Clarissa Room owner John Starr dies at 50
A year after its opening, Clarissa Room owner John Starr died of a heart attack on Saturday at the age of 50. From what I’ve heard from musicians and seen of myself the times I’ve been at the club, and from the writeup by Jeff Spevak in the D&C, Mr. Starr was an interesting man who I would have liked to have the opportunity to meet and get to know. I didn’t know about his activist side, although it doesn’t surprise me. I heard about his death via an email from the Bill Welch Band (thanks), who had played there last Friday, opening for the Bill Tiberio Group. I was planning on going to the Sonny Miles show there on Saturday.
As I have said elsewhere I really was impressed by what he was trying to build at The Clarissa Room and have written it up on occasion (here and here). The Clarissa Room always seemed to be (and will continue to be, I hope) about the music and also seemed to be becoming a neighborhood institution in Corn Hill.
According to the D&C article there will be a celebration of John Starr at The Clarissa Room this Friday, beginning at 4 p.m., with donations accepted to help the family re-open the club, which according to the article was in Starr’s plans all along. Although this is a reminder in this week of reminders of how life and dreams can be cut short, John Starr, a former maintenance mechanic at the Greece Central School District for nearly 20 years, seemed by all accounts to be living his dream. That is a testament to him.
