The Blount Scholars Program was incredibly saddened to hear of the passing of one of our students, Max Guida. Max was an incredible member of our community and a great friend to many. Max loved to play his guitar and was a fixture at Blount Music Nights. Max was always the first to get there and last to leave. Blount will be holding a memorial service for Max in the near future.
A memorial celebration of Max’s life will be held via Zoom on Sunday, September 6th, from 2 to 4 pm. All are welcome. To attend, simply follow the link below.
https://uasystem.zoom.us/j/96629002611
Blount Student Organization Statement
Blount Student Organization mourns the loss of fellow Blountee and Friend, Max Guida. Max will be remembered by those who knew him as a guitar wizard in a brown cardigan. He embodied our Program in a way that makes his passing all the more difficult and his life something we should celebrate. A brilliant conversationalist, Max was not afraid to speak his mind. He was an avid reader and a skilled writer. Max loved snazzy music and a good laugh. More than this, he loved his friends. Our thoughts are with Max’s family and all those close to him during this time. Let’s put on a good jazz record in Max’s honor. Information regarding memorial forthcoming.
Art
Also, Max was a passionate musician. Please take a moment to listen to just some of the recordings we have here as we remember Max.
Unrecorded Song
Donations
If you would like to contribute to the Blount Memorial Book Fund, which will give copies of Confessions to all incoming Blount students in Max’s name, follow these instructions:
- Go to this link: (http://give.ua.edu/?d=ffe3fac4-df8f-4554-95d5-b567a21301a7)
- Wait up to 60 seconds for the fund to auto-populate to the Blount Advisory Fellows Fund in the “My Gift to Alabama” section
- Fill in amount you would like to give.
- Select Gift Type
- Select Gift Option
- Select “Anonymous” if desired
- Select “Make a tribute gift in honor/memory”, then select “In memory of”
- Tributee’s Full Name = Maxwell Harris Guida
- Ignore Tributee’s Contact Information (that’s for “In honor of” donations)
- Check “Notify additional individual of my gift” and put in whiting’s name with his email address (fwhiting@ua.edu) for the address lines.
A Living Memorial
At moments like these, we often lament the times that we will no longer have with the ones we love. Instead of focusing on what could have been, we want to celebrate the time we had with Max. We want to give friends of him and members of the Blount community a space to remember the time that we had with Max. Please feel free to share some of your favorite moments with Max and what truly made him such a great person and friend in the comments down below.
I remember one conversation I had with Max, sitting in the lobby of the Blount LLC some day in late February or early March (everything has run together at this point), some time between 12:00 and 2:00 AM. I can’t remember why or how we ended up there, but the two of us and another good friend were enjoying the evening and killing time. Even though I didn’t know Max very well, I knew him from the infamous Blount Open Mic Nights (he always stole the show with his guitar) and had talked with him a few times before. The three of us struck up a conversation about life (in general), our lives, his journey to Blount, his favorite books and authors (which went totally over my head), and so on. I mostly listened to that last part between the other two, adding books to my ‘reading list goals’ for later. He chose to be totally open with me, talking as if we were lifelong friends, even though I had (presumably) barely made an impact on his time at UA. I remember walking away from that night thinking, “that was one of the single best, most genuine connections I’ve had with anyone in this program.” He was such an authentic, caring, scarily-intelligent person, with a view of his life and his future more fleshed-out than most fully-grown adults would ever achieve. Looking back, even if it was 2 AM at the time, I could have spent another few hours in that lobby, listening to his thoughts about different authors and works and so on. The real, tangible character and honest view of life he shared with me are very hard to come by, and I wish I would have taken just a few extra hours out of my classwork to get to know him better. He represents not only what the Blount program strives to find and grow in a person, but the type of person who could legitimately change the world for the better.
My youngest and shortest, Claude, all of 8 years old, frequently convinces himself that he is invisible and irrelevant. especially in contrast to his cool, busy older siblings. There is a chip on his asthenic shoulders the size of Peru.
Stir-crazy by nature, Claude and I play “this is serious, dad!!” Frisbee on the LLC quad almost every day.
And, almost every day last year, Max Guida would walk by us with his signature gait, smile, head-nod. He always, ALWAYS made a point to wave and say Hi to Claude. Claude would immediately light up and then throw the Frisbee about 7 times further and smoother than he was normally capable of, no doubt trying to impress Blount’s resident Bob Dylan. I am determined to repay this awe-inspiring kindness to Max, this side of the Blue or the next. I am heartbroken for you Max, and for your family. Outside of any orthodoxy, or even hope, I just sense that I will get to see you again.
Thank you for your kindness to a kid you probably didn’t even realize needed it Desperately.
Your fan and debtor, always
Nathan Parker — Blount’s FIR.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpVxLQv-IT8
I didn’t know Max that well.
But he was kind. And he was caring. And he liked to smile.
I guess that’s what matters most.
He was a good guy, and I’m sad that he’s gone.
Max Guida would’ve been 20 years old today. I hope those that knew him will take his curiosity and enthusiasm as a model for living.
I lived in Blount Hall alongside Max during his freshman year, well enough to call him a friend I think. He was an enthusiastic part of the swordfighting club that was a part of, and we hung out in the lobby many nights. We talked a lot, and although I could tell he had gone through a lot, it was obvious that he was gifted in many ways, especially musically. One time, I helped him edit a story he was submitting for a contest, and I didn’t understand it at the time but came to appreciate it over time, just as I did Max. I’m not a trusting person by nature, but Max was a kind and honest person, so I grew to like him a lot. I almost didn’t believe when I heard the news when I came back to campus, and I still think about him every time our swordfighting club meets. I pray that he is at peace now.
I usually reserve Christmas eve day for a little philosophical stock taking. This one has been filled with thoughts of Max. In an end-of-semester email exchange, Kevin Kelleher sent me a link to the website Max created for his final project. I hadn’t seen it. I’m not sure whether others have, so I’m posting it in case. Vintage Max: precocious, thoughtful, funny, and as always, making his and his readers’ time count.
https://mhguida.wixsite.com/website