Three Excerpts About Max from Unpublished Memoirs By G.A. KIRKWOOD 

A BOYFRIEND THAT SHOWED UP 
"[...] Another girl started showing up at Perry's with her brother. Jenny and Brian stood out from the crowd. They dressed funny. It was the beginning of the Punk craze in Maui. I could tell it was her brother because they both had red hair and he was younger. She had just moved there and was staying with her grandmother for a while, near the beach. 
"Cousin Lisa was around Jenny’s age. She already had a boyfriend that showed up from time to time at Perry's. We all hung out there and she became part of the group. We all went out to Cousin Lisa’s and hung out. They called it their 5 star resort. It was on the bay but no beach or swimming but it had a tennis court. We played a couple of times, but mainly just hung out." 
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YOU GUYS SHOULD STICK TO MUSHROOMS 
"Brian was a bike messenger downtown with his best friend Max. Max was also the lead singer in a punk band. They would come home with a case of Budweiser and start drinking. Of course I would have some beer as well. After a day of riding bikes and delivering messages they stank, the beer and sweat coming out of their pores. After a few beers they would be off to the clubs.
"One day Max and Brian showed up with about half a dozen people with them. Max had scored some acid and they were all tripping. I did half a hit and well, Jenny didn't do any because she was pregnant. Carol and Jules had thrown a baby shower for her and all the lesbian girlfriends showed up with presents. 
"So, this one night, most of the crew stayed downstairs and partied. Then through the night some trickled upstairs to use the bathroom. It was pretty good acid because on half a hit I was seeing colors and swirls and feeling no pain. I was sitting on the bed with the door open. One of the guys walked in the room and asked if we were okay. I said we were doing fine and he walked through the closet into the bathroom. He was soon back at our door asking for if we were okay. We said that we were and he did the same thing, walk through the bathroom and back to our door. 'Are you guys okay?' We said we were but this was getting a little silly, so we got off the bed and went into the living room. 
"The guy had followed us and talked for a while from the kitchen door. He looked over at me and started running as fast as he could at me. I could see in his eyes that he wasn't running at me, he was running past me. The only thing behind me was a big plate glass picture window. So I jumped up and tackled him. We're both lying on the floor, I get behind him and put him in a full Nelson and wrapped my legs around him. We're sitting there and I'm trying to talk to him but he won't say a word and he's not trying to get away. Jenny comes out of the kitchen and I explain to her that he was going to run through the picture window. So we’re talking maybe 5-10 minutes. It seemed like a long time and he still hasn't said a word and is not trying to get away. I tell Jenny to get some of the guys that we need to take him downstairs, that he is bumming out my trip and it's not safe for him to be upstairs. Max and Dave help me get him downstairs, the whole time I still have him in a full nelson. They get me seated against the wall and start asking me questions. I tell everybody the story that I think he's just out of it. 'I don't even think he knows his own name.' With that he yells out, 'Spanky!' We try to talk to him some more but he is not saying anything else. 
"We call the police, they come, I'm still holding him. We tell them that he is on acid and the whole rest of the story about trying to jump through the picture window. That he hasn't said a word other than his name is Spanky. They cut the laces and take off his boots and put him in the squad car. One of the officers comes back and says with a parting comment, 'You guys should stick to mushrooms.' Dave’s band along with Colin and some other guys made a song about it; Late at night, San Francisco, jolt Cola, SPANKY, then a riotous riff." 
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UNCLE MAX IS COMING OVER 
"The mission district where we lived was mostly sunny, and the boys -- Brian and Max, sometimes Dave and Kathy -- would come over on the weekend. Max is shorter than me but he has broad shoulders. When Jenny told Deja that Uncle Max is coming over, her reply was, 'How’s he going to fit through the door?' Must've been about four years old then." 
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-special thanks to Deja for these excerpts.

Jula Bell-Liebi-
I met Max in 1986 through his brother,Jason. Jason had just turned 15 and became the drummer for my band Bulimia Banquet. When you were in a band with Jason you inherited his brother and protector Max, as well the DPW crew. When I met Max, he was an angst filled punk ass mother fucker. We would all go to a party together and nearing the end of the night Max was often quite “borracho” (Spanish for drunk). This was usually accompanied by a lot of affectionate huggings and “I love you man’s!” As the evening would progress often times there were some sort of physical kerfluffles, and Max was usually in the middle of them. Sometimes he would be sporting a black eye, covered with blood, missing teeth, or just sliced up from falling through someone’s plate glass coffee table. On occasion the night ended with Max going to the emergency room to get stitched up. 
He was always up for supporting his friend’s bands and helping move gear. He was a powerhouse roadie. He also was a very entertaining and enthusiastic singer in all of his punk rock endeavors. We played some shows together with FSU and it felt like one big punk rock family. One of my favorite times with Max was when Bulimia Banquet did a mini tour and played 3 shows in 24 hours. Max and Bill VanBoening were our roadies. It began at a Gaslight show on April 27, 1990. Dez was in our band at the time. After we played a rousing set, we took off the next am to play a matinee in Phoenix at a VFW with MDC. Our final show was that night at Hollywood Alley in Phoenix. I recall that the final show had poor turnout and we ended up playing a show to ourselves. There were a lot of borracho activities, and I recall Bill and Max jumping up on stage and singing Jealous again and Nervous Breakdown. Both of them tore it up. We didn’t care that almost no one showed. We were having our own party. We all got a little closer after that crazy trip. 
I recall humorous chats with an enthusiastic and boisterous Max. Most of the time we would try and one up each other with an insane story of a run in with some dicey Hollywood celebrities. Max liked to yell, and he usually won all debates by sheer volume. Thanks to his mom Johnnie, he had a plethora of crazy times to chose from. Whatever happened, Max was all about loyalty and protecting his friends and family. He loved his punk rock extended family with the same no nonsense vigor. I remembered when he got his black flag Budweiser bars. He wore that tattoo with upmost pride. He had a great sense of humor and loved to rouse his friends in a playful way. He adoringly called me “Jula Bitch”, but it was always with love. 
Sadly, we had to part ways with Jason due to his drug addiction. When this happened, I didn’t see Max as much. It was good to see Max resurface in my world when we did some BB Reunions. We didn’t really hang out out by ourselves, but we both acknowledged that we were Jason’s protectors, and with that we had deep respect and gratitude for one another. We also shared a deep affinity for loyalty and the sacred keeping our word. 
Over the years I watched Max evolve from Angry Max to Buddha Max. He was such a proud papa and it was fascinating to watch as he began to explore his spiritual side. When Jason passed, Max and I reached out to one another for comfort. We had both lost a little brother. We would talk on occasion about how much we missed him. I was so excited to watch the metamorphosis of Max while he and Leigh raised a beautiful family. He went from angry Max with teenage angst, to loving smiling and charming Max. When he told me that he had a men’s group where they talked about men’s feelings, I was so proud of him that I cried a little. He was a survivor, and he was determined to do good and share his new found gratitude. 
I got to see Max on a few occasions before he passed and even though he was so ill, he still gave the most wonderful bear hugs. He really appreciated any little thing that anyone did for him and he always made you feel really special for being there for him. When he was in pain I brought him a “Six Pack” of CBD sodas and we laughed when I said “SIX PACK!”. I never thought that we would lose Max. He was such a positive success story and so vital and full of love for so many. I am grateful to Jason for introducing me to Max, the DPW’s, Sloan, and so many wonderful extended punk rock family friends whom I will cherish forever.