By KRISTEN WILSON
Our friend Hal Galli died last week. He was a good man and a great friend. And I thought he would live forever.
Many people on Orcas Island will remember Hal. He lived on Orcas Island for more than eight years with his partner in life, Adrian Swick. He was a member of the Orcas Island Yacht Club, and he passed away peacefully in Rancho Mirage, California, where he and Adrian lived during the past few years.
Hal was born in Detroit, Michigan. He had a long career, beginning in early television with great success as an “American Bandstand” director and later as a TV movie and mini-series producer, working with stars such as Halle Berry. He was an avid sailor for years in Southern California and then a power boater in California and Washington – always on a boat named Gallivant. He retired from television and film production to move to Orcas, and that’s when my husband Ed and I became friends with “Hal and Adrian.”
Hal and Adrian moved to the house just above ours in Orcas Highlands. The first time we met was when they came by our house for a garden tour, and we became fast friends. We knew Hal as a consummate party-giver, raconteur, smart conversationalist and just simply “fun” to hang out with. Sitting with Hal and Adrian on their deck, and just talking with the two of them, was heaven.
We never really spoke of Hal without Adrian. It was always “Hal and Adrian.” And it is heartbreaking to imagine them apart.
They became our closest friends on Orcas Island. So when they decided to move to Palm Springs a few years ago, we were very sad to see them go. For those who knew Hal, and how much he liked to improve his surroundings, including going so far as to rearrange the furniture in a hotel room when it didn’t suit him, it will come as no surprise that Hal and Adrian were in the middle of a remodel when Hal died last week suddenly of a pulmonary embolism.
People often described Hal as a curmudgeon. But surely there’s never been a more delightful, funny, charming, loveable curmudgeon – and just a downright decent person. When Ed and I brought our daughter Paris home from China five years ago, Hal and Adrian became part of every celebration with her. And Hal had the perfect gift for Paris. . . . his own baby blanket, which must have been 75 years old. What a treasure.
I’ve never met anyone in my life I enjoyed teasing more than Hal, particularly about politics – knowing that our vastly different views would always yield to tearful laughter and agreement on so many important things in life. We will miss Hal very, very much.
