THE AUTHORING AUCTIONEER

Think about some monumental figures of history: Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Jesus of Nazareth, Richard the Lionheart, Joan d’Arc, Martin Luther, George Washington, Napoleon, Ulysses Grant, Eleanor Roosevelt, Adolf Hitler, Bill Clinton… The list can go on and on.  Indeed, I can add hundreds, even thousands of names to that list.  The annals of time remember such persons for their deeds, for what they did in their lifetimes and how they affected the course of the world, and unless such prominent historical figures took land by military force, no one remembers them for what they owned.  No.  History makes men and women immortal by remembering their actions, inventions, contributions, and overall impact, not for the crap they had stored in their closets or attics.

Now yes, the possessions of the famous can be worth piles of cash.  John F. Kennedy’s rocking chair was sold by Sotheby’s for $442, 500.  Had that rocker not been owned by that famous son of a crooked rum runner, it would be worth $50.  However, JFK’s rocker realized hundreds of thousands of dollars because JFK planted his famous ass in it on a daily basis to relieve his back pain.  His ass was so special because of his legacy, because of what JFK had meant to millions of Americans.  When someone mentions the name John F. Kennedy, what comes to mind?  His rocker?  No.  You think of his assassination, of Jackie O, of civil rights, of the Cuban Missile Crisis, of the Bay of Pigs… you think of what he did to affect the history of the United States and the planet.

Did Hitler play with model trains?  Maybe.  He certainly had an affinity for them.  How many millions did he load on real trains in order to ship off his “undesirables” to nightmarish work camps and certain death?  Maybe at the end of a long day of being the most horrible bastard ever, jolly old Adolf retired to his basement to find solace and relaxation in an O Gauge reprieve.  Now what if that was true and Hitler’s train set suddenly surfaced in some auction gallery.  How many thousands… how many millions would it bring?  The sky would be the limit, but only because it would have been owned by Adolf Hitler, who will forever be remembered by humanity for his great tyranny and his resulting influence on modern history!

Do you get my point yet?  Are you catching my drift?  Being an auctioneer, more than half of my consignments come from estates of the deceased.  Now I understand that when someone dies, the survivors grieve.  (Well, usually.)  Yes, it would be callous to start selling off a person’s stuff before the body gets cold, but eventually business needs to be taken care of.  There are many estates that I walk into where months–even years–have gone by since someone’s passing.  There are those people who avoid dealing with someone’s estate because they don’t want to deal with that someone’s death.  If you have been or are one such grieving person, I am neither picking on you nor belittling your pain.  I just want you to consider this:

Hanging on to a person’s belongings does not validate a life that has expired.  Memories keep a person alive, not what they had in the living room or kitchen or basement.  When I pass, I don’t want to be remembered by my bedroom suit or coffee table.  I want to be remembered by the novels I have and will have written, by the lives I have and will have touched, by both the laughter and controversy I have and will have spread, by the misery and pain I have and will have caused… I want to be remembered by my deeds and actions, not by my possessions.

I’m not saying that nothing should be saved of a person’s belongings.  If you have happy memories of your grandfather always sitting on a certain stool when he drank beer and told stories, by all means keep that stool.  If you have fond recollections of your mother mixing your favorite cookies in that big yellow bowl with the chip in it, by all means keep that bowl.  If you want to spite your dead aunt by taking the necklace she said you would never have, by all means take that necklace.  Just please, don’t reduce a person’s life to what he or she owned. Most of us will never affect history like JFK or Hitler did, but we do affect everyone in our lives, for better or for worse.

Remember people for who they were, not for what they had…

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