Preparing to Close the Heart...

So today is Sunday morning and Travis has been dead for three days now. I've finally began to get over it a little bit, by hanging out with a few friends and immersing myself in general groups of conversation. Anything that will help me take the pain out my head. It's like a surgery after the cutting and slicing away of the heart, when they've done what they have to, they prepare the sutures and start to stitch it up slowly. That's where I am right now. I'm starting to accept that he's gone and it just makes me more thankful and everything that I got to be his student. I had a conversation with Sharon today and she helped me to realize that Travis' death was just the way he would've wanted it. The crash was very very dramatic just like his life was. So I'm glad that it happened that way. He would've been mad if anything else happened like that. The paper says that he died instantly so I'm happy for it. As far as everything else, I managed to go to class and stuff but only after I went to chorus and found out that we're performing at Travis' memorial at GPAC. I didn't know that his death affected so many people. The GPAC is the only place we can have the memorial because of all the people that's supposed to attend. So yeah enough of that.

I got to see Silent Hill yesterday. It was really good actually. I was very impressed, and I'm in love with the camera work that the director used. It was a true mindfuck, just like the videogames, and it was a real trip watching it. The ending was really like whoa though it was kind of confusing. So yeah I've got mad work to do today. So more later on.

The Official Report via UNCP

The Official Report via UNCP

Friday, August 25, 2006

UNCP Professor in Fatal Automobile Accident

A veteran of stage and higher education Travis Stockley, 50, died in an automobile accident in Lumberton, N.C., on August 24, 2006. Stockley was an assistant professor and coordinator of the Music Theatre degree program at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

Stockley joined UNC Pembroke in 2002 and was instrumental in establishing the Universitys Bachelor of Music program in Musical Theatre in 2005. He directed a number of musicals at the University, including Music Man, Babes in Arms, Sweeney Todd, Aint Misbehavin and Youre A Good Man, Charlie Brown."

An accomplished director, Stockley directed over 100 professional productions throughout the U. S. and Europe, including The Music Man (starring Gary Sandy), Man of La Mancha (starring David Holiday), My Fair Lady, Singin in the Rain, West Side Story, Grease and Show Boat."

A Chicago, Ill., native, Stockley earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Illinois Wesleyan and his Master of Fine Arts from Northwestern University. He was a member of the East Carolina University faculty before coming to UNCP.

Stockley won the Outer Critics Award for the best Off-Broadway musical production and the Joseph Jefferson Award for best director of a musical. A finalist in the Sundance Theatre Lab, he entered three shorts in the Sundance Film Festival.

An active member of his community, Stockley served on the Advisory Board for Strike At The Wind! in Pembroke, N.C., and directed plays at the Gilbert Theater in Fayetteville, N.C. He was also a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national music fraternity for men.

The Stockley family is planning a private funeral service to be held in Chicago, Ill. A memorial service will be held in the Givens Performing Arts Center at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke on Wednesday, September 6, 2006, at 10 AM.

R.I.P. Professor Stockley. I Miss You Already.

Travis, I cannot explain to you in words all that you have done for me here at UNC Pembroke. I truly owe you everything since being here. You are the only one who made me feel like anything I did was possible, and I am so VERY HONORED to have served and learned under you for every second we spent together during the two years you were my professor. You were my advisor, my mentor and my friend. And this is very very hard for me to accept that you're gone, but I will do the very best I can to keep your legacy alive in my heart and my mind for as long as I have breath in me to sing. And whenever I open my mouth to give the gift of song, I will know from now on that you are my inspiration and my strength that inspires me from day to day. I love and miss you very much. And I hope that you have found in death, the peace that this life could not give you. Do a rendition of Showboat for me wherever you are!!!!

Much love now and forever, Your student,
D'Arcee C. Neal