Punk music chronicler dies in pool accident Dixon Coulbourn had started popular fanzine
By Asher Price
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
Dixon Coulbourn, who gained renown in Austin's 1980s punk music scene for the fanzine he edited, died early Sunday in an apartment swimming pool accident. He was 43.
As a teenager tromping through Austin's punk venues, Coulbourn dreamed up Idle Time, a collage of his photographs and writings that served to document and celebrate the enthusiasm of punk.
"It wasn't just the counterculture," said his mother, Gail Coulbourn. "He was one to take up with the underdogs."
Idle Time was a "way to stay connected to the Austin scene" when he became a student in North Texas, and "it was my love letter home," Coulbourn wrote on his Web site, www.idletime archive.com.
"I made the long trip . . . to Austin quite often, catching rides with friends or strangers or taking the Greyhound Bus, making pilgrimages to Raul's and Duke's Royal Coach Inn."
Scott Stevens, who contributed cartoons to Idle Time, first caught sight of Coulbourn when he jumped onstage to join a Psychedelic Furs set in 1980.
"He didn't know all the words, but nobody in the band made fun of him," Stevens said. "He was just an unassuming personality who would jump into every- thing."
The fanzine, he said, gained fame for its live-action shots.
Recently, Coulbourn had taken to playing electronica in a group called Lupe. But he was still a fan and advocate of punk.
"Punk music courses through his veins," friend Jill Oleson said.
Coulbourn was also a fluent computer technician and had worked for more than 15 years at University of Texas' Bureau of Economic Geology, where he was a senior network analyst. He also helped friends start music fan Web sites.
As of Monday afternoon, the medical examiner's office had not confirmed a cause of death, but a pool inspector said Monday that electric wiring was dangling into the now-drained pool, and an underwater light fixture was missing.
The city is scheduled to inspect all public and semi-public pools, which total more than 1,550, at least once a year, said Robert Wright, a supervisor for the city's environmental health program. Two previous inspections (the most recent in February 2004) revealed no electrical issues, he said.
Coulbourn was an experienced swimmer and avid kayaker, friends and colleagues said.
Coulbourn is survived by his father, Dixon Wall Coulbourn; his mother, Gail Coulbourn; and two brothers, Travis Coulbourn and Daniel Coulbury.
1 comment:
Punk music chronicler dies in pool accident
Dixon Coulbourn had started popular fanzine
By Asher Price
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, August 2, 2005
Dixon Coulbourn, who gained renown in Austin's 1980s punk music scene for the fanzine he edited, died early Sunday in an apartment swimming pool accident. He was 43.
As a teenager tromping through Austin's punk venues, Coulbourn dreamed up Idle Time, a collage of his photographs and writings that served to document and celebrate the enthusiasm of punk.
"It wasn't just the counterculture," said his mother, Gail Coulbourn. "He was one to take up with the underdogs."
Idle Time was a "way to stay connected to the Austin scene" when he became a student in North Texas, and "it was my love letter home," Coulbourn wrote on his Web site, www.idletime archive.com.
"I made the long trip . . . to Austin quite often, catching rides with friends or strangers or taking the Greyhound Bus, making pilgrimages to Raul's and Duke's Royal Coach Inn."
Scott Stevens, who contributed cartoons to Idle Time, first caught sight of Coulbourn when he jumped onstage to join a Psychedelic Furs set in 1980.
"He didn't know all the words, but nobody in the band made fun of him," Stevens said. "He was just an unassuming personality who would jump into every- thing."
The fanzine, he said, gained fame for its live-action shots.
Recently, Coulbourn had taken to playing electronica in a group called Lupe. But he was still a fan and advocate of punk.
"Punk music courses through his veins," friend Jill Oleson said.
Coulbourn was also a fluent computer technician and had worked for more than 15 years at University of Texas' Bureau of Economic Geology, where he was a senior network analyst. He also helped friends start music fan Web sites.
As of Monday afternoon, the medical examiner's office had not confirmed a cause of death, but a pool inspector said Monday that electric wiring was dangling into the now-drained pool, and an underwater light fixture was missing.
The city is scheduled to inspect all public and semi-public pools, which total more than 1,550, at least once a year, said Robert Wright, a supervisor for the city's environmental health program. Two previous inspections (the most recent in February 2004) revealed no electrical issues, he said.
Coulbourn was an experienced swimmer and avid kayaker, friends and colleagues said.
Coulbourn is survived by his father, Dixon Wall Coulbourn; his mother, Gail Coulbourn; and two brothers, Travis Coulbourn and Daniel Coulbury.
asherprice@statesman.com; 445-3643
link
Post a Comment