Good communicators go down rabbit holes

Two weeks ago, I accidentally walked into the memorial service for poet David Henderson… and stayed.

After wandering through the antiques and vintage books of the 10th Street Block Festival in Greenwich Village, I noticed the usually closed door to the historic St. Mark’s Church was wide open. I’d never been inside, so I went in, expecting to see artifacts from the 1700s.

The space was barely lit, except for candles set across the stage. A carousel of family photos projected above the altar.

It took me a few minutes to piece together what was happening. A daughter was in the middle of a eulogy about her father, especially his penchant for flirting with restaurant servers. (!)

I had to Google who David Henderson was. Founder of the Black Arts Community. Wrote what was considered by many to be the definitive biography of Jimi Hendrix.

Henderson’s son took his turn and then a trio of musicians played free jazz as somebody read a poem, like a 60s beatnik coffee house.

Finally, the entire congregation sang “Happy Birthday,” since it turned out Henderson passed in May and they waited until this special day to eulogize him.

I am sharing true stories like these because good communicators should be good observers. Good observers should not be afraid to go down a rabbit hole.