Tony is and always will be my precious, brilliant,clever, loving brother. He will be missed in ways I cannot even fathom. That he won't know my grandchildren nor they him causes me great sadness. But I do believe that those we love are never really gone as long as we remember them, and Tony will never be forgotten by those whose lives he touched. I offer this with complete love and gratitude for having had the honor and privilege of calling him "Brother." - Athena, Colorado
Tony once told me that he wished he had been steered to the arts rather than the sciences. Tony's art was, of course, words. His knowledge of words, their meanings and derivations, was encyclopedic. He was uncanny in his ability to detect where someone was from from their dialect. Over the years, I had many occasions to observe Tony dazzling many different types of people with his words. He once showed me a prize-winning poem he had written in his early teens. One year on his birthday I was riding my bicycle down an alley and saw a glint coming from a discarded roll of carpet. It was a sterling silver spoon pin, used to advertise a silverware pattern in the old days. The pattern was "Eloquence." This was so perfect for Tony! We will all miss Tony's diatribes, harangues, rantings and ravings, invented words, and brilliant use of language, along with the rest of him."- Mary, Colorado
I have been looking for Tony forever! His name on the East High School graduation list is Adonis Gregory Peros, which is why I couldn't find him I guess. I remember Tony as the class Nihilist. There were rumors of his fleeing the law and hiding out throughout his life. I know there is probably quite a tale to be told about Tony. Who will write that book? Old-Hippies.org is a great tribute to this "one of a kind" man who seemingly lived life as many of us wish we could ... liberated. We'll miss you, Tony. - Patty Reagan
Everything said here is true, and so much more. When I tried to condense my feelings, every thought brings more tears. The loss is incalculable, and I don't know how to bear it. Earth is a smaller, poorer place.- Virginia, Denver
Tony, you had a great sense of humor, and have always been a loving person toward me. You always listened and encouraged me, treating me respectfully. Your humanity was a refuge in this crazy world. Strange to say about such a wondrously eccentric person-but nonetheless true! Through the years I have counted on your kindness and thoughtfulness. I think of you often and I miss you. God bless you. - AH, Colorado
Thank you for all our great conversations about cooking - I am passionate about cooking - I enjoyed our theoretical and practical discussions. Thanks to you I can now cook a perfect turkey! - FH, Colorado
Since I am Pete's wife, I overheard many late night marathon calls between Pete and Tony. I even got to asking Pete, why don't you call Tony--somehow the calls were soothing to me, just to listen to them banter in their own private, unique language. I could always tell when Tony was on the other end of the line. There were so many "Tony-isms" that got passed along to me, that they are part of my vocabulary and thinking by association. He was definitely one-of-a-kind. I'll miss him, for his friendship with Pete, for being such a larger-than-life character--I'll just plain miss him." - Diane Greenseid, Venice, CA
Tony was a force of nature; one of the 60s pioneers who blasted through the blandness, stupidity, and mediocrity of a dying, phony, warlike "high school" mentality with his unique combination of humor, adventure, generosity, and sheer brain power. "On the Road" personifed. The last time I saw him, about 40 years ago, he was hanging on to the side of a bus on East Colfax (he caught it, but many others missed the bus). Through a Berkeley education, a 30+ year career as a civil rights lawyer, and now with a Play about those days headed to the great white way, I've had a pretty eventful life, but it pales in comparison to Tony and his accomplishments. - Roy Hobbs of Colorado www.abreachofthepeace.com
Tony was one of the smartest kids I knew at East High School. He subverted us little naïve WASPs and opened a whole new level of subliminal torture for our AP class teachers, especially Morris Hoffman and Dr. Willy. I’m not sure if he initiated the “cough-talk”, that wreaked havoc on Hoffman’s nerves, but I’m pretty sure he was responsible for starting the various unauthorized uses for the Willy’s chem lab. He had a far reaching effect on my life, by greeting me with “Heil Zunt!” each day. This opened up the realization to me that we could choose our own self-definition, starting with our name. Is it a coincidence that my chosen name is so similar? I’m sorry I didn’t know him later in life…." - Zard, Black Hawk CO
I considered Tony to be my best friend ever since we met as library assistants at CU Denver Center. I should have known when I spotted him and fellow library guy Mark S. mooning passersby on the sidewalk below from the third story library windows that this was no ordinary fellow. I soon joined him and a small band of outsiders in an ongoing 30 year pot party. We later worked together at Emerson Street East restaurant--he as a car parker, me as a busboy. Many late nights were spent toking in cars waiting for obnoxious drunken sports fans to come out and ask for their car keys. I watched with pleasure as Tony drop kicked one regular's vehicle one night after the offendee had stiffed Tony several nights in a row. After all, we were working for tips! Tony and his family lived right next to the restaurant. It used to be fun listening to him berate and be berated by George and Sophie his parents. It was a very warm berating, though. We would play guitars, watch Star Trek and contemplate the universe there for hours on end. Later Tony left his urban Capitol Hill environment to become a "country gentleman." That was when he put his horticultural and scientific skills to use. His commitment to excellence resulted in his becoming a living legend in the underground community. Of course, that choice ultimately resulted in bringing him some considerable bad luck. For the past several years, since my move to California, our relationship was conducted mostly over the phone. We would talk politics and would encourage each other about making the most out of our lives. Things were finally looking up for him, but ill health had taken its toll. I will miss him greatly. -Pete, Venice, California
Tony and I were college buddies at DU, and later room mates at the "Fort Logan Mental Health Center" - a hippie pad across the street from the Colorado Governor's mansion on Logan Street on Capitol Hill. Tony and a friend stole a street sign from the real Ft. Logan Mental Health Center where they spent some time getting out of military service during the Vietnam conflict, which they then hung in our living room! When we were students, we used to call LSD "clear camel piss soup" when talking on the phone, to mislead anyone who (in our stoner minds) may have been eavesdropping... :-) I think that's where he derived the name "Cat Piss" for his genetically modified hybrid of Colombian, Mexican, and Kansas pot. I can attest to its potency, and (due to the Kansas strain) how fast it would grow. In the 1980's I was able to grow seeds that Tony gave me to hashish-on-a-stick in 13 weeks in our basement aeroponic "farm" in San Jose, California! People still talk about that stuff. He was also the smartest person I have ever known. My IQ is pretty much up in the low-grade genius range (150+), but he made me look like Mortimer Snerd! Nonetheless, he never treated anyone with less than respect - unless they deserved it, of course! My wife has a PhD in particle physics, and she didn't understand half of what he was talking about the last time we all met in Colorado. Tony, I don't know if you ever had a chance to meet Steven Hawking, but I'm sure that if you had, science today would not be the same! I'll miss you, and think often of you until the day I die. - Your Friend forever, Space Cowboy
"I first met Tony, through Pete McCabe, when I was about my son's age, 17. I have visions of him in his black and white striped shirt from when he was a car jockey, remember him holding court at the old CU Denver Center, his house on South Pearl, his visits to LA when I was there in the 70s, even his final house in Lakewood. When I moved to Israel in 1982, shortly after my father had died, Tony would check up on my mom to see if she needed anything moved around, packed or whatever. He'd stay for some coffee and listen to her. He helped her ship off several postal sacks of books to me in Israel, including a hollowed-out "Best of Norman Mailer", which he obviously saw was more valuable as a mailer than for the Mailer, filled with the best Fenix that ever found its way to Israel! Over all the years I knew him, especially when he was flying high, he never let anyone touch the bill. Once in a while I'd feel bad that folks were exploiting him for his product, so I'd occasionally drop by with some takeout and turn down the herb just so he'd get the idea that even without it he was a great friend. Anyone who met him was touched by his brilliance. It was like running a hurdle course to keep up with his raps. His combined mathematical theories, political analysis and pop-culture critiques would stone you even if you weren't stoned! But anyone who really got to know him realized that, by far, his dominant trait was generosity. I miss him greatly. -HZ, Seattle
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