Seth Flynn Barkan

He was proceeded in death by his father Barry Barkan, of Las Vegas and Aunt Marna Flynn Williams of Yuma, Arizona. He is survived by his mother Mary Flynn Barkan; brother Gregory (Jennifer); sisters Barbara Neal, and Robyn Markowitz, of Las Vegas and aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and artistic collaborators. His many talents included: poet, stride pianist, programmer, author/copywriter, composer, gamer under the handle skookiesprite, and a visual and digital artist.

He was the author of A Cacophony of Near Fatal Mistakes. His book of poetry on video games, Blue Wizard Is About To Die!: Prose, Poems, and Emoto-Versatronic Expressionist Pieces About Video Games, sold internationally and was one of the best-selling domestic poetry books of 2004.

In the early 2000s he was a journalist for Las Vegas City Life newspaper writing a weekly column reviewing the bar/lounge scene in Las Vegas.

He was well known for "The Best Linux Games Podcast," is weekly podcast which covered the best games available for the GNU/Linux Operating System, which was celebrating it's 8th year in circulation.

Barkan's work as a Stride Pianist was featured on WNYC's "Studio 360" program, nationally syndicated via PRI. He performed for years on the Las Vegas Strip (as well as many off-Strip bars). At one point, he had over 1 million views of his performances during the early years of YouTube (stats were lost after Google acquired the company).

He recently completed a musical work “Slutty Wizard” which was featured on his website Dracula Factory. He described this work - “Ever since I was 14 years old (in 94') and began to compose and arrange with MIDI, I've had a double life. I will forever be a Traditional Jazzer, first and foremost, but that's only one side of the coin. [With "Slutty Wizard"] I think I can finally go berserk with the secret, futuristic side. In a fun, retro, psychotic, roller-coaster kind of way." This work gained him acceptance in the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

He was working on a novel at the time of his death.

He will be missed by his family and many creative friends. Tributes may be made to ASCPA’s Foundation to further music education at https://www.ascapfoundation.org/donate or to an organization of your choice.

A gathering for friends and family will take place at the unveiling of his marker on May 19, 2024.