by Ron Kaye
On October 9, 2004, a
dear friend and favorite client, Edmund J. Pankau
— who among many other accomplishments was the
author of the New York Times bestselling book, Hide
Your Assets And Disappear
— finally
"disappeared." "Fast Eddie" was,
to all outward appearances, the embodiment of a
successful Private Investigator, though his own life
was far from being private. He absolutely beamed when
I dubbed him a Media Whore, as he loved being in the
limelight as much as the work that placed him there.
Frequently as big a
story as the highly publicized cases on which he
worked so diligently, Ed was highlighted on national
television news magazines, as well as the covers of
many of the biggest print publications in the world.
He was frequently controversial, but always
entertaining.
That, however, is not
the Ed Pankau that I will remember. About 10 years
ago, I got to know an incorrigible skirt-chaser, a
lover of fine (and over-developed) breasts, and a
litigation magnet, who it seemed either sued or was
sued by half the population of the Western
Hemisphere. To his credit, suing him was guaranteed
the same success experienced by snowballs in hell,
with a corresponding (and successful) counter-suit
frequently emerging. He seemed to love the game.
Then, something
happened. Ed met the one "skirt" who would
finally convince him that monogamy had real merit,
and he somehow convinced her to marry him. As much as
my partner and I wondered how long this affair would
last, we were stunned when we saw Ed and Lisa
together. Stunned, because we had never seen Ed in
love before.
His bravado was never
diminished, but we could tell he was finally where he
wanted to be. And he was happy.
The last time we saw
Ed was a few weeks before he died. No longer pushing
to keep up an image, his deepest thoughts were his
gratitude for having re-established a relationship
with a long-distant son, his devotion to - and
concern for the well-being of - his wife, Lisa. I
assured him that, since she had survived all the
years living with him, she could handle anything, and
he need not worry. I was right.
While most people will
remember Ed as a shrewd and sometimes ruthless
fighter, the memories I carry are of a compassionate
man who wasn't always comfortable showing his tender
side, a man who loved laughter and life itself, and
who somehow infected those around him with that love.
I will remember a man whom I grew to love as a
brother. I told him early on that he and I would get
along fine, because we were both assholes, and he
agreed.
In closing, I offer a
toast that Ed and I shared on numerous occasions:
Here's to
swimmin with bowlegged women...
Happy trails, Ed. And
welcome home.
Note: The Fourth of
July, 2005, would have been Ed's 60th birthday.
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