Mike Fairman

Mike Fairman, 61, sound technician at Down East Saloon for nine years, died in the arms of his wife, Maka, on Jan. 18, 2020.

He left behind a legacy of hard work and dignity in the music arena where he is already missed by many musicians, friends, family and patrons.

Mike came from Royal Oak, Michigan to marry Maka in 2001, leaving behind his truck driving business of 12 years. Maka answered an ad to lose weight and Mike had taken a small job between loads to sell Herbal Life, a product to help people lose weight. It was a small window in which they met, Maka being the only one to answer the ad. The next two months they got to know each other by email and telephone, then they decided to get married sight unseen on Aug. 21, 2001. After that, they were seldom seen apart even through illness.

Having scant opportunity in Homer for work, Mike and Maka created a taxi service called Alaskab where they honed out a comfortable living for six years until his true desire began to surface. Hungarian Gypsy/Scots Mike Fairman was all about love and music. Besides his deep love for Maka, he lived and breathed music. He spent every spare moment playing his guitar with like-minded musicians in Homer and all around Alaska. Mike almost never left Alaska in all his years in Homer, but only once to briefly meet Maka’s family in Arizona.

Mike met up to jam with friends whenever and wherever he could, in between his taxi calls, and sometimes even follow them home, but Maka was there by his side. Mike enjoyed playing music with Richard Koskovich and Marc Coen every chance he got, and eventually Richard helped Mike become the Open Mic host for Alice’s Champagne Palace. When Alice’s changed owners, Mike went on to the Down East Saloon to host Open Mic for his friend, Milo Matthews, and there he stayed for the next nine years until a grand mal seizure overcame him as he was getting ready to set the Open Mic stage on Nov. 7, 2018.

Glioblastoma Multiforme is a rare cancer and Mike fought a valiant fight for over a year, never letting others know he was even in pain. Mike spent Christmas Day in South Peninsula Hospital. A couple weeks later he was back in the hospital and he never came home from the last hospital stay. It was good to see South Peninsula Hospital has an excellent staff of warm people who genuinely care about others, so Mike was well taken care of.

Mike will be sorely missed by his wife, Maka; his four step children, LD Brown, Bart Harrison, Crystal Manning and Future Sutton; his two beloved sons, Michael and Stephen Fairman; his mother, Marilyn Fairman; his brother, Mitch Fairman; his sister, Kelly Brown; and of course, his dad, Ernie Fairman and his step-mother, Donna (who Mike had developed a deep and lasting love for).

An Open Mic was held in his honor Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020, and a memorial will be coming this Summer Solstice, Saturday, June 20, 2020, where there will be loads of food, music and good fellowship. Mike will always be remembered for his great smile, his wonderful singing voice, his big heart and helping hands, and most of all his safety tip to everyone: “Be safe out there.”