Gay writer and music critic Adam Parker Block died Sunday morning, January 27, at his home in San Francisco after a protracted pulmonary illness. He was 56.
A fifth generation Seattleite, Mr. Block was born in Seattle February 7, 1951. He attended California Institute of the Arts, and graduated from Harvard. He had lived in San Francisco for the past 30 years.
In the 1980s, Mr. Block was a popular music critic for the Advocate , where he wrote a regular column, "Block on Rock." His writing also appeared in the Bay Area Reporter , the now-defunct San Francisco Sentinel newspaper, and other publications, including the old San Francisco Examiner's Image magazine.
Mr. Block was a challenging and unforgettable friend, in turns fiercely loyal and loving and breathtakingly selfish, combative and self-absorbed, his friends wrote on a memorial blog. "His curiosity, knowledge, humor, and spirit were contagious. Adam believed punctuality, deadlines, and being awake during daylight hours were vastly overrated. He loved to outrage and often bragged that being gay, Jewish and half-Texan, he had something to offend most everyone. Adam loved literature, art, music, film, news, politics, humor, ideas, food, drink, and travel – but most of all, smart lively conversation and animated debate," they wrote.
Mr. Block is survived by nine siblings: Jonathan, Daniel, Kenan, Susanna, Mary Judith, Tamara, Christina, Melinda, and Newton and his stepmother, Mary Lou Block, as well as 13 nieces and nephews. Mr. Block's father Robert Jackson Block and mother Dorothy Wolens Block preceded him in death.
A memorial celebrating Mr. Block's life will be held Thursday, March 6 at 4:30 p.m. at Temple De Hirsch, 1511 East Pike, Seattle, WA. Plans are under way for a San Francisco service.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Bailey-Boushay House, 2720 E. Madison St., Seattle, WA 98112.