Clifton and I were in Boy Scouts and high school together in Berkeley and shared many adventures, misadventures and fantasies. He was perceptive, generous and a breath of fresh air in a stuffy, one-dimensional world. He played by his own rules and shared his enjoyment of life with those in his orbit.

Dearest Sahara and family,

I don't expect you to remember me, we met in Goa, India, many moons ago. I did keep in touch with Buck for a while but then I relocated to Singapore & then UAE, where I am now. 

I was in Goa cleaning out my house and found Bucks' visiting card & ran a search on Google only to find this memorial website.

I have fond memories of dinner in Goa with Buck AKA@Cotati Kid,  and finding that visiting card brought all those memories back.

I pray that Buck finds his internal rest .

God Bless his soul

Catholic Church Berkeley 1968

Clif was the best man at my 1968 wedding in Berkeley. I will post photos later. RIP

My condolences to Clifton's family. I first met Clifton 1980 when I was politically active in CMI-80 . We crossed paths again a few years later when I met Mooka and I did some acoustical engineering for Prairie Sun.  Then when the Accordion Festival started I connected with Clifton again as a life-long accordionist.   I recall Clifton's annual calendar delivery.   He was kind enough to include me and my dear partner, Jane Pitts, at the Prairie Sun table at the Bammies.   We attended his grandmother's parties and Clifton visited us at our home after moving to Viet Nam.  All those years I can't recall seeing him without a smile on his face.

playing Lady of Spain with my grandson Brenden — with Frank Hubach

I have a great story that I would Love to share, Cliff did a lot of good things for people, one of the many things he did was to Honor his Grandmother every year thru the 70's and 80's with a party on the Farm.  He made a platform with a throne on it surrounded with flowers, that's where his  Grandma sat, he invited his friends to come and celebrate her birthday, he had bands play on another platform, at least 100 people showed up sometimes more, Grandma had a birds eye view of everything. In his guest house he set up a sushi bar, all you can eat, and the food was fantastic, roasted Turkey, Ham, Salmon, with lots of Vegies, I went there many times but this one was special, it was a hot day, so I grabbed my plate and went into one of his store rooms to eat, it was filled with those white plastic chairs, the kind you can stack,  there were about 10- 15 people eating  and talking , then,  in walks Don Novello, aka Father Guido Sarduchi, he stood in front of us and asked if we wanted to hear some comedy, well, hell yeah! he then started with the love life of Plastic chairs, and went on about how well they fit together and if you stacked them up it became a chair orgy, he went on for about 45 minutes with this chair routine, I was laughing so hard I couldn't eat my food, he had us all in stiches, what a rare moment in my life, and it was all Cliff who made this happen. Thank you Brother, for a memory that will last a lifetime.

Heading from Cotati to Berkeley one day in 1976 as a new arrival in Sonoma County, I saw a hippie who looked like Jerry Rubin hitch-hiking on the on-ramp to Highway 101, so I stopped to give him a ride. He was going to Berkeley, and so was I, lucky for him. He said his "fleet was down," which I took for a joke explaining why he was hitch-hiking. That was how I met Cliff. I ran into him  a few days later in The Tradewinds, where I went to indulge my pinball machine addiction, and Cliff invited me to a party at his place.  It was one of those fantastic mega-parties he threw every year for his grandmother's birthday, and when I rode my motorcycle up the driveway I realized he hadn't been kidding about his fleet. I might be the only one of Cliff's friends who met him by picking him up hitch-hiking. We became good friends, and over the years we had many wide-ranging discussions of varying degrees of profundity during my frequent visits to his house. Cliff was the first person in Sonoma County to commission me to  paint a painting for him. He also had me paint a sky scene in one of his outbuildings for his parties, which subsequently became one of Prairie Sun's studios, where I did some recording sessions playing guitar over the years. The news of Cliff's death came as quite a shock to me. I'm a few years older than he was, so I never expected him to not be there any more. He was a unique character, and my world won't be quite the same now that he's gone.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Clif, however I share his birthday...Nov 18th (also is Mickey Mouse's birthday) I know his wife Sahara from Aikido.  She brings a great energy to class.  I hope to find ways to support their family in her time of loss. 😔

I am so sad to hear this. Clif was a gracious host when I visited Vietnam.

What a sad news. Cliff  Will always be on my mind. Thanks to him I visited San Francisco in 1985 ? 1987 ? He was a great friend of my sister Sylvie. I remember great moments and when Clifton came to Bordeaux to visit with a bunch  of friends. Well, I’ll miss him and courage to his Lovely bride and children. 

Marie-P. From Bordeaux. 

Shared many adventures with Cliff in Spain-Amsterdam- Thailand- Bietnam where I met his lovely wife Sahara and attended the wedding. Was @ Cotati on many occasions where Cliff graciously introduced me to family and friends. We went back to the days of Straight Theater and I send my love and respect to his family and friends   ❤️ from the last frontier Cambodia where Cliff often came to visit me   Antonio Pineda

Clifton - What an awesome dude! When we visited Vietnam 14 years ago with our 10 month old baby, he took us on a mini tour of HCM, and and treated us to a wonderful dinner. My sincerest condolences to his family and friends. I'm at a loss for words - He was such a wise and kind man. The kind we need in the world! He will be remembered fondly in our family.

Clifton was an amazing,and generous character. He was engaging and easily shared his love of family and life. The gatherings at La Lomita with the strolling accordion player, the conversations he shared, and the energy he gave to so many will not be lost. I am truly sorry for His wife, daughter, his family, and his many friends, that he is moving on.  Peace to you all.

Sending love music and golden light ❤️

With a heavy heart and sadness my deepest condolences to family and friends...

So sorry to her of Clifton’s passing. My condolences to his family and friends.