all the stories I have seen come out since we got the word about his untimely passing, I think those are the ones that touched me the most. He loved to talk to people about their projects and offer his encouragement.
To me, that’s the sign of a truly creative mind.
Danny, you will be missed.
A memorial of his life will be held today from 3 to 7 pm at the WV Music Hall of Fame.
Download a free short story from the Mike Scott thriller series. This story even includes tips on protecting sea turtles!
I’m keeping this Substack free for now, but if you’d like to support it anyway, buy me a cup of Kofi.
Check out this recent profile of my writing/diving career.
Visit my website BooksbyEric.com.
I also recommend you follow me on my Facebook Author Page, Instagram and Threads.