Anthony Christopher Sloat

It seems strange to say this, but the one characteristic about my brother that I admired most was that we all knew the same person. And while that seems obvious, think about how many of us have our work persona, friends persona, family persona, etc. We adapt ourselves to different groups and situations. Anthony was who he was. He was an artist, a performer, a dreamer, and a realist. He wasn’t some of those things some of the time. That is who he was. He was the complete package. He was a visionary, funny, dedicated, kind, and caring.

So many people have reached out to offer condolences, from his grammar school friends and former teachers. I had a lovely conversation with his high school drama director. Anthony was in countless theatrical productions from grammar school through college. He loved the stage. His performances expanded my exposure to musical theater, Guys and Dolls, Carousel, Oklahoma, Kiss Me Kate, and many others. And when the acting bug passed, Anthony taught himself to play the keyboard and formed a band called Shattered Innocence, whose logo (which he created) was a strange combination of crayon lettering and shattered shards of glass.

He was tolerant of my musical tastes and I did subject him to A LOT of Genesis music and I may have dragged him to an 80’s Bee Gees concert at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. However, he was probably the biggest Styx fan, which is part of the reason he was so enthusiastic when Tim and Academy Locksmiths offered him the opportunity to relocate to Chicago.

He remembered everything - little details that usually fall by the wayside. One day, he called me up to let me know that he found something online and I would be receiving a package. A few days later, a superhero garbage can arrived. Not just any garbage can, but the same make and model metal can that my mother had hurled at my head when I was 10 years old (and he was 6) and when I said to my mother, “How could you hit me in the head with a metal garbage can?” She shrugged and told me I should have ducked. Anthony found that delightfully amusing and used his tenacity all those years later to search and find a similar can. Although, judging from the condition it arrived in, it was, quite possibly, the same one from our childhood.

In his story, Lenny and the God Machine, Anthony wrote, “Going crazy is like swinging on a vine over an un-wooded lake. There comes a point where the only thing left to do is let go…”

Anthony got to let go. Fortunately, we are all left with a lot of stories and moments for us to hold onto.

In STYX’s song, Come Sail Away, the lyrics are:

Reflections in the waves spark my memory

Some happy, some sad

I think of childhood friends and the dreams we had

Thank you all for honoring the man my brother still is - Domo Arigato Charlie