David Halterman

Dave was a more interesting character than most people really knew. He was a medical lab tech, a sergeant in the Air Force cross-assigned on a research project at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. He was pretty close-mouthed about what he did--it apparently had to do with drug testing and analysis.

When I first met him, around 1969 or 1970, he had an apartment in Adams Morgan--this 20-odd years before it became fashionable. I remember at least one poker party there with him, Ted Pauls, Kim Weston (and what's become of him?), possibly Charlie Ellis and Jack Chalker. Breaking up at 4:00 a.m., the only place to get breakfast was a gay bar on Dupont Circle. Not sure who was more nervous, us or the regulars. Ham and eggs, and try to stay out of the way of all the guys dancing cheek to cheek.

He later rented a house much closer to his work at Walter Reed, and had a number of housemates (including me) to cover the rent. Living with Dave helped me get through a lot of lean times as an E3 sailor, when the month would run out a week or two before the next (monthly) paycheck.
We did have some WSFA meetings there, very possibly all fifth Fridays; I know that we originated the custom of collecting pennies to help Lee Smoire get to conventions--some brave soul would kick in a penny and call for somebody to double it. And again, etc. She sometimes got several dollars out of those exercises before the required contribution had doubled to the extent that nobody would make that next contribution.

Dave was a very active member of East Coast travelling fandom; many weekends in the early 70's were taken up with loops that would catch a PSFS (Philadelphia) meeting one night and a Lunarians meeting the next, with usually a party thrown in somewhere along the line. There were, in those days, a lot of fans willing to open their homes to visitors. We stayed over various times with George Scithers, Don and Debbie Sobwick, Brian and Sherna Burley, and John and Perdita Boardman. I don't know exactly when Dave got into WSFA, he often spoke about meetings at "Miss Cullen's," which were held somewhere downtown--possibly also in the Adams Morgan area. That definitely predated my own participation, which began at Gilliland's on Pennsylvania Avenue.

He was also an early fighter in the local SCA, and helped to found the Baronny of Myrkwood, which is still extant under the name Storvik. As Judy mentioned in a different post, she and he cooperated on a banquet which earned them both Master Cook designations--not a trivial exercise. For folks on the low end of the income scale, we dined (and drank) awfully well. Lang Lin's in Silver Spring, followed by dessert 100 feet up the sidewalk at Weile's Ice Cream Creations; those are memories to savor!

His last overseas posting was to Spain, where he added Spanish wines and sherries to his already considerable expertise with those from France and Germany. He retired to Florida, at least partly for access to military medical facilities, and for a while at least, was a partner in a gaming shop.

Dave had a fatal heart attack and passed away on June 28th, 2003.