Prince of Silver Lake

Ric Montejano (1949-2014)

By Shelly Parsons

Ric Montejano, when a student at California State University, Fullerton, in “The Indian Wants the Bronx” (Photo by Dan Strickler)

Richard (Ric) Montejano, born on September 22, 1949, found his true community in Silver Lake, CA in the 1970s where he lived as a creative artist, entrepreneur and activist on his own terms, chasing his passions and accepting the pitfalls, until he died from lung cancer on June 22, 2014 at the age of 64.

After attending CSU Fullerton, Ric was artistic director at Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s City Lights Poets Theatre in San Francisco. Back in Los Angeles Ric continued to work as an actor and director in local theatre. In 2011, he fulfilled a lifetime ambition to open a show in NYC. Mad Women, a show he directed for performance artist John Fleck, was produced at La Mama NYC after a successful run at the Skylight Theatre in Los Feliz.

By the 1990s after the AIDS epidemic had swept through the gay community in Silver Lake, Ric was compelled to chronicle his experience with a series of short stories about the Gay 1980s, AIDS, crystal meth, incest, and obsession. Spoken word performances of the stories were performed at Word Space in Los Feliz, Highways in Santa Monica and at many venues and festivals.

As a survivor, Ric became a symbol for the gay community in Silver Lake. He has the words Silver Lake tattooed across the top of his back. A portrait of Ric entitled LOST appears in Patrick Ecclesine’s book and exhibits on Faces of Sunset Blvd. Another portrait of Ric writing at his kitchen table by photographer Philip Chin was shown at the Pasadena Armory.

From Patrick Ecclesine’s book and exhibits: “Faces of Sunset Boulevard”

In a Silver Lake History Collective interview with Ric Montejano by Richard Goldin and Marco Larsen, Ric discusses his life and the evolution of the gay community in Silver Lake:

For years Ric and his foundling Chihuahua-mix dog Sparky were memorable figures on Silver Lake Blvd., especially at Ric’s curbside Saturday sale of eclectic lamps. This was a “must stop” for local shoppers who remembered Ric as proprietor of Mohawk’s, a mid-century collectables store off Sunset Blvd. in the 1990s, and appreciated both the goods and the camaraderie.

When an intrusive electronic digital billboard threatened the peaceful nature of the neighborhood in 2008, Ric and Sparky regularly stood across the street with a hand-made sign that said “HONK if you hate this billboard.” Ric’s efforts, objections, and articulation attracted major media attention and editorial coverage that eventually unleashed a flood of protests to city hall until the billboard was removed.

Ric is survived by his many friends and his community. He has summed up the life he relished and chose for himself in his short story, “Beauty,” with these words: “I don’t regret chasing the dragon or flying too close to the sun. I don’t regret biting off more than I can chew or my nose to spite my face. I don’t regret eating crow or humble pie. I don’t regret walking down roads that led nowhere. This journey is MINE.”

To send donations for several legacy projects, including publication of Ric’s Silver Lake stories, contact montejanomemorial@gmail.com .

John Fleck is dedicating his upcoming REDCAT New Original Works show Blacktop Highway to Ric Montejano