A Remembrance of Steve Ratner by Jamie Ratner

My brother Steve Ratner (aka Tiger Ratner) died in Los Angeles on February 13 at the age of 72 of a sudden unexplained major cardiovascular event. As far as we can tell his death was quick and relatively painless. Steve had not been particularly healthy recently – the last couple of years had been tough for him, he developed Parkinson’s Disease and had bad tremors, and also recently had pulmonary thrombosis. Because there was a significant possibility he would end up with a painful, lingering death, what has happened is in certain respects merciful. But it nevertheless comes as a painful saddening shock to Steve’s remaining close relatives, his brother and me.

There won’t be a service – Steve’s body will be cremated and his ashes spread in the Pacific Ocean off the Southern California coast, a place he loved. Almost all of you reading this knew Steve when he was young, so I’m not going to say a whole lot about him in that regard. Long before there was Tiger Woods, Steve was given the nickname Tiger by older kids because he played sports and fought with a Tiger’s intensity in the rough and tumble of Cambridge Mass public school in 2nd and 3rd grade. The name was apt and it stuck. Steve was a wonderful athlete (he particularly loved and excelled at baseball), a fearless board and body surfer, handsome, very popular, charming, highly intelligent in both book and street smarts, incredibly well-read, and the funniest, most clever person I have ever met. He loved music and was one of those people who always knew the best music.

Growing up we were both close friends and rivals. He was my big brother – I idolized him, copied him, tried to compete with him (and almost always felt out of my league), learned from him, irritated him to no end. As an adult he was an amazing artist, with an incredible sense of color and creativity. Later in his life he developed a keen appreciation of Native American art, culture and society and a love of animals.

Steve had a rough life once he reached adult age, a life many of us would not have survived. That he survived fairly intact into his early 70s shows just how tough he really was. He suffered his entire adult life from schizophrenia, which imposed on him intense feelings of fear, rage, and auditory hallucinations due to no fault of his own. He spent many years without a place to live, on the street and sometimes in one of the world’s largest mental health treatment facilities known as LA County Jail. He nevertheless maintained many aspects of his personality, and for the last 25 years had a better existence, living in Santa Monica, going to the beach, going for long walks, painting/drawing, and volunteering at an animal shelter. But schizophrenia can be nasty – it doesn’t fight fair, and is a lifetime imposition, and Steve had to deal with it until he no longer had the strength to do so. His life and death are a reminder that serious mental illness and resultant homelessness and suffering can affect anyone, through no fault of their own. It isn’t something that happens to “other” people – it is our loved ones, our most treasured people.

If you are inclined, in lieu of flowers or anything directed toward his family, a donation in Steve’s name to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (https://www.nami.org/Home) or the National Alliance on Schizophrenia and Depression (now called the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation – https://bbrfoundation.org/) would make his family happy.

It is appropriate to conclude with some music. Steve loved the early Grateful Dead – he wanted no part of being a DeadHead, he just loved the music early on, and this is one of his favorites – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AtVtx6H738
Did he doubt or did he try?
Answers aplenty in the bye and bye
Talk about your plenty talk about your ills, one man gathers what another man spills
St Stephen will remain, all he’s lost he shall regain,
seashore washed by the suds and the foam
been here so long he’s got to calling it homeAnd right now I am feeling the end of another Garcia/Hunter song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ps_01A3qpls
Standing on the moon, with nothing left to do
A lovely view of heaven but I’d rather be with you
Be with you

You are invited to reach out to Jamie Ratner with your memories and comments at: jamie@law.arizona.edu