I was a listener of Nite Roots in 1985 when Papa Pilgrim was first 
starting to DJ.  He never turned down playing my requests, even if 
it meant he had to bring it the next week.  By 1989, I was a co-Reggae
DJ with him on KRCL.  Our reggae shows were back-to-back on Wednesday 
nights for years, and I have a lot of fond memories of being in the 
studio with Papa Pilgrim. Our shows meshed well together, and I 
learned a lot from watching him in action.  I tried some crazy things 
from time to time, and he endured them graciously.  I remember one 
time I thought I'd try reading the Psalms live on the air over Dub 
music (a la Prince Fari).  When he walked in the studio and saw me 
doing that, he got a big kick out of it.  I was thankful, though, that
he was a friend enough to tell me it wasn't going over well, and I 
quickly dropped it from my reperetoire.  I'm grateful that he felt 
comfortable enough to give me honest feedback and help me out.

My on-air moniker was "Ken Quail," which Pilgrim quickly turned into 
"Birdman", and he affectionately called me that for years.

I'll also never forget the time we drove seven hours from Salt Lake 
City to Las Vegas for an all day Reggae festival event, only to find 
the event had been canceled (Babylon system doings).  However, we 
hooked up with the promoters and some of the artists later on at one 
of the promoter's record stores and partied all night.  I remember 
turning to the guy standing next to me, conversing with him, only to 
realize it was Sugar Minott.  This was probably in '90 or '91.  We 
were in Mo' Bay together in '92 for Reggae Sunplash, and he helped 
me "learn the ropes" for my first time there.  At that time, he was 
very earnest in obtaining an interview with Ijahman Levi, and I have 
a hazy memory of sitting in a back seat of someone's car (I think 
Ijahman Levi's) at Sunplash while he and Ijahman reasoned in the 
front seat.

One night in Mo' Bay, I was returning from his hotel to my hotel a 
couple of miles away, so we walked out to the curb, and he flagged a 
car down with three youths in it to give me a ride.  He must have had 
a lot of faith in Jamaica, and I must have had a lot of faith in him 
because I got in that car.  Well, they took me all around Mo' Bay, 
trying to sell me some ganja.  Who knew, but that at any minute I 
would be jumped.  (I was concerned about this because earlier that 
day, I had converted a lot of my currency to Jamaican, and I had it 
all on me!)  After quite a while and a stop in the ghetto for some 
Rizzla's, I made it back to my hotel room safe and sound.  Pilgrim 
got a huge kick out of that story when I told him the next day.  He 
told me he actually did have second thoughts after putting me into 
that car, but by then it was too late.

I liked to tell him stories of events that happened to me, and he 
always listened with great attentiveness and enjoyed hearing my 
stories.  He always made me feel valued and that what was important 
to me was also important to him.  

Even though we didn't have much contact after I moved away, I will 
sorely miss him.  He was a great friend and mentor and will always 
have a place in my heart.

One Love,
Ken Pavia