On Sunday, August 3, Mynya Giballawinsky passed away.
Mynya was one of the very first friends Stacey made when she moved to San Francisco in 1989. She met him at Tower Records, where both of them worked. He was 70 years old when he died.
I did not know him very well, he was Stacey's friend, but I did meet him and ran in to him on occasion. His life's story is an amazing journey. He lost his parents and his brother during World War II. He survived a Nazi concentration camp. He came to America as a child and was adopted. He eventually ended up in California.
The only memory that I have of Mynya goes back to when Stacey and I lived at Robert and Shelley's house over on Taylor Street in Albany. Stacey and Mynya came by, and I was in the backyard. As they walked towards me I was overwhelmed with an...aura that seemed to surround Mynya. I'm not a very..higher consciousness oriented kind of guy but I immediately got a sense of peace and gentleness from Mynya that I have never felt before. I swear, he seemed to...glide above the ground towards me. The most gentle soul I have ever known.
He had multiple health problems and couldn't get around very easily, so he had asked Stacey if she could bring him a large supply of Dr. Pepper (!) on Monday, August 4. We went to a store and got several cases, came home and there was a message on the answering machine. His caretaker/roommate asked that Stacey call - it was about the following day's planned visit.
Stacey called and got the news. Mynya had passed away peacefully in his sleep the night before.
Rest in peace Mynya, you made the world a better place. You overcame a horrible childhood, but your soul was never broken and you enriched all of our lives. Stacey has a big hole in her heart right now, but she'll be OK. She is a better person because of you. We all are. Thanks for the enrichment. We love you.
7 comments:
I knew Mynya very well. And just received the sad news today.
He was a sweet spirit from another time, who was too good to all that knew him. My heart is heavy. as I will never forget the darling man who used to sing opera to my cat. Thank you for your kind words.
ONE OF THE MOST WONDERFUL PEOPLE THERE EVER WAS....THERE WAS NO ONE WHO WASN'T TOUCHED IN A GOOD WAY FROM KNOWING MICHAEL (MYNYA)....HE LEFT HIS FOOTPRINTS IN OUR HEARTS....WE WILL HOLD YOU IN OUR HEART FOREVER MICHAEL....WITH ALL MY LOVE DEAR BROTHER OF MINE.....
Mynya was my roomate in Sacramento. We had a mutual friend that wanted him to live with me instead of her, so I accepted this wonderful opportunity. He moved out after about a month or two. I continued to see him and my friends and he would go to the bars and close them down. Later, he moved in with me and two others and eventually another person joined (the one I married). What a time we had laughing,partying,loving and creating a riotous good time. He moved to San Francisco with one of the roomates. Another went to New York. I became a father of two girls. He moved back to Sacramento and we met again. This time to have him babysit my children on occasion. What a guy. He then moved back to SF and our relationship was not as frequent. My heart has a tremendous blank in it over the lose of such a special person. May the light guide your way on my dearest friend Mynya.
I was so sad to see this Gil. I worked with Stacey and Mynya in the early to mid '90's. I still have some mix-tapes that Mynya made for me. He was a very special person to me and I treasure my memories of him.
It's funny, I stumbled onto your blog by searching for his name. We have a Facebook group for former Bay & Columbus employees. If Stacey is online please send her over!
http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=28894184230
~Kathie
Now and then I would search for Mynya's name online to see if he was teaching Tarot again or just to see if he was doing something remarkable - he had so many talents. I was saddened to see here that he had died. His birthday, though, was March 13, 1944, not 1938. As an astrologer, I ran his chart out, he looked at it and even commented about some of his natal placements. He also mentioned how lucky it was to be born on Friday, the 13th which occured in 1944, not 1938. I have never personally known anyone that had his occult abilities. He was amazing and I learned so much from him. He's been in my heart for a long time, having last seen him in 1986 before he moved to Fremont. He was a kindred soul. ~ Tara, Sacramento
Gil - Hi! My name's Katie Hamrick - we met briefly when Stacey and I were at Tower in the 90's. Could you please have her contact me regarding Mynya?
Thank you so much!
-katie.
ps - contact email - have her use kcostello4@ivytech.edu
I was just reminiscing about my year working at Tower Records & Video in the Castro 1996-1997. I spent a lot of time working in the classical section with Mynya, and I'll certainly never forget him. I learned a lot from him, and I enjoyed our long conversations together. I've never met anyone who knew so many opera recordings as he did.
It was an amazing crew working at Tower, and I'm glad I had the chance to meet and know Mynya.
To the earlier comment: there's no way his birthday was 1944 -- he was a child during the Holocaust and still had the tattoo.
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