My Brother Mark, A Son of Eire

Not about acting, this blog post is a personal one. Today on his birthday, I think of my brother, Mark. Sometimes those whose blood runs thick with Celtic heritage are brilliant, poetic and charismatic. Gifted but complicated. Sometimes too sensitive for this world. Some of these brilliant lights burn out far too soon.

My big brother Mark comes to me in songs.

Clannad’s “Harry’s Theme” will spontaneously come on when I think of him, if I have satellite radio on. He was brilliant and beautiful. Today on his birthday, I think of my brother, Mark. The Irish can be brilliant lights.

“I will go east and go west

From whence came

The moon and the sun

The moon and the sun will go

And the young man

With his reputation behind him

I will go wherever he came from -

The young man with his reputation behind him “

His birthday was on March 1st. If it wasn’t for my brother Mark, I would not be who I am today. He turned me on to music, to the arts, to science, to science fiction and Star Trek at a very early age. To exploring the unseen worlds within our Universe. To spirituality and not religion.

Smart, funny, extremely talented. In his younger years, he was the prettiest of us all. I can remember being in awe of him. I think everyone was. This charismatic creature who played his guitar at the edge of the bed. I would wander in, about 5 years old, and he would play music for me. Always asking what would I like to hear and my answer was always; “the house with the sun rise.”

He was a huge influence on turning my natural inclination to the exploration of higher realms of thought. Turning it into something tangible that I could bring into my life. I remember exploring his room as a child and finding books that lead me on paths that made me who I am today.

I owe a lot to him.

All that I can do well, he could do better. Guitarist, musician, artist, gardener, chef, actor, dancer. He wrote songs and sang them. He wanted to boldly go where no man had gone before.  He was willing and able to see in our world and those worlds beyond us what others could not.

He was a true son of Eire.