The Death Beat

This weekend the Decatur Book Festival returns. Last year I was left with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth after an unfortunate Kinky Friedman lecture, but after looking at this year’s lineup I am willing to give it a second chance.

One of the Writer’s Conference workshops that will take place on Friday will be hosted by our own award-winning obituary writer, Doyenne of the Death Beat, Kay Powell. The title for her talk, “Bye, Y’all”, which I am guessing will only be a sliver of the morbid hysterics that will ensue. Since I cannot relay any anecdotes or lists euphamisms for death yet, I am going to instead provide you with a taste of what is to come with a Kay Powell obituary.

Kay with her International Hall of Obituarists Award.

A step into Don Salo’s basement was a step into a movie theater lobby draped in dark blue curtains and complete with a marquee, a ticket booth and a bar with a popcorn machine.

Part those deep blue curtains, plop down in one of the four theater seats or on the leather couch and choose among 400 movie DVDs and countless music CDs.

“It was all computerized,” said his friend Andy Smith of Buckhead who helped Mr. Salo build his high-tech media room. “You just push a button and the lights dim, the curtain opens, and the movie begins. If you were watching ‘Top Gun,’ you thought you were sitting on the top deck of the aircraft carrier.”

Mr. Salo, an IBM retiree who founded his own security- alarm business, favored action movies but included such sentimental favorites as “The Sound of Music” in his video library, too.

The home theater was just one of Mr. Salo’s toys that he shared with his friends and his son, Eric Salo, of Sandy Springs. He wanted others to enjoy their play, and in 1995 donated the money to install lights at the Riverwood High School athletic field. Taking it a step further, Mr. Salo qualified for a school bus driver’s license so he could drive his son’s baseball team around, Mr. Smith said.

“He was one of the cheapest guys I knew but also one of the most generous,” said his friend Frank Bellavia of Atlanta. “If it was for a friend or his family, he spared no expense. He was super frugal, but when one of his employee’s wife needed an operation they couldn’t afford, Don just gave him the money.”

The memorial service for Donald Roy Salo, 62, will be 2 p.m. Friday at H.M. Patterson & Son, Arlington Chapel. The body will be cremated. He died of a blood clot Aug. 15. He had just finished jogging and was in the driveway of his Sandy Springs residence sending a text message when he collapsed, said his sister, Nancy Clayton of Austin, Texas.

You can learn how to do THIS Friday, August 29th at 4 p.m. at Agnes Scott College.