Reading everyone's response here makes me realize how valued Ray was. He certainly touched a lot of souls. I'm posting on here a myspace blog from the young man, Roger, that broke the sad news to me the other day. As you can read from his words, Ray was a very good mentor in this young man's life. Roger told me that Ray's viewing is today and I asked that he stop by the board here sometime so he can read everyone's kind words.
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March 23, 2009 - Monday 11:48 PM
R.I.P. Raymond Dowdell
Current mood:Shocked
I found out about 30 minutes ago that a very good friend of mine passed
away today. For the last 10 years, I had been buying CDs from Raymond's
store, Avatar Records, in Radcliff almost exclusively. His service to
his customers was such that I felt it was worth the drive all the way
from Louisville because he made sure I got the exact album I wanted,
and would hold new albums and limited editions for me until I could get
down there to pick them up. If he didn't see something in his catalog
that I requested for a special order, he would even make note of it and
ask his suppliers specifically about that item.
Over the course of the past decade, I also got to know Raymond fairly
well. I first walked into his store in the 7th grade. Back then, I used
to have my grandpa drive me down there to get CDs, and Raymond always
knew exactly what I was looking for when I asked. When I finally got a
driver's license, I used to go hang out at the store and talk to him
about anything and everything when I would get off from work at the
Furniture Liquidators. His store was right down the street from
Furniture Liquidators, so it wasn't a big deal to visit there multiple
times during the week. Raymond used to give me advice on everything
from relationship issues to dealing with a lot of the bullshit that has
come and gone and come again over the years.
I can safely say that I would have never been introduced to a lot of my
favorite music if it weren't for Raymond. When I would hang out at the
store, if I was curious about a certain band and he had a copy of their
album in what part of his collection was at the store (he owned 1000s
of albums, making my 350+ collection look miniscule in comparison), he
would play the album for me so I could see if I liked it. If not for
this, I may have never gotten into Iron Maiden, Arch Enemy, Frank
Zappa, Corrosion of Conformity, Blue Oyster Cult, David Bowie, Lordi,
etc.
I'm honestly still confused about his death. From what I've heard, he
died from a heart attack, and it makes no sense to me. Although he was
54, the guy ran 7 miles every morning and evening and always looked
like he was in ridiculously good health for his age. Of all the people
I could have heard about this happening to, he would have been the last
I would have ever expected. Last time I talked to him, he was planning
his year off and what he was going to do afterward once he finally
closed the store for good this month.
R.I.P. Raymond - You were a great business man and an ever greater friend.
