From the time he started to walk and talk, Jon Howard, aka Doug Mallard, was an entertainer. He would pick up the mallet to his toy Fisher Price xylophone or the hanging handle of the fireplace screen and sing to his heart's content. Jon learned to cope with his early stuttering through music. When he was 10, his father died in a plane crash, and Jon turned to writing songs and poetry, pouring out his heart in verse. In 1997 he wrote St. Bob as a tribute to his dad.
By the time of his father's death, Jon had gone through several sets of inexpensive drum sets and handmade, fake plywood guitars. Later in life he decided he wanted to actually play the guitar and bought a cheap electric from Subway guitars in Berkeley. He bought his true love, a Gretsch (Lou Reed, not Chet Atkins), while he was going through chemotherapy for Hodgkins Disease in the latter part of 1993.
Somewhere along the way, in the early 1990's, someone misunderstood the pronunciation of his name and instead of Jon Howard, heard Doug Mallard. He decided to use Doug Mallard as his pseudonym.
Jon was a very sensitive man and was described as "a boy in a man's body" and also "a gentle giant." Everyone who knew him loved him. Eerily, he lived to mock death and wrote many songs about dying.
His music library consisted of hundreds of tapes, CDs, and records. He listened to David Bowie, the Beatles, Neil Young, Johnny Cash, the Velvet Underground, David J, the Jazz Butcher, Bryan Ferry, Can, Pere Ubu, early Pink Floyd, Brian Eno, Iggy & the Stooges, Joy Division, Harmonia, Gary Nueman, Bob Dylan, the Clash, Roxy Music, Robyn Hitchcock, and plenty of others too numerous to mention.
The first "real" concert he attended (not the Chet Farrow, Monte Vista variety where he would show off his prowess at doing the Pogo) was David Bowie in 1983. The first "real" album he owned (actually an 8-track) was Led Zeppelin IV.
Jon was also a seasoned couch potato; his room cleaning skills were legendary. He went through a stage where he would watch certain scenes from Heathers every day for over a year. He also watched way too much (or maybe not enough) Brady Bunch, Andy Griffith, & all the other stuff they show on Nick at Night these days.
There is an on-going music scholarship presented at DVC, Pleasant Hill, Ca., in May in memory of Jon. Jon took many music classes there and wrote a lot of lyrics.
Jon Howard was born on April 2, 1970, and died of a sudden, massive heart attack at the age of 30 on November 10, 2000. He experienced no symptoms or early warning signs. All those who knew and loved him were stunned and devastated. Nearly 200 people showed up at his service to mourn his loss. Jon lives on through his music and in the hearts of many.
